Senior Director of Performance Marketing

Duolingo•New York, NY

14h•$236,800 - $355,200

About The Position

Duolingo is seeking a Senior Director of Performance Marketing to lead paid user acquisition across more than 100 markets and its language, chess, and math products. The role owns acquisition strategy, budget, team leadership, and accountability for measuring the impact of marketing spend. The Senior Director will lead and develop performance marketers, oversee a global multichannel acquisition portfolio, establish rigorous measurement practices, and translate channel results into investment plans for executive leadership. The role also builds scalable creative production and testing, manages agency and ad tech partners, and coordinates spend with the organic calendar in partnership with Social, Brand, and Country Marketing. Close collaboration with Marketing Analytics, Finance, Product, Engineering, and Creative is central to the position. Applicants must submit a portfolio with relevant work samples; portfolio submission is mandatory. Compensation includes base salary and equity. The posted base salary range is $236,800–$355,200 USD and may change. The offered salary depends on factors including experience, skills, and internal peer comparisons.

Requirements

12+ years of experience in performance marketing or paid user acquisition.
5+ years leading teams, including managers reporting to you.
A track record of owning a large, multichannel mobile acquisition budget at a top subscription or high-engagement consumer app.
Deep experience building and defending incrementality tests, saturation analysis, and LTV/ROAS models, rather than only reporting on them.
Judgment and integrity to recommend cutting spend when returns do not support it.
Fluency with mobile attribution, including MMPs, SKAN, and privacy-constrained measurement.
Experience partnering with Product and Engineering on measurement and attribution infrastructure, onboarding and landing experiences for paid users, and tests connecting acquisition to retention.
Clear, fast written communication, from channel tactics to executive- and board-level ROI discussions.
A portfolio link showcasing relevant work samples; submission is mandatory for consideration.

Nice To Haves

Experience running user acquisition in China or other walled-garden ecosystems.
Experience scaling creator or UGC programs alongside performance creative.
Experience managing acquisition across multiple products or apps.
A passion for Duolingo’s mission.

Responsibilities

Lead and grow a team of performance marketers, including managers, while setting expectations for craft, rigor, and ownership.
Own the global paid acquisition budget and channel portfolio across Google, Apple Search Ads, Meta, TikTok, AppLovin, DSPs, and China platforms; determine where to scale, hold, or reduce investment as efficiency changes.
Set measurement standards, including incrementality testing, saturation modeling, and LTV and ROI frameworks trusted by Finance.
Translate channel performance into annual and in-year investment plans and defend those plans with executive leadership.
Build scalable creative production using agency, UGC, creator, and in-house work, supported by testing infrastructure to identify effective creative quickly.
Manage agency and ad tech partners and hold them accountable for goals, pacing, and quality.
Adjust spend in coordination with the organic calendar, including product launches, seasonal changes, and viral moments, in partnership with Social, Brand, and Country Marketing.
Partner closely with Marketing Analytics, Finance, Product, Engineering, and Creative.