Senior Scaling Operations Program Manager

Socket.dev; Pittsburgh (Allegheny County); On-site; USD 143,000 - 193,000; Full time

Job summary

Duolingo is seeking a Senior Scaling Operations Program Manager to join our scaling operations team in Pittsburgh, PA or New York City, NY. You will lead cross-functional programs from definition through launch, aligning Engineering, Learning & Curriculum, and Product to deliver scalable, high-quality outcomes.

You'll design durable workflows, manage risks, set SLAs and KPIs, and partner with engineering to mature systems for reliability and observability.

Qualifications

• Experience in program or operations management leading complex, cross-functional initiatives end-to-end in product, platform, content, or operations domains.
• A track record of designing and scaling systems or workflows that improved speed, quality, and efficiency across multiple teams or markets at the scale of millions of users.
• Demonstrated ability to create clarity from ambiguity, drive alignment without authority, and make sound, ROI-focused decisions.
• Strong operational rigor: you set clear goals, define SLAs/KPIs, manage risk and dependencies, and communicate crisply with executives and partners.
• Technical fluency partnering with engineering to shape specs, roadmaps, and tooling for scale; comfortable with data to inform prioritization and tradeoffs.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and experience working with stakeholders across Engineering, Learning & Curriculum, Product, and Finance.
• The ability to work from or relocate to Pittsburgh, PA or New York City, NY.

Responsibilities

• Lead high-leverage, cross-functional programs from definition through launch and scale, creating clarity in ambiguous problem spaces and driving decisions across stakeholders in Engineering, Learning & Curriculum, and Product.
• Design and implement durable, tech-forward workflows and standards that reduce manual effort and enable reliable, repeatable execution at scale.
• Orchestrate execution across multiple teams, sequencing dependencies, managing risk, and establishing SLAs, KPIs, and operating cadences that keep programs on track.
• Build decision frameworks and business cases that balance impact, scale, cost, complexity, and confidence; model tradeoffs and recommend paths forward.
• Shrink “time to launch” and “time to scale” by introducing process improvements, documentation, and tooling that pave the road behind each release.
• Partner closely with engineering to mature systems for stability, observability, and resilience; define specs and roadmaps where needed to support scale.
• Align functions early and often to surface risks, close context gaps, and reduce surprises; serve as the connective tissue enabling fast, confident delivery.
• Measure outcomes rigorously and iterate: set success metrics, run post-launch assessments, and turn bespoke wins into adaptable workstreams.

Skills

Program management

Cross-functional leadership

Data-driven decisions

Stakeholder management

Technical fluency

Job 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 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.

Read our blog to learn more.

About the role

Scaling Operations is Duolingo’s 1-to-a-billion function. We turn promising ideas into reliable, scalable systems so teams can move faster without multiplying headcount or complexity. As a Senior Scaling Operations Program Manager, you’ll be an embedded operational and strategic partner who owns cross-functional programs from ambiguity to impact. You will design and run workflows, align engineering, product, and content partners, and measure what matters so we can launch faster, scale smarter, and increase quality with less effort. This role is based in Pittsburgh, PA or New York City, NY.

You will

• Lead high-leverage, cross-functional programs from definition through launch and scale, creating clarity in ambiguous problem spaces and driving decisions across stakeholders in Engineering, Learning & Curriculum, and Product.
• Design and implement durable, tech-forward workflows and standards that reduce manual effort and enable reliable, repeatable execution at scale.
• Orchestrate execution across multiple teams, sequencing dependencies, managing risk, and establishing SLAs, KPIs, and operating cadences that keep programs on track.
• Build decision frameworks and business cases that balance impact, scale, cost, complexity, and confidence; model tradeoffs and recommend paths forward.
• Shrink “time to launch” and “time to scale” by introducing process improvements, documentation, and tooling that pave the road behind each release.
• Partner closely with engineering to mature systems for stability, observability, and resilience; define specs and roadmaps where needed to support scale.
• Align functions early and often to surface risks, close context gaps, and reduce surprises; serve as the connective tissue enabling fast, confident delivery.
• Measure outcomes rigorously and iterate: set success metrics, run post-launch assessments, and turn bespoke wins into adaptable workstreams.

You have

• Experience in program or operations management leading complex, cross-functional initiatives end-to-end in product, platform, content, or operations domains.
• A track record of designing and scaling systems or workflows that improved speed, quality, and efficiency across multiple teams or markets at the scale of millions of users.
• Demonstrated ability to create clarity from ambiguity, drive alignment without authority, and make sound, ROI-focused decisions.
• Strong operational rigor: you set clear goals, define SLAs/KPIs, manage risk and dependencies, and communicate crisply with executives and partners.
• Technical fluency partnering with engineering to shape specs, roadmaps, and tooling for scale; comfortable with data to inform prioritization and tradeoffs.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and experience working with stakeholders across Engineering, Learning & Curriculum, Product, and Finance.
• The ability to work from or relocate to Pittsburgh, PA or New York City, NY.

Exceptional candidates will have

• Experience rapidly scaling operations or content across many languages, markets, or products, with measurable improvements in time‑to‑launch, time‑to‑scale or quality.
• Proven wins turning 0-to-1 programs into durable systems, including establishing evaluation loops, automation, or expert workflows.
• Experience building decision frameworks that enabled shifts to new operating models or technologies (e.g., AI-assisted scaling) with clear cost/quality outcomes.
• Background working at the intersection of engineering, content, and product, maturing systems for reliability and observability at scale.

Salary Range

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.

$142,800 — $193,200 USD

Benefits

Take a peek at how we care for our employees' holistic well-being with our benefits here.

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.