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Staff AI Research Engineer

Duolingo Pittsburgh, PA Full-time AI + Machine Learning Engineering Posted Jun 26, 2026
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What it’s like to work at Duolingo

AI-Powered Language Learning · Pittsburgh

4.2
Employee Rating
3.8
Work-Life Balance
64
Open Roles
product-impactlearningsocial-impactship-fastequity

What employees love

  • World's #1 education app with 800M+ users — genuine social impact at massive scale
  • Strong product culture with collaborative teams and daily communal lunches

What could be better

  • Compensation ~80% of FAANG levels — the mission is expected to compensate the gap
  • 3-day in-office requirement is strictly enforced — not a flexible hybrid policy
View full Duolingo culture profile →

About the Role

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.


About the role...

We are looking for an experienced AI Research Engineer to join our Duolingo Monetization team. The ideal candidate will have a proven track record as an AI research engineer, with extensive experience across various machine learning techniques including large language models, multi-armed bandits, and more. They will have experience at all levels of the ML stack, including feature engineering, developing training data, fine-tuning, reinforcement learning, quality evaluations, deployment, and monitoring. On the Monetization team, we’re building AI systems to improve the learning experience while driving our business, including deploying our research into bandit models to balance revenue and retention. Given the broad set of AI domains, broad experience in AI/ML is highly desirable.

🧠 You will...

✅ You have...


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:
$220,800$331,200 USD

Benefits: Take a peek at how we care for our employees' holistic well-being with our benefits here.

Job Alerts: Sign up for job alerts here.

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.

Fraud Warning: 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.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the work-life balance like at Duolingo?
Duolingo has a work-life balance score of 3.8/5 based on employee reviews. This is about average for the AI/tech industry.
What is Duolingo’s culture like?
Duolingo is characterized by these culture values: product-impact, learning, social-impact, ship-fast, equity. Based on employee reviews, the company has an overall rating of 4.2/5. World's #1 education app with 800M+ users — genuine social impact at massive scale
How many open roles does Duolingo have?
Duolingo currently has 64 open roles across departments including engineering, product, sales, and more. Roles are refreshed daily from their careers page.
Is this role remote-friendly?
This role is located in Pittsburgh, PA. Check the job description above for specific location and remote work details.
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