Senior Software Engineer, Backend

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 a Backend Engineer you will work on building the APIs that power our products and give our learners a best-in-class experience.

Our microservices infrastructure is composed of hundreds of endpoints serving hundreds of millions of requests per day. You will partner with your team members on identifying requirements and designing services that are fast, resilient and cost effective. You will have ownership over the entire lifecycle of your services and associated infrastructure, and ensure they are always operating well.

Learn more about our teams:

Monetization Area:

• The Monetization Area focuses on Duolingo’s key business drivers—subscriptions, ads, and in-app purchases. Our area’s goal is to build the best premium experiences for our learners while ensuring the sustainability and success of our business model. You will play an instrumental role in the strategic direction of Duolingo by developing and refining the methods that make our monetization efforts more effective and efficient.

Duolingo English Test - Monetization & Acquisition Team

• The Monetization & Acquisition team is responsible for growing the Duolingo English Test’s business and creating a delightful user experience before and after the test. As a senior engineer on the team, you will play a key role in shaping how we achieve this both technically and strategically. We’re looking for a product-minded engineer excited to make an impact!

Responsibilities

• 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

Requirements

• A Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or 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

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, $148,800 - $274,600. 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.

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