Senior Software Engineer, Backend

New York, NY June 9, 2026 Greenhouse (Commonly Used)

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:

Observability Team:

The Observability team builds infrastructure and tools that give engineers confidence and clarity at Duolingo scale. We create monitoring, alerting, and debugging experiences that help teams ship faster and respond to incidents effectively. In this team, you'll build instrumentation frameworks, deploy telemetry infrastructure, design dashboards, and connect signals to catch issues before they impact learners. We're looking for engineers passionate about developer experience and reliability.

 

🧠  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

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 [email protected].

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.

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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How to Get Hired at Duolingo

  • Download and actively use the Duolingo app (including Duolingo Math and Music if relevant to your role) before applying — reference specific product observations in your cover letter and interviews to demonstrate genuine engagement
  • Rewrite every resume bullet point to include a measurable outcome, mirroring Duolingo's data-obsessed culture where decisions are validated through metrics like retention, engagement, and learning efficacy
How to apply to Duolingo

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