Edtech.com's Summary

Duolingo is hiring a Senior Software Engineer, Backend. The role involves building APIs to enhance user experience across products, handling a microservices infrastructure, and owning the lifecycle of services and infrastructure. Candidates will collaborate on design, implement resilient, cost-effective services, and engage with teams focused on data infrastructure and enterprise applications.

Highlights

Design and develop APIs to support product offerings.
Manage a microservices infrastructure that handles significant daily requests.
Programming languages: Java, Python, or Kotlin.
Salary Range: $148,800–$274,600 USD, inclusive of benefits and equity.
Requires a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field.
Experience in data structures, algorithms, and software design.
Understanding of database technologies is essential.
Opportunities to work with innovative solutions in backend engineering.

Senior Software Engineer, Backend Full Description

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.

About the role

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.

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

Data Infrastructure Team:

As a Backend Engineer on the Data Infrastructure team, you will build tooling and infrastructure at scale to support Duolingo’s key data workflows from data visualization to A/B testing and AI.

Enterprise Applications Team:

The enterprise application tooling team's mission is to provide tooling and engineering support for areas without traditional engineering support and for tools the entire organization leverages! We are responsible for the 2025 OKR “Pivot to tooling- and automation-first approach for People teamwork”. In this role, you will be utilizing generative ai, automation tools, and building DIY solutions to help improve the lives of employees across the organization!

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 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

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

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.

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.

We post a multi-level salary range for all of our roles.

This is not inclusive of the rest of our awesome portfolio that includes equity compensation and world-class benefits. Our salary ranges are the same for all US locations. Your recruiter can share more details about the range for a specific level during the hiring process. The actual salary within the range is determined by many factors including but not limited to, skills, experience, education, and internal equity.

Salary Range:

$148,800—$274,600 USD

Original Job Description

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!

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

About the role

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

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

Data Infrastructure Team:

As a Backend Engineer on the Data Infrastructure team, you will build tooling and infrastructure at scale to support Duolingo’s key data workflows from data visualization to A/B testing and AI.

Enterprise Applications Team:

The enterprise application tooling team's mission is to provide tooling and engineering support for areas without traditional engineering support and for tools the entire organization leverages! We are responsible for the 2025 OKR “Pivot to tooling- and automation-first approach for People teamwork”. In this role, you will be utilizing generative ai, automation tools, and building DIY solutions to help improve the lives of employees across the organization!

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 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

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

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

We post a multi-level salary range for all of our roles.

Salary Range:

$148,800—$274,600 USD

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Senior Software Engineer, Backend

Edtech.com's Summary

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