Backend Software Engineer (Senior/Staff/Senior Staff)

2 Months ago • All levels • Backend Development

About the job

Job Description

Build APIs powering Duolingo's products, collaborate with teams on design, develop, and maintain services for a massive user base. Experience with Java, Python, Kotlin, database technologies, and building high-traffic APIs is required.
Must have:
  • Java, Python, Kotlin
  • Data Structures, Algorithms
  • Software Design
  • Database Technologies
Good to have:
  • High-Traffic APIs
  • Public Cloud Providers
  • Microservices Architecture
  • API Design
Perks:
  • Learning Opportunities
  • World-Class Minds
Not hearing back from companies?
Unlock the secrets to a successful job application and accelerate your journey to your next opportunity.

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 teams we're hiring for:

 

Data Platform Area:
  • In the Data Platform Area, you'll build tooling and infrastructure at scale to support Duolingo’s key data workflows from data visualization to A/B testing and AI.

 

Learning Scaling Area:

  • The Learning Scaling Area’s mission is to ensure that all of Duolingo’s learners have access to high quality educational content. We leverage pedagogical experts and AI to create content for over 100 courses. You will be responsible for building and improving the infrastructure and tooling that drives content creation.

 

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.

 

Content AI Platform Area:

  • The Content AI Platform team builds impactful foundational systems used across Duolingo. In this role, you will develop state of the art platforms and infrastructure that are used by various functions to create learning content with AI and provide an excellent learner experience at scale.

 

  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.

View Full Job Description

Add your resume

80%

Upload your resume, increase your shortlisting chances by 80%

About The Company

Duolingo is the world’s most popular way to learn a language. Our mission is to develop the best education in the world and make it universally available.


Founded in 2011 by Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker, Duolingo is the most downloaded education app in the history of the App Store and in 2019 became the top-grossing education app worldwide. The app has been awarded Apple's iPhone App of the Year and Android's Best of the Best.


Learning a new language used to be expensive; we believe it should be free. Over 1.2 billion people are learning a second language and most of them are learning English to improve their lives.


Learning a new language is hard; we believe it can be fun. We use bite-sized lessons that feel like playing a game to keep our learners motivated. 


With over 500 million learners we have unprecedented data insights on how people learn. Our teams of language learning scientists, machine learning engineers, and AI experts use this data to constantly improve our effectiveness. We’re building a future in which the highest-quality education is accessible to all. 


Duolingo has raised US $138 million from investors including Union Square Ventures, Capital G (formerly Google Capital), NewView Capital, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Drive Capital, Ashton Kutcher and Tim Ferriss.


Duolingo has been named to: BuiltIn's Best Places to Work (2023), Fast Company Best Workplaces for Innovators (2022), Fast Company 10 Most Innovative Education Company (2022), Best Machine Learning Startups for by Glassdoor (2020), Forbes' "Next Billion Dollar Startups" (2019), CNBC's Disruptor 50 (2018, 2019), Fortune's "Change the World" list (2019), TIME Magazine's Genius Companies (2018), Fast Company's "Most Innovative Companies" (2017, 2018, 2020), Inc.'s "Best Places to Work" (2018), Entrepreneur's "Top Company Cultures" (2018).

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States (On-Site)

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States (On-Site)

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States (On-Site)

Seattle, Washington, United States (On-Site)

New York, New York, United States (On-Site)

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States (On-Site)

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States (On-Site)

Bengaluru, Karnataka, India (On-Site)

Seattle, Washington, United States (On-Site)

View All Jobs

Get notified when new jobs are added by Duolingo

Similar Jobs

undefined - Data Platform Engineer

Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands (On-Site)

Masego Inc. - Data Scientist (Journeyman) NGA - Washington

Masego Inc., United States (On-Site)

Velotio Technologies - Lead Engineer (Java)

Velotio Technologies, India (Remote)

Paradox Interactive - Senior Backend Developer

Paradox Interactive, Sweden (On-Site)

Netflix - Software Engineer (L5) - Consumer Engineering

Netflix, United States (Remote)

Get notifed when new similar jobs are uploaded

Similar Skill Jobs

Get notifed when new similar jobs are uploaded

Jobs in New York, New York, United States

Netflix - Program Manager, Program Management - UCAN MO&P

Netflix, United States (On-Site)

avercareers - Software Test Engineer

avercareers, United States (Remote)

eBay - Sr. MTS, Software Engineer

eBay, United States (Hybrid)

Salesforce - Lead Applied Research Scientist - Responsible AI

Salesforce, United States (On-Site)

The Walt Disney Company - 20th Television Office of the President Intern, Spring 2025

The Walt Disney Company, United States (On-Site)

The Walt Disney Company - Sr Social Media Designer

The Walt Disney Company, United States (On-Site)

paypal - Director, Consumer App

paypal, United States (On-Site)

The Walt Disney Company - Disney Store: Sales Associate (Seasonal)

The Walt Disney Company, United States (On-Site)

Get notifed when new similar jobs are uploaded

Backend Development Jobs

Metacore - Backend Programmer

Metacore, Finland (Hybrid)

Push Gaming - Senior Server Developer

Push Gaming, Malta (Remote)

Evolution - Scala Spark Developer

Evolution, Latvia (Hybrid)

Extreme Network - Staff SW Applications Engineer (9516)

Extreme Network, United States (Hybrid)

Animoca Brands - Backend Developer

Animoca Brands, Philippines (Remote)

Netflix - Distributed Systems Engineer, L4 - Delivery

Netflix, United States (On-Site)

Viacom18 Media Private Limited - SSDE I - Node.Js Engineer, JioCinema

Viacom18 Media Private Limited, India (On-Site)

MatchGroup - Engineer, Backend

MatchGroup, United States (Hybrid)

Get notifed when new similar jobs are uploaded