Software Engineer I at Duolingo

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...

We’re looking for a Software Engineer I to join our China team. In this role, you’ll build and ship features that drive user growth and deliver high-quality learning experiences to millions of learners in China. You’ll work closely with product managers, designers to create engaging, localized experiences tailored to this market.

This is an opportunity to contribute to a fast-moving, high-impact team focused on one of Duolingo’s most important growth regions. You’ll gain experience working across the stack (backend and client), running experiments, and collaborating cross-functionally to improve key metrics like daily active users (DAU).

🧠 You will...

Collaborate with product managers and designers to drive user growth in China.

Work with Government Relations (GR) and cross-functional partners to ensure product compliance in China

Lead individual project priorities, deadlines, and deliverables

Contribute to code reviews and collaborate across teams to ensure quality and scalability

✅ You have...

Graduated or will graduate with a B.S. or M.S. degree in Computer Science or related technical field (i.e. math, physics, or data science) before summer 2026

0–1 years of experience programming in one or more of: Java, Python, Kotlin, or Swift

Dedication to our mission of universally available education

Relocation to Beijing, China. This position is based in Beijing.

⭐ Exceptional candidates will have...

A GPA of 3.6+

A Duolingo streak

Proficient in both spoken and written English.

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 [email protected].

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.

Unfortunately, there is a rise in scammers pretending to be real Duolingo employees. Duolingo and our employees will never ask for your Social Security number, bank details, or passport info, and we’ll never ask you to deposit a check, purchase equipment, or exchange money during the interview process. Real Duolingo employees always use an email that ends in @duolingo.com or @recruiting.duolingo.com. Stay alert and double-check these details before sharing any information.