Senior Software Engineer, Backend

Our mission at Duolingo is to develop the best education in the world and make it universally available. It’s a big mission, and that’s where you come in!

At Duolingo, you’ll join a team that cares about finding innovative solutions to complex technical problems ( , running countless experiments (300+ at a time!) with our massive user base to make data-driven decisions, and educating our users and employees alike. You’ll have limitless learning opportunities, mentorship and collaboration with world-class minds, and a variety of projects with large scopes — while doing work that’s both fun and meaningful.

Join our life-changing mission to develop education for our half a billion (and growing!) learners around the world.

Below you can find more information about the team we're hiring for:

Duolingo Score Team:

Duolingo Score is how we reflect a learner's real language proficiency back to them. As the backend engineer on this small, high-impact team, you'll help make learners care about their score as much as they care about their streak. You'll partner closely with the Score Pillar's product and design team and our iOS and Android engineers, working on the systems that power score calculation, proficiency modeling, and how score surfaces across the app — including integrations with external platforms like LinkedIn, so learners can showcase their proficiency beyond Duolingo.

You will...

• Collaborate on software projects with product design and backend aspects

• Develop, release, and maintain backend services and/or infrastructure

• Lead individual project priorities, milestones, and ensure we're always shipping

✅ You have...

• A Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related technical field

• Strong competencies in data structures, algorithms, and software design

• Experience programming in Java, Python, or Kotlin

• Solid understanding of one or more database technologies

⭐ Exceptional candidates will have...

• Industry experience building high-traffic APIs using public cloud providers

• Experience with industry observability technology, such as OpenTelemetry, Grafana, Prometheus, or DataDog

The offered salary is dependent upon several factors, including work experience, skills, and internal peer comparisons. The posted range is subject to change in the future. For this role, base salary is supplemented by equity compensation. We encourage you to talk with your recruiter for more information related to compensation for this role!

Salary Range:

$182,800 — $247,300 USD

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

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Accommodations: 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 View email address on click.appcast.io.

Equal Employment Opportunity: 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.

Fraud Warning: Unfortunately, there is a rise in scammers pretending to be real Duolingo employees. Duolingo and our employees will never ask for your Social Security number, bank details, or passport info, and we’ll never ask you to deposit a check, purchase equipment, or exchange money during the interview process. Real Duolingo employees always use an email that ends in @duolingo.com or @recruiting.duolingo.com. Stay alert and double-check these details before sharing any information.

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