Software Engineering Director, Duolingo English Test

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 an Engineering Director at Duolingo, you'll have the unique opportunity to shape the future of learning by leading cross-functional teams in developing innovative solutions. This role combines strategic leadership, business insight, and technical knowledge. Essential to the role is the ability to effectively handle complex leadership situations, ensuring alignment and delivering impact.

Duolingo English Test (DET)

• The Duolingo English Test (DET) is an alternative to traditional high-stakes testing — through a Duolingo-style experience. Students interested in studying abroad can use our platform to certify their English and be accepted by 5,000+ higher education institutions worldwide. We make extensive use of AI and are always developing new security tools and proctoring technologies to enable students to take the test online, on-demand, anywhere in the world. In this role you will lead the DET engineering organization and work directly with the business unit's executive team to make sure we continue to scale the DET's success. 

  You will...

• Define the strategy and set the roadmap for your teams
• Be a strong cross-functional partner with product, design, and data science (and other functions, depending on the product area) and invest in those relationships.
• Be an excellent manager of managers, training and coaching newer managers and engineering leads. 
• Navigate complex leadership skills of being inclusive of different viewpoints; checking for alignment; and knowing when it’s best to pushback vs. make a decision vs. “disagree and commit.”
• Shape key decisions about architecture and implementation of scalable and high-quality engineering solutions
• Drive the planning, execution, and success of elegant technical projects

  You have...

• Strong technical chops. This is table stakes. Our engineering leads are not only excellent people managers, team builders, and strategic thinkers. They also have a deep technical background which allows them to “trust, but verify” that the right technical decisions are being made and that their area is executing strongly. They allocate time for learning in order to stay on top of technical advances.
• Strong business acumen. This means having a deep understanding of their part of the business; following industry trends; and being able to think several years ahead.
• Solid product sense. Engineering leads at Duolingo don’t “stay in their lane.” They use the product and features that they are building every day, are deeply familiar with how it works, and have strong opinions of what’s working well in the product, what could be improved, and what to build next. They also use products/apps from peer industries (gaming, for instance) to learn from best-in-class.

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.

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