Curriculum Designer / Linguist / Polyglot

Our mission at Duolingo is to develop the best education in the world and make it universally available. But we’ve got more left to do — and that’s where you come in!

Duolingo is the world’s most popular learning app. Beyond our core learning product, we also offer English proficiency testing with the Duolingo English Test, and are bringing new subjects into the Duolingo app, where people can develop their Math and Music skills.

We are passionate about educating our users, making fact-based decisions, and finding innovative solutions to complex problems. We offer meaningful work, limitless learning opportunities, and collaboration with world-class minds. Come brighten your life and over half a billion more!

We are looking for an outstanding language enthusiast and educator with a strong background in linguistics, languages, language typology, and language teaching. Our ideal candidate is a polyglot energized by diving into languages they don’t (yet) know, with a passion for developing language-learning materials and a combination of analytical and creative skills. At Duolingo, you will have an opportunity to apply your skills and knowledge in a fast-paced, collaborative environment, where you see the immediate impact of your work on millions of learners worldwide. Note that the official title for this role is “Learning Designer”.

You Will…

• Work side by side with other learning designers, project managers, and engineers to deliver high-quality course curricula and content for a variety of languages
• Leverage generative AI for creating content that is fun, accessible, and targets learners at specific proficiency levels
• Use your “generalist” linguistic skills to effectively work across different languages, consulting subject matter experts as needed
• Review, edit, and proofread learning materials for our language courses
• Train and supervise other course content creators

You Have…

• Linguistics background. You have an MA (or equivalent experience) in linguistics, applied linguistics, language (with a linguistic focus), or a related field.
• Language knowledge. You have basic proficiency in multiple languages, including at least two of the following: Spanish, French, German, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean. You can quickly get up to speed on the key properties of unfamiliar languages.
• Curriculum design and teaching experience. You have taught at least one language other than English, and have strong skills in designing language curricula.
• Analytical thinking. You can think about language in a structured and analytical way. For example, you excel at breaking down grammatical concepts into smaller parts for the purposes of teaching.
• Creativity. You think outside the box and have excellent intuitions about how to build content that is engaging to a wide range of learners.
• Excellent collaboration skills. You have outstanding interpersonal and communication skills. You give and receive feedback well, and you build and maintain strong professional relationships with colleagues.
• Operational focus. You are organized and efficient, and strive to continuously improve your workflow and processes.

Exceptional Candidates Will Have…

• PhD in linguistics or a related field
• Experience working in EdTech
• Familiarity with language standards such as CEFR or ACTFL
• Experience managing people and projects
• Advanced proficiency in multiple languages

Why you’ll love working here…

• Language-learning opportunities
• In-house breakfast and lunch options
• Company-wide Hackathon
• Generous paid time off and company holidays
• Frequent team dinners, monthly celebrations, social clubs, and so much more!
• Dedicated mentorship and colleagues who are both competent and caring
• Find out more by visiting our blog
• EEOC + Reasonable accommodation info automatically included in all Greenhouse job postings

About Organization

Our mission is to develop the best education in the world and make it universally available. Duolingo is the most downloaded education app in the history of the App Store and in 2019 became the top-grossing education app worldwide.

We set out to do something altogether different in the learning space. Learning a new language is hard; we believe it should be fun. We use bite-sized lessons that feel like playing a game to keep our learners motivated. Learning a new language can also be expensive, and because we believe it should be free, we made it so.

Duolingo has been named to: BuiltIn's Best Places to Work (2023), Fast Company Best Workplaces for Innovators (2022), Fast Company 10 Most Innovative Education Company (2022), among others.