Airbnb regional managing director Chai Jia Jih moves to Carousell

Carousell has appointed Mr Chai Jia Jih, formerly Airbnb's managing director for South-east Asia, as vice-president, International, effective on March 2. PHOTO: CAROUSELL

SINGAPORE - Online marketplace Carousell announced on Monday (Feb 1) it has appointed Mr Chai Jia Jih, formerly Airbnb's managing director for South-east Asia, as vice-president, international, effective on March 2.

Mr Chai will lead international growth to accelerate Carousell's expansion worldwide, as well as support financial strategy and planning, said the company. He will be based in Carousell's Singapore headquarters and will work closely with the co-founders as part of the leadership team, it added.

Mr Chai was Airbnb's first employee in South-east Asia and helped chart its rapid growth in Asia over the past three-and-a-half years, said Carousell. He set up operations for Airbnb's Asia hub in Singapore, and led the team to grow the inventory of homes, accelerate guest growth and build the brand, it said.

Before joining Airbnb, Mr Chai was a junior partner at McKinsey & Company where he advised leading tech and telco companies across Asia. Early in his career, he worked in tech as a software engineer and product manager at a software start-up. Mr Chai holds an Insead MBA and graduated with a computer engineering degree from the National University of Singapore.

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.