Senior Software Engineer, Chess

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.

The Chess team is building Duolingo's newest subject from the ground up, reimagining how millions of learners discover and play chess. As an engineer on the team, you'll build core gameplay experiences, own projects end-to-end, and run fast experiments to shape the future of the product. You'll work at the intersection of chess and AI to create adaptive, engaging features that make learning effective – and fun.

We’re looking for engineers who actively play chess, enjoy thinking deeply about the game, and want to help shape how it’s taught to millions of learners.

• Build and scale backend services that power Duolingo’s chess learning experience
• Help design features such as game review, move explanations, and chess learning systems
• Collaborate with AI researchers to develop more human-like chess experiences and insights
• Contribute your chess knowledge to help identify meaningful gameplay patterns and teaching moments
• Work closely with product, design, and engineering partners to run fast experiments

• A Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related technical field
• Experience programming in Java, Python, or Kotlin
• Interest in how AI can enhance products and user experiences
• Experience working in fast-moving product environments

• Active experience playing chess with a rating around 1200+ (or equivalent familiarity with the game) on platforms like , Lichess, or similar
• You play chess regularly and enjoy improving your game
• You can point to a rating or experience level
• You’re excited about helping others learn chess

$177,700—$240,400 USD

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.

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

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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