Senior Director of Performance Marketing

Duolingo; New York (NY); On-site; USD 237,000 - 355,000; Full time

Job summary

Duolingo is seeking a Senior Director of Performance Marketing to lead the team responsible for paid user acquisition across 100+ markets and multiple products. You will own the strategy, budget, and people, and defend investment decisions with rigorous ROI analysis.

You will build scalable measurement and creative programs, partner with Product, Engineering, Finance, and Marketing teams, and drive initiatives that maximize long-term value and growth for a global audience.

Qualifications

• 12+ years in performance marketing or paid UA.
• 5+ years leading teams with managers reporting to you.
• Own a large multichannel mobile acquisition budget at a top app.
• Experience building incrementality tests, saturation analysis, and LTV/ROAS models.
• Judgment to cut spend when returns don’t support it.
• Fluency with mobile attribution and privacy constrained measurement.
• Experience partnering with Product and Engineering on measurement infrastructure.
• Clear, fast written communication for executive ROI discussions.

Responsibilities

• Lead and grow a team of performance marketers.
• Own global paid acquisition budget across Google, Apple Search Ads, Meta, TikTok, AppLovin, DSPs, and China platforms.
• Set the measurement standard for the team: incrementality testing, saturation modeling, and LTV/ROAS frameworks.
• Translate channel performance into annual and in year investment plans, and defend them with executive leadership.
• Build scalable creative production mixing agency, UGC, creator, and in-house work with testing infrastructure.
• Manage agency and ad tech partners, holding them accountable to goals, pacing, and quality.
• Flex spend with the organic calendar, in partnership with Social, Brand, and Country Marketing.
• Partner closely with Marketing Analytics, Finance, Product, Engineering, and Creative.

Skills

Performance marketing

Team leadership

Multichannel UA

Incrementality testing

LTV/ROAS models

Mobile attribution (MMPs/SKAN)

Executive communication

Budget ownership

China UA experience

Tools

MMPs/SKAN

Job description

Senior Director of Performance Marketing

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 educating our users, experimenting with big ideas, making fact-based decisions, and finding innovative solutions to complex problems. You'll have limitless learning opportunities and daily collaborations with world-class minds — while doing work that's both meaningful and fun.

Join our life-changing mission to develop education for our half a billion (and growing!) learners around the world.

We're looking for a Senior Director of Performance Marketing to lead the team that drives Duolingo's paid user acquisition across 100+ markets and our language, chess, and math products. You'll own the strategy, the budget, and the people, and you'll be accountable for proving what our spend actually buys.

• Lead and grow a team of performance marketers, including managers, and set a high bar for craft, rigor, and ownership
• Own the global paid acquisition budget and portfolio across Google, Apple Search Ads, Meta, TikTok, AppLovin, DSPs, and China platforms, deciding where to scale, hold, or pull back as efficiency changes
• Set the measurement standard for the team: incrementality testing, saturation modeling, and LTV and ROI frameworks that Finance trusts
• Translate channel performance into annual and in year investment plans, and defend them with executive leadership
• Build creative production that scales, combining agency, UGC, creator, and in house work with testing infrastructure that finds winners fast
• Manage agency and ad tech partners, holding them accountable to goals, pacing, and quality
• Flex spend with the organic calendar, including product launches, seasonal swings, and viral moments, in partnership with Social, Brand, and Country Marketing
• Partner closely with Marketing Analytics, Finance, Product, Engineering, and Creative

You have...

• 12+ years in performance marketing or paid UA, including 5+ years leading teams with managers reporting to you
• A track record of owning a large, multichannel mobile acquisition budget at a top subscription or high engagement consumer app
• Deep experience building and defending incrementality tests, saturation analysis, and LTV/ROAS models, not just reporting on them
• The judgment and integrity to recommend cutting spend when returns don't support it
• Fluency with mobile attribution (MMPs, SKAN, privacy constrained measurement)
• Experience partnering with Product and Engineering on measurement and attribution infrastructure, onboarding and landing experiences for paid users, and tests that connect acquisition to retention.
• Clear, fast written communication, from channel tactics to executive and board level ROI discussions

Exceptional candidates will have...

• Experience running UA in China or other walled garden ecosystems
• Experience scaling creator or UGC programs alongside performance creative
• Experience managing acquisition across multiple products or apps

Accommodations: 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].

Equal Employment Opportunity: 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.

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

$236,800 - $355,200 USD

AI in Hiring

Duolingo uses AI technology to assist in our hiring process. We want to be transparent about how we use this technology and your rights. We use Greenhouse Software's Talent Matching feature to assist with reviewing applications for the skills and experience we have decided are important for this role.

How it works

• Talent Matching reviews your resume and responses to application questions to determine the extent to which your qualifications match the job requirements selected for this role. These requirements and their desired weighting are established by our recruiters in collaboration with hiring managers.
• All Talent Matching output is reviewed by our recruiting and hiring teams, who make the final decision on each application. Talent Matching does not automatically disposition any candidate or make hiring decisions.