VP of Learning Design

Duolingo•Pittsburgh, PA

5d•$330,000 - $550,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Duolingo is seeking a VP of Learning Design to lead its 40+ person Learning Experience (LX) organization and improve the effectiveness, motivation, and memorability of lessons for learners around the world. The role reports to the VP of Learning Experience and focuses primarily on building a strong organization and developing its people. The VP will lead through directors and other senior leaders, strengthen learning design and product capabilities, and help LX deliver results in partnership with Product, Design, Engineering, and Data across language, math, music, and chess. The position is based in Duolingo’s New York or Pittsburgh office and follows a hybrid 4+1 schedule. The role offers a base salary of $330,000–$550,000 USD, supplemented by equity compensation. The salary offered depends on factors including work experience, skills, and internal peer comparisons.

Requirements

Experience leading a multidisciplinary organization through directors and other senior leaders in a fast-moving, product-led environment.
A track record of developing strong leaders, empowering teams to take ownership, and delivering results through others.
Meaningful grounding in learning design, learning science, or a related discipline, with the judgment to coach experts and connect learning principles to product decisions.
Experience shaping consumer products through teams, including using AI to accelerate product development or content generation.
Excellent executive communication and judgment, including the ability to make difficult tradeoffs, influence senior leaders across functions, and lead through ambiguity and change.
Ability to work from or relocate to New York, NY or Pittsburgh, PA, on a hybrid 4+1 schedule.

Nice To Haves

Experience building AI-powered learning experiences or systems for generating and evaluating learning content at scale.
Experience at a founder-led or rapidly scaling consumer technology company.
Significant experience using Duolingo and opinions about how to make it better.

Responsibilities

Identify opportunities to improve how Duolingo teaches and guide LX leaders in turning them into better learning experiences.
Build a high-performing LX organization and leadership team, including organizational design, hiring, leadership development, performance management, succession planning, and team health.
Ensure LX delivers on its commitments by allocating resources to high-impact work, holding leaders accountable for results, and helping them resolve obstacles.
Strengthen product capabilities across LX by coaching leaders on product decisions, clear specifications and roadmaps, Product Review presentations, and using AI to ship small experiments independently.
Represent LX in key cross-functional forums, build strong partnerships, and help LX leaders influence product decisions and resolve cross-team challenges.