Staff Software Engineer, Backend

Duolingo; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 200,000 - 360,000; Full time

Job summary

Duolingo is seeking a Staff Engineer for the DevX AI Team, responsible for enhancing engineering effectiveness through AI-driven tools. The ideal candidate will have strong programming skills, proven ability in full stack development, and a passion for creating user-friendly products. This role offers the chance to work with cutting-edge technologies while mentoring a talented team and influencing future engineering strategies.

Benefits

Limitless learning opportunities

Mentorship

Collaboration with world-class minds

Holistic employee well-being initiatives

Qualifications

• 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.

Responsibilities

• 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.

Skills

Data Structures

Algorithms

Software Design

Programming in Java

Programming in Python

Programming in Kotlin

Full Stack Development

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science

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 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

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

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 [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.

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

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