Backend Software Engineer (Senior/Staff/Senior Staff)

2 Months ago • All levels • Backend Development

About the job

Job Description

Duolingo is seeking a Backend Software Engineer to build APIs for their products. You will work on a microservices infrastructure serving hundreds of millions of requests daily. Experience with Java, Python, or Kotlin and database technologies is required.
Must have:
  • Java, Python, Kotlin
  • Database Technologies
  • Software Design
  • Data Structures
Good to have:
  • Public Cloud
  • High-Traffic APIs
  • Microservices
  • 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:

 

Architecture Team: 

  • The Architecture team’s mission is to ensure that Duolingo’s software continues to scale as we grow. We work on some of the largest and most critical infrastructure run by Duolingo and provide tools and best practice guidance to teams as they look to create new features and services.  In this role, you will lay the groundwork for the future success of Duolingo’s software platforms.

 

DET Test Scoring Team:
  • As an engineer on the Scoring team for the Duolingo English Test, you will help advance the state of the art in language testing. You will work closely with AI researchers and assessment scientists to pioneer innovative and AI-driven ways to assess language ability, while maintaining critical infrastructure and strengthening the test’s reliability. You will advance the team’s mission to lower barriers and increase opportunities for English language learners everywhere.

 

DET Proctoring Operations Team:
  • The Proctoring Operations team’s mission is to ensure that we provide high-quality and efficient human proctoring for all Duolingo English Test tests. In this role, you will take on full-stack web development work. You will primarily work on the ‘proctor portal’ an in-house tool used by contractors for proctoring the test. You will also work closely with the anti-cheating team to take new signals developed by them and put them in the hands of proctors.

 

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.

 

  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

ByteDance - Bytedance, Back-end Engineer, Graduate Dubai 2025

ByteDance, United Arab Emirates (On-Site)

paypal - Global Technical Support Engineer

paypal, Ireland (Hybrid)

Evernorth Health Services - Automation Engineering Associate Advisor [T500-13512]

Evernorth Health Services, India (On-Site)

Warner Bros. Games - Staff Data Engineer- C360, Hyderabad

Warner Bros. Games, India (On-Site)

Singularity 6 - Staff Backend Software Engineer (Technical Lead)

Singularity 6, United States (Hybrid)

Voldex - Backend Software Engineer

Voldex, United Kingdom (Remote)

BeBetta - Backend Engineer - SDE-I ( Node JS)

BeBetta, India (On-Site)

Mimacom - Backend Software Engineer

Mimacom, Spain (Remote)

Google - Engineering Manager II, AdsML SRE

Google, Ireland (On-Site)

Get notifed when new similar jobs are uploaded

Similar Skill Jobs

Get notifed when new similar jobs are uploaded

Jobs in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

MatchGroup - Senior Product Designer (Remote)

MatchGroup, United States (Remote)

Vidsy - Client Partner

Vidsy, United States (Hybrid)

Flow - Senior Product Designer

Flow, United States (On-Site)

Google - Product Manager II, Gemini

Google, United States (On-Site)

Onward Search - Inside Sales Representative (Real Estate)

Onward Search, United States (On-Site)

Next Level Business Services - Salesforce Technical Lead

Next Level Business Services, United States (On-Site)

The Walt Disney Company - Associate Producer II (Non-Traditional Production Teams)

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

PlayStation Global - Senior Financial Analyst (Contract)

PlayStation Global, United States (Remote)

Get notifed when new similar jobs are uploaded

Backend Development Jobs

Get notifed when new similar jobs are uploaded