Senior Director of Engineering, New Subjects

TrulyHired; New York (NY); On-site; USD 296,000 - 444,000; Full time

Job summary

Duolingo is hiring a Senior Director of Engineering for its New Subjects division in New York, NY. The role involves leading engineering efforts in Math, Music, and Chess, driving product strategies, and managing multiple teams.

You will be responsible for operational excellence and influencing the company's strategic direction with a focus on scaling AI-powered educational tools. A robust experience managing large teams and a proven track record in ambitious tech environments are required.

Qualifications

• Experience leading large-scale consumer product engineering organizations (100+ engineers).
• Track record of driving measurable impact on business outcomes.
• Ability to influence senior executives.

Responsibilities

• Lead engineering initiatives for the New Subjects pillar.
• Shape product and technical strategy balancing short- and long-term goals.
• Manage multiple engineering teams tackling AI content creation.

Skills

Large-scale consumer product engineering

Product strategy and execution

AI-powered product features

High-velocity engineering teams

Building high-performance teams

Job description

Edtech.com's Summary

Duolingo is hiring a Senior Director of Engineering, New Subjects to lead the development and scaling of their expanding educational products in Math, Music, and Chess. The role involves driving product and technical strategies, managing multiple engineering teams, and collaborating with Product, Design, and AI teams to shape the future of new learning subjects.

Highlights

• Lead engineering initiatives for the New Subjects pillar, including Math, Music, and Chess products.
• Shape product and technical strategy with a focus on balancing short‑term impact and long‑term goals.
• Collaborate with Product, Design, Learning, and AI teams to evolve educational offerings.
• Manage multiple engineering directors and teams tackling AI content creation, neural bots, and gameplay development.
• Ensure operational excellence in reliability, performance, and developer productivity.
• Drive high standards in engineering hiring, team leveling, and organizational design.
• Build a high‑velocity, experiment‑driven product organization with measurable business impact.
• Experience required managing large‑scale consumer product engineering teams (100+ engineers) and influencing senior leadership.
• Technical skills include scaling AI‑powered product features and leading experiment‑driven engineering cultures.
• Compensation range: $296,000 to $444,000 base salary plus equity compensation.

Senior Director of Engineering, New Subjects 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 is 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

Over the last few years, Duolingo has expanded beyond language learning into entirely new subjects: Math, Music, and Chess. These products reach millions of daily active users, are growing quickly, and represent a CEO‑level bet that Duolingo can become a platform for learning anything.

We're looking for a Senior Director of Engineering to co‑lead the New Subjects pillar, responsible for building and scaling products ranging from early stages through to some of the company's fastest‑growing initiatives.

This is a role for a builder. You'll make decisions about which subjects to invest in, how to allocate engineering resources across bets at different stages, when to continue investing and where to pivot.

You’ll partner closely with Product and Design to shape the future of the pillar while building the organization that delivers it.

This role is based in our New York, NY office on a hybrid (4+1) work schedule.

You will

• Drive the product and technical strategy across Math, Music, and Chess, balancing short‑term product impact with long‑term strategic goals.
• Partner strategically with Product, Design, Learning, and AI to evolve our strategy, including decisions on when and how to expand to additional subjects.
• Lead multiple engineering directors and their teams as they tackle some of the most interesting technical challenges in industry: AI‑based content creation and tutoring at scale, neural bots, and Unity‑based gameplay.
• Drive operational excellence across Duolingo's engineering org, including reliability, performance, developer productivity, and efficient execution at scale.
• Contribute to Duolingo's engineering hiring bar and talent systems, playing a central role in hiring decisions, leveling, and organizational design to maintain a high‑performance, high‑density team.
• Lead an organization that moves quickly, runs high‑quality experiments, and translates product insights into measurable business impact.
• Build and develop a strong leadership bench capable of bringing ambitious new products to market.

You have

• Experience leading large‑scale consumer product engineering organizations (100+ engineers), ideally across multiple high‑growth product experiences.
• Product instincts and experience partnering closely with senior product leadership to define strategy, not just execute against it.
• A track record of driving measurable impact on business outcomes, including growing early product development through significant company scale.
• Experience building or scaling LLM‑powered product features, with a strong interest in building engineering cultures that embrace AI‑first ways of working.
• Deep experience building and scaling high‑velocity, experiment‑driven product organizations, leading through multiple layers of leadership (senior directors, directors, EMs).
• A track record of building high‑performance, inclusive teams and making thoughtful, high‑judgment talent decisions.
• Ability to influence senior executives and drive clarity in ambiguous, cross‑functional situations.
• Ability to work from our New York, NY office on a 4+1 hybrid work schedule.

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:
$296,000–$444,000 USD

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 [e-mail].

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.