Senior Software Engineer, Backend, Monetization

Duolingo; United States; On-site; USD 113,000 - 152,000; Full time

Job summary

Duolingo is seeking a senior backend engineer to advance our monetization platform, building scalable APIs and services that power subscriptions, ads, and in-app purchases. You will collaborate with product, data science, ML, and ad operations to shape the technical direction and deliver high-impact features across global users.

You'll own backend priorities, drive milestones, and ensure robust, observable systems in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related 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

Responsibilities

• 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

Skills

Data structures & algorithms

Java, Python, or Kotlin

Database technologies

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science

Tools

OpenTelemetry

Grafana

Prometheus

DataDog

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...

The Monetization Pillar focuses on Duolingo’s key business drivers—subscriptions, ads, and in‑app purchases. Our goal is to build the best premium experiences for our learners while ensuring the sustainability and success of our business model. As a senior backend Engineer, you will play an instrumental role in the strategic direction of Duolingo by developing and refining the methods that make our monetization efforts more effective and efficient. You'll work cross functionally with product, design, data science, machine learning, and ad operations.

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 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: ¥804,949 — ¥1,088,971 CNY

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.

By applying for this position your data will be processed as per the Duolingo Applicant Privacy Notice.