🧠 You will...
Define and drive the roadmap for high-impact, cross-functional initiatives in the Growth pillar and beyond, aligning engineering and product leadership around a shared vision, sequencing the work, and holding teams accountable to outcomes.
Lead organizational change management as engineering teams adopt new ways of working — building alignment, communicating progress to executives and ICs alike, and helping teams internalize new processes and tooling.
Lead the delivery of strategic, high-impact cross-functional initiatives from conceptualization to launch, operating with significant autonomy across multiple workstreams.
Partner with engineering, product, data science, QA, and executive leadership to ensure communication and alignment; serve as the connective tissue between Duolingo strategy and day-to-day execution.
Leverage deep technical expertise to develop detailed plans with key milestones and goals, identify and mitigate risks, resolve dependencies, remove blockers, and ensure timely and smooth launches.
Drive decisions when difficult tradeoffs must be made, including those with cross-organizational or company-level impact; model how to navigate hard problems with analytical rigor and a calm, decisive presence.
Identify systemic issues impacting delivery efficiency company-wide and take swift, collaborative action to resolve them.
Guide and develop other TPMs and engineering leads, scaling best practices across teams and continuously improving how the organization operates.
✅ You have...
Proven experience as a TPM, Engineering Lead, or Engineering Manager.
B.S. or M.S. in Computer Science or equivalent degree or experience.
Demonstrated experience leading large-scale technical transformation programs with measurable organizational impact - you've shifted how engineering organizations think and work, not just shipped projects.
Strong executive presence and influence in a matrix environment - able to build conviction among skeptics, align competing priorities across senior leadership, and drive decisions without direct authority.
Deep technical credibility - enough to challenge architectural assumptions, spot delivery risks early, and earn the trust of strong engineers.
Proven ability to build and implement detailed plans that account for ambiguity, dependencies, and technical complexity - and to re-plan quickly when things change, without losing team confidence or momentum.
A track record of standing up new programs or practices from scratch in ambiguous, high-visibility environments.
Ability to relocate to NYC.
⭐ Exceptional candidates will have...
Strong knowledge of software engineering, systems engineering, or similar hands-on technical experience, in addition to program management experience.
Strong conceptual fluency in LLM-based products and AI infrastructure - enough to ask the right questions, challenge technical assumptions, and identify delivery risks.
Experience running programs that include machine learning, large datasets, or AI/ML infrastructure.
Experience working with AWS at scale.
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
$181,600—$272,400 USD
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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 accommodations@duolingo.com.
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.
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