Airbnb Technical Program Manager (TPM) Interview Guide

This guide focuses on interviewing for the senior and staff TPM levels, but it also applies to other levels.

tl;dr

For wanderers, globetrotters, and those with a soft spot for local charm, Airbnb has reimagined traveling. Founded in 2007, it all started with Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia, two designers who needed a creative fix for their rent troubles. What came next was a platform that nudged the hospitality world in an unbelievable direction.

Today, Airbnb connects hosts and guests through its online marketplace. The app features a wide range of accommodations—think wooden cottages in Rome, luxury villas in Paris, igloo stays under the Aurora Borealis, and more. With over 8 million listings worldwide, it caters to solo and business travelers, weekend explorers, and family vacationers alike. The San Francisco-based company’s popularity is evident from the fact that Airbnbing is now a verb often used by travelers—“Where are you staying in Bali? I am Airbnbing.”

TPMs at Airbnb act as force multipliers to uphold its mission to “create a world where anyone can belong anywhere." They drive key activities and programs across several functions in the organization, such as design, engineering, product marketing, operations, and more. TPMs are often seen as people who “get things done” by creating clarity from chaos, diving into the details, and communicating clearly. At the end of the day, they improve the quality and velocity of work across cross-functional teams.

Airbnb employees, also called Airbnbers, are often core and power Airbnb users. They are guests, hosts, or have experience in the hospitality industry. It suffices to say the company takes its four company values seriously, which include:

1. Champion the Mission: Be united in partnership with our community to create connection and enable belonging.
2. Be a Host: Be caring, open, and encouraging to everyone we work with.
3. Embrace the Adventure: Be driven by open curiosity, hopeful resilience, and the belief that every person can grow.
4. Be a Cereal Entrepreneur: (That’s not a typo, if you dive into the history of the company, you’ll learn a fun way they survived existential threat…. By making cereal boxes for presidential candidates!) This value means: be determined and creative in transforming bold ambitions into reality.

What does an Airbnb TPM do?

TPMs at Airbnb are influencers and relationship builders. Their core job is to collaborate with engineering, product marketing, design, community support, and other teams to deliver software product programs with two primary constraints—quality and time. They understand and resolve dependencies across functions to optimize the overall system. To get things done on time, they anticipate risks and develop proactive risk mitigation strategies.

TPMs have excellent technical know-how, to the point where they can have elaborate discussions on technical trade-offs with engineers. Moreover, they make work repeatable by creating and improving processes. They’re able to go beyond the “organizational hierarchy” to drive issues to resolution.

Airbnb has two types of TPMs:

1. Product TPMs, who work on pricing, search, launch strategy, and more. Product TPMs form the majority of the total TPMs. They work in verticals like Roadmap Planning & Program Management, Design, Program Expansion, Technical Education, the Community Support Platform, and more.
2. Infrastructure TPMs look after guest and host engineering. This includes technical debt, architecture, bugs and defects, and other things. They work in verticals like Data Storage, Payments Engineering, and Security, among others.

Structurally, all TPMs report to the Head of Technical Program Management. However, as a vertical, TPMs are placed within the Airbnb engineering org. Airbnb TPMs are often seen motivating others with their vision and persuading stakeholders with data. They’re critical thinkers who can easily zoom out to see the bigger picture.

Average total compensation for Airbnb TPMs:

• L4, TPM: $235K
• L5, Senior TPM: $395K
• L6, Staff TPM: $498.7K
• L7, Senior Staff TPM: $844.2K

Before you apply

• Take Exponent’s Complete TPM Interview course to ace the Airbnb TPM interview.
• Browse our collection of Airbnb TPM interview questions.
• Prepare a story bank that encapsulates your TPM experience holistically.

Interview process

The TPM interview process at Airbnb typically has 8–9 conversations in the entire process. These include:

• Round 1: Recruiter phone screen
• Round 2: Hiring manager phone screen
• Panel interviews (4–5 rounds)
  • Round 3: Panel presentation
  • Round 4: Product owner screen
  • Round 5: Lead developer screen
  • Rounds 6 & 7: Cross-functional screens
• Rounds 8 & 9: Culture fit screens

The TPM interview process at Airbnb is centralized. This means that most TPM candidates will follow largely the same interview loop irrespective of team and role.

Round 1: Recruiter phone screen

A run-of-the-mill recruiter round, expect questions mostly about your TPM stints, your understanding of Airbnb, the role, and what makes you stand out from other candidates.

Since TPMs at Airbnb must know SQL, you might have a qualifier question on that, too.

Your domain-specific knowledge will also be gently evaluated at this stage. Additionally, Airbnb recruiters are known to sell the company, so it’s a good time to check if the company is a fit for you.

Sample questions:

• Tell me about yourself.
• What do you do in your current role?
• What are you looking for in your next role?
• Why do you want to work at Airbnb? What do you know about Airbnb?
• Why do you want to be a TPM?

Round 2: Hiring manager phone screen

The hiring manager will focus on technical and behavioral questions. Airbnb is looking for genuine insights—not surface-level, buzzword-filled responses—so it’s important to think critically about your career, identify meaningful experiences, and articulate your leadership style through real-life examples.

Be ready to discuss your previous work, how you approach program management, and how you function within a team setting. Here, your story bank will come in handy. If you get stuck, use the Situation, Task, Action, and Result (STAR) method to narrate your anecdotes.

Sample questions:

• What are the programs you’ve run that you’re most proud of?
• Tell me about a program you managed end-to-end. What was your approach to planning, execution, launch, and monitoring?
• What tools have you used in your day-to-day role?
• What’s the biggest challenge you have faced in a program you ran?
• Have you worked with external stakeholders and international teams?
• What are the five stages of a software development cycle? Can you elaborate on each of the steps?
• How are you the most qualified candidate for this role?

Final interviews

Round 3: Panel presentation

Next up is a one-hour presentation, where you are prompted to take 3–5 stakeholders through your professional journey so far. You must weave in your challenges, career highlights, ups and downs, and more. The core section of this presentation is the project you choose to discuss at length.

Pick a project that has an inherent obstacle. For instance, did you have to say ‘No’ to a stakeholder for a crucial decision? Or did a stakeholder reject your idea or timeline? Did a project go sideways, and did you get it on track again? How often were you stuck between engineers (who have constraints on resources and time) and business leaders who want new features right away? These turnaround projects and stories signal to the panelists that you have been in the weeds and understand the TPM role deeply.

Round 4: Product owner screen

Expect a combination of behavior, program sense, and role-related questions. This round will be a deeper conversation than the one with the hiring manager, so be ready to dive into specifics. The interviewers are looking to assess you across several key areas:

• How you initiate and structure new initiatives.
• The way you evaluate and balance priorities when handling multiple efforts.
• The metrics you use to define and track progress or outcomes.
• How you build alignment and gain buy-in from essential partners.
• Your strategy for wrapping up or transitioning projects once goals are met.

Sample questions:

• What’s your expectation of being a TPM?
• What would you do if you were given incomplete requirements from a PM?
• Tell me about a time you disagreed with a technical decision. How did you handle it, and what was the outcome?
• Do you like to work independently or in a team?
• Tell me about a time when you had multiple priorities from different stakeholders. How did you navigate it?
• What are some ways to wind down a project?

Round 5: Lead developer screen

This round leans towards technical and program management questions. The interview tries to gauge how you work with engineers and if you’re fluent in tech-speak. In your response, make sure to discuss trade-offs, potential alternative routes, and outcomes.

Sample questions:

• How do you handle scope changes and feature creep?
• How do you resolve conflicts between engineers regarding technical decisions?
• What's your past experience in security-related topics?
• How do you ensure all stakeholders align with the project goal and timeline?
• What were some of your key takeaways from a craft conference you attended recently?

Rounds 6 & 7: Cross-functional screens

In this round, you will chat with two more cross-functional stakeholders, such as an engineering manager, data scientist, senior architect, or even a senior TPM. Again, you’ll have a mix of role-related and experiential questions.

Sample questions:

• How do you prioritize multiple tasks with conflicting deadlines? A TPM at Airbnb frequently faces these scenarios…
• In your experience, what have been some successful risk management strategies for programs?
• What’s your experience with version control systems? Has version control helped you solve a problem?
• In what situation would you use sync and async programs?
• Can you walk through a technical challenge you faced in your previous role?
• Share a time when you identified an opportunity that needed a lot of convincing for people to buy into.
• What will you do if your first milestone is delayed?

Rounds 8 & 9: Culture fit screens

This round is typically run by individuals outside your immediate function, like customer support leaders and operations managers. The culture fit round at Airbnb is a very realistic dealbreaker. Hence, your understanding of Airbnb’s guiding values and broader mission will be crucial here. Remember that even technically strong candidates are frequently turned away (around 50% of the time) if they’re not seen as a good cultural fit.

Sample questions:

• Tell me about a time when an employee gave you negative feedback.
• What part of our mission resonates the most with you?
• What do you think are your top 3 personality traits that make you succeed? How do they align with Airbnb?
• When did you feel like you were part of a team? When did you feel like you did not belong?
• How do you foster belonging and inclusivity in a team setting?
• Can you share an example of when you went above and beyond to deliver a great user or customer experience?
• Talk about a time when you navigated uncertainty or took a bold approach to solve a problem.
• How do you handle disagreements between groups, say, between product management and engineering?

Additional resources

• Get mentorship and coaching from an Airbnb mentor.
• Dive deep into Airbnb’s values.
• Brush up on the valuable TPM Glossary.

FAQs about the Airbnb TMP interview

How should I prepare for an Airbnb TPM interview?

• Get instant feedback in mock sessions with TPM peers.
• Know more about the engineering culture at Airbnb.
• Refine your responses based on impact, risk, and trade-offs.

How can I stand out as a candidate at Airbnb?

Airbnb’s culture fit and behavioral rounds are the most high-stakes. Know Airbnb’s core values and have specific stories ready for each interview to prove you’ve demonstrated each value in your previous work experience. Deep dive into the company and its products and offerings, and share your passion for the product.

How much does an Airbnb TPM earn?

Expected total compensation for an Airbnb TPM is:

• L4, TPM: $235K
• L5, Senior TPM: $395K
• L6, Staff TPM: $498.7K
• L7, Senior Staff TPM: $844.2K

How long does the Technical Program Manager interview process take?

On average, the interview process can take anywhere between 3 weeks and a few months.