VP of Learning Design

Duolingo • Pittsburgh, NY

3d • Hybrid

About The Position

Duolingo is seeking a VP of Learning Design to lead its 40+ person Learning Experience (LX) organization and improve learning experiences across language, math, music, and chess. The role focuses on building a strong organization and developing its people while helping shape how Duolingo teaches. The VP leads through directors and other senior leaders, strengthens learning design and product capabilities, and ensures the organization delivers results in partnership with Product, Design, Engineering, and Data. The position is based in the New York or Pittsburgh office and follows a hybrid 4+1 schedule. It reports to the VP of Learning Experience.

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 more effective learning experiences.
• Build and develop 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 cross-functional forums, build strong partnerships, and help LX leaders influence product decisions and resolve cross-team challenges.

Benefits

• Equity compensation supplements base salary.
• Employee benefits are referenced on the company's benefits page, but specific benefits are not listed in the posting.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Executive
• Education Level: No Education Listed