Engineering Director

Posted:
7/24/2024, 9:12:10 AM

Location(s):
New York, New York, United States ⋅ New York, United States

Experience Level(s):
Senior

Field(s):
Product

Pay:
$101/hr or $210,080 total comp

Our mission at Duolingo is to develop the best education in the world and make it universally available. But we’ve got more left to do — and that’s where you come in!

Duolingo is the world's most popular learning app. Beyond our core learning product, we also offer English proficiency testing with the Duolingo English Test, and are bringing new subjects into the Duolingo app, where people can develop their Math and Music skills.

We are passionate about educating our users, making fact-based decisions, and finding innovative solutions to complex problems. We offer meaningful work, limitless learning opportunities, and collaboration with world-class minds. Come brighten your life and over half a billion more!

As an Engineering Director at Duolingo, you'll have the unique opportunity to shape the future of language learning by leading a talented team of engineers in developing innovative solutions. This role combines strategic thinking, technical skill, and team leadership, requiring you to oversee project management, drive technical direction, and foster a culture of collaboration and growth

Read about the technical problems our Engineers work on 

Below you can find more information about teams we're hiring for

Growth Area

  • The Growth Area focuses on attracting new users, retaining current users, and bringing users back to Duolingo. More users = more data (so we can teach better) and more paid subscribers (so we can invest in making the app even better, and keep the lights on!). Our area’s goal is to make Duolingo so fun and delightful that our learners stick around to make real progress and tell their friends all about it!

Learning R&D Area

  • The Learning R&D Area works on improving the learning experience of our users with new bets, technologies, and features, that fill the learning gaps in our product. Our goal is to make Duolingo the best way to level up your language skills, regardless of your proficiency level.

Client Platform Area

  • The Client Platform Area builds the foundation for mobile app development across Duolingo's engineering organization through consistent and scalable architecture and tooling. Our goal is to empower engineers to ship stable, performant, and well-tested experiences without sacrificing velocity or functionality.

Music Team:

  • We recently launched Duolingo’s first Music course and the team is shipping features and technology to teach more topics (like instruments!) and make the course even more fun (through gamification and song play). Our goal is to grow our Music course to be as successful as the courses that teach the world language on Duolingo today. This is a 0 to 1 initiative within one of our newest and rapidly growing areas! 

You will...

  • Define strategies and roadmap for your team
  • Shape key decisions about architecture and implementation of scalable and high quality engineering solutions
  • Drive the planning, execution, and success of elegant technical projects
  • Lead a team of software engineers to deliver new learning features that make a large impact on how well we teach languages

You have...

  • Experience in developing and leading a software engineering team and setting technical direction
  • Proven track record as an effective people manager with experience in mentoring and coaching team members
  • Extensive experience in fast-growing, consumer-facing, data-driven companies
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills

We invest in and support our Duos! This role is eligible for a robust compensation package of base salary, equity, and Duolingo’s world-class benefits. The starting base salary range for this role is, $211,400 - $419,200. Actual salary may vary based on level, work experience, performance, and other factors evaluated during the hiring process.


We will do everything we can within reason to make sure that your interview takes place in an environment that fairly and accurately assesses your skills. If you need assistance or accommodation, please contact your recruiter.

Take a peek at how we care for our employees' holistic well-being with our benefits here.

Duolingo is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.

By applying for this position your data will be processed as per the Duolingo Applicant Privacy Notice.