Description
Our mission at Duolingo is to develop the best education in the world and make it universally available.
At Duolingo, you'll join a team that cares about educating our users, experimenting with big ideas, making fact-based decisions, and finding innovative solutions to complex problems.
We're seeking a Head of Duolingo Academy to design the strategy, build and deliver high-impact learning experiences for our leaders (with an initial emphasis on managers of managers), and scale a cohesive capability-building system that strengthens leader impact across the company.
This high-visibility role partners closely with People leadership and senior executives to translate company priorities and values into practical, measurable learning that grows with Duolingo.
You will:
- Define the vision, strategy, and operating model for Duolingo Academy, starting with leadership development (managers of managers) and expanding into adjacent capability areas over time.
- Design, deliver, and iterate on a portfolio of leadership programs, frameworks (e.g., toolkits, guides, rubrics), and learning journeys (e.g., live, virtual, asynchronous) aligned to business priorities and Duolingo's values, and ensuring consistency and a high-quality learning experience at scale.
- Design and oversee coaching, expert-led, and cohort-based learning programs (e.g., executive coaching, internal/external experts, communities of practice) to deepen leader capability and support individualized development.
- Establish clear success metrics and measurement practices (e.g., participant NPS, outcome metrics), review data and feedback regularly, and continuously improve programs based on impact.
- Partner with and serve as a trusted advisor to People leadership, function heads, and cross-functional stakeholders to align Duolingo Academy with talent strategies (e.g., performance, career ladders) and company priorities.
- Leverage Duolingo's existing leadership offerings and integrate complementary learning pathways to create a cohesive, end-to-end leader development experience.
- Pilot, scale, and communicate Duolingo Academy programs and outcomes to executives, and refine the roadmap and resourcing plan as Duolingo Academy proves impact and evolves with the organization.
You have:
- Extensive experience designing and delivering leadership development or capability-building programs, with a strong grasp of adult learning, program design principles and the science of teaching.
- A background as a successful leader and operator (ideally in Engineering, Product or Design) in addition to leadership coaching and development (not traditional L&D).
- Demonstrated ability to assess leadership needs, translate them into practical and sticky learning experiences, and facilitate engaging sessions for senior audiences.
- A track record of building scalable learning systems and content (frameworks, toolkits, assets) and measuring impact using data and feedback.
- Exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence and partner with senior leaders across functions in dynamic, high-growth environments.
- Comfort operating with ambiguity, simplifying the complex, and shipping high-quality work on tight timelines with a hands-on builder’s mindset.
- The ability to work from or relocate to Pittsburgh, PA or New York, NY.
Exceptional candidates will have:
- Experience establishing a flagship, company-wide learning program and scaling it from V1 to a durable, high-impact function.
- Expertise connecting leadership development to broader capability building (e.g., manager effectiveness, decision-making, communication, AI fluency).
- Familiarity integrating leadership programs with performance systems and career ladder enablement to manage organizational change at scale.
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.
Salary Range: $228,000-$342,000 USD