Staff Software Engineer, Backend

Duolingo; Pittsburgh (Allegheny County); On-site; USD 200,000 - 360,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company in the education sector, Duolingo is seeking a Staff Software Engineer, Backend to enhance their backend services and developer tools. You will be part of a dynamic environment focused on innovative solutions, mentorship, and large-scale impactful projects aimed at improving learning for millions globally.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• Experience programming in Java, Python, or Kotlin.
• Strong competencies in data structures, algorithms, and software design.

Responsibilities

• Develop, release, and maintain backend services.
• Collaborate on cross-company projects.
• Mentor junior engineers and lead project initiatives.

Skills

Strong competencies in data structures

Algorithms

Software design

Programming in Java

Python

Kotlin

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related technical field

Job description

Join to apply for the Staff Software Engineer, Backend role at Duolingo

Join to apply for the Staff Software Engineer, Backend role at Duolingo

Get AI-powered advice on this job and more exclusive features.

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.

Below you can find more information about the teams we're hiring for:

DevX AI Team

The DevX AI team empowers engineers at Duolingo to be more effective, by introducing AI-infused tools that simplify workflows and reduce friction and toil. As a Staff Engineer in the team, you’ll play a pivotal role in shaping the future of engineering at Duolingo. You will define the strategy and architecture of AI-driven developer tools, mentor senior engineers, and drive high-leverage initiatives that touch every part of our software lifecycle. You will build developer tooling that amplify the impact of engineers, including productionizing an MCP infrastructure to connect with AI coding agents.

You will...

• Develop, release, and maintain backend services and/or infrastructure
• Introduce and iterate on developer tools, and advocate for adoption
• Collaborate on projects with developers across the company
• 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
• Experience working closely with customers, and building products that they love
  
  

Exceptional candidates will have...

• Industry experience with full stack development for iOS or Android
• Industry experience building high-traffic products using public cloud providers
• Experience integrating AI/ML systems into developer-facing tools, including prompt design, model evaluation, or agent workflow orchestration
  
  

We post a multi-level salary range for all of our roles.

This is not inclusive of the rest of our awesome portfolio that includes equity compensation and world-class benefits. Our salary ranges are the same for all US locations. Your recruiter can share more details about the range for a specific level during the hiring process. The actual salary within the range is determined by many factors including but not limited to, skills, experience, education, and internal equity.

Salary Range

$200,000—$360,000 USD

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 [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.

Seniority level

• Seniority level

  Mid-Senior level

Employment type

• Employment type

  Full-time

Job function

• Job function

  Engineering and Information Technology

• Industries

  Software Development

Referrals increase your chances of interviewing at Duolingo by 2x

Get notified about new Staff Software Engineer jobs in Pittsburgh, PA.

Software Engineer Principal Sr (Network Security)

Senior Product Engineer (Software as a Medical Device)

Pittsburgh, PA $101,000.00-$190,001.00 2 weeks ago

Pittsburgh, PA $191,000.00-$306,000.00 4 days ago

Lead Mechanical Engineer - Pittsburgh, PA

Pittsburgh, PA $148,800.00-$274,600.00 6 days ago

Software Engineer - Senior - SOFTW017896

Staff Software Engineer - Scalable Systems & Infrastructure

Pittsburgh, PA $55,000.00-$158,700.00 22 hours ago

Senior Software Development Engineer in Test

Senior C++ Embedded Software Integration Engineer

Pittsburgh, PA $90,500.00-$145,000.00 1 month ago

Pittsburgh, PA $65,000.00-$165,600.00 2 days ago

Senior Software Engineer, Fleet Operations

Senior Backend Software Developer (Remote)

Software Engineer Lead - Kafka/Microservices/Unix/Linux

Senior Software Engineer, Commerce, AI/ML

Pittsburgh, PA $166,000.00-$244,000.00 2 days ago

Staff Software Engineer, Site Reliability Engineering, Google Cloud

Pittsburgh, PA $197,000.00-$291,000.00 1 week ago

Pittsburgh, PA $88,500.00-$120,000.00 1 month ago

Pittsburgh, PA $65,000.00-$165,500.00 1 month ago

Senior Software Engineer (Java, Python, Kafka, Jenkins, Spark)

Pittsburgh, PA $55,000.00-$152,375.00 1 month ago

Greater Pittsburgh Region $214,000.00-$309,000.00 2 weeks ago

We’re unlocking community knowledge in a new way. Experts add insights directly into each article, started with the help of AI.