Writing Operations Lead

The community you will join:

UX Writing is a core design discipline at Airbnb. Our team of 40+ writers works closely with  Experience Design, Experience Research, and Design Program Management to support the product development process from beginning to end. Whether you excel in upfront storytelling, end-to-end systems design, or nitty-gritty execution you'll find your people here.

The difference you will make: 

As the first Writing Operations Lead at Airbnb, you’ll partner closely with, Design Operations, Design, Product Management, Program Management, Engineering, Marketing, and business leaders to help drive the UX Writing team’s priorities through seamless day-to-day operations and strong stakeholder alignment, with an eye towards scale and efficiency.

We’re looking for someone who brings creativity to the operational aspects of our craft, deals with solving the “how” to free up our writers to focus on crafting the “what,” anticipates how decisions are made, explores and uncovers new ways of doing things, and works collaboratively with stakeholders. You should have experience setting high-level goals to improve productivity and driving operational excellence for internal teams, allowing them to focus on delivering successful products for our guests and hosts.

In this role, you’ll be responsible for establishing and improving workflows and processes to ensure that we deliver excellence with predictability at scale. You’ll focus on our toolset (Airtable, Asana, Google Drive) and optimize how and when we use each tool. Responsibilities range from day-to-day operational execution to monthly planning to developing future state enhancements that meet our long term goals.

A typical day:

• Partner with UX Writing and Design Ops leadership on resourcing strategies, tool optimization and education, and process improvements that help us scale and operate efficiently and effectively.
• Shape, drive, and document processes and tools for effective org planning workflows by assessing current tools and gaps and iterating on improvements toward a longer-term vision for more seamless workstreams.
• Collaborate with internal and cross functional (XFN) teams to simplify, unify, and streamline both UX Writing and XFN processes and tools (Airtable) to enhance productivity.
• Support overarching planning processes (e.g. monthly planning) to ensure headcount staffing and contractor resourcing plan meets larger skillset needs of team and business. 
• Collaborate with Design Ops, Design Program Managers (DPMs), and Program Managers to ensure consistency in overarching ways of working to drive successful program delivery.
• Coordinate periodic reporting on team output and key metrics, manage work plans, analyze data, and ensure recommendations are effectively implemented.
• Develop a system to regularly update and maintain accuracy of documentation relative to the team's operating system, onboarding, process, and tools.
• Support the development of capacity planning, scoping, and roadmap planning standards across the UX Writing team. 
• Participate in and support cultural moments for the UX Writing team.

Other operational responsibilities may be required but will be considered and determined based on experience, capability, organizational need, and bandwidth. 

Your expertise:

• 9+ years consulting, program management, product management, project management with demonstrated experience establishing methods and processes, implementing systems, and supporting org-wide operations.
• Proactive approach with a demonstrated ability to work through ambiguity to detailed simple solutions. You can take a vague problem, crisply frame the challenge, identify a path forward, and drive an initiative over the finish line with limited oversight. 
• Highly tactical operator with a focus on tracking, reporting, and process improvement.
• Proficiency in optimizing program management tools for enhanced efficiency.
• Highly organized with a talent for structuring and implementing initiatives at scale.
• Deep understanding of user-centered design methodologies and iterative development approaches.
• Proficiency in managing tooling and design systems, including Airtable, Asana, and Figma with an ability to learn technical systems quickly.
• Adaptability to thrive in a high-growth, ambiguous, and constantly evolving organization.
• Exceptional analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Passion for Airbnb’s mission, commitment to diversity, and global mindset.

Your Location:

This position is US - Remote Eligible. The role may include occasional work at an Airbnb office or attendance at offsites, as agreed to with your manager. While the position is Remote Eligible, you must live in a state where Airbnb, Inc. has a registered entity. Click here for the up-to-date list of excluded states. This list is continuously evolving, so please check back with us if the state you live in is on the exclusion list. If your position is employed by another Airbnb entity, your recruiter will inform you what states you are eligible to work from.

Our Commitment To Inclusion & Belonging:

Airbnb is committed to working with the broadest talent pool possible. We believe diverse ideas foster innovation and engagement, and allow us to attract creatively-led people, and to develop the best products, services and solutions. All qualified individuals are encouraged to apply.

We strive to also provide a disability inclusive application and interview process. If you are a candidate with a disability and require reasonable accommodation in order to submit an application, please contact us at: [email protected]. Please include your full name, the role you’re applying for and the accommodation necessary to assist you with the recruiting process. 

We ask that you only reach out to us if you are a candidate whose disability prevents you from being able to complete our online application.