Comprehensive Interview Preparation Guide: Site Reliability Engineer (Senior Level) at Airbnb
Site Reliability Engineer (SRE)
Airbnb
Senior
6 rounds
Updated 11/22/2025
Airbnb's SRE interview process for senior-level candidates follows a structured pipeline designed to evaluate technical depth, system thinking, and cultural fit. The process begins with a recruiter screening to assess background and motivation, followed by a technical phone screen covering coding and foundational system design. Candidates who advance proceed to an on-site engineering loop consisting of 4-5 rounds that evaluate distributed systems knowledge, infrastructure design expertise, coding proficiency in automation and scripting, complex system design thinking, and behavioral alignment with Airbnb's core values including 'Belong Anywhere' and collaborative problem-solving.
Interview Rounds
1
Recruiter Screening
25 min5 focus topicsculture fit
2
Technical Phone Screen
75 min4 focus topicstechnical
3
On-Site Round 1: Distributed Systems & Infrastructure Design
60 min5 focus topicssystem design
4
On-Site Round 2: Coding & Infrastructure Automation
60 min5 focus topicstechnical
5
On-Site Round 3: Complex System Design & Architecture
60 min6 focus topicssystem design
6
On-Site Round 4: Behavioral & Culture Fit
60 min6 focus topicsbehavioral
Additional Information