Airbnb Inc. has appointed Rich Baer, an in-house leader with experience overseeing global legal teams for public companies, to take over as chief legal officer, as the home-sharing site moves toward an initial public offering.

Baer begins his new position at the company's San Francisco headquarters in early October and will report to chief operating officer Belinda Johnson. She served as CLO until last year, when she was promoted to COO.

"As someone who has served as the general counsel for fast-scaling, large, complex, globally branded and publicly traded companies, Rich will be an incredible advocate for all our stakeholders and we are thrilled to welcome him to the Airbnb team," Johnson said in a statement.