Lead UX Researcher

Our mission at Duolingo is to develop the best education in the world and make it universally available. But we’ve got more left to do — and that's where you come in!

Duolingo is the most popular language-learning application in the world, with over 500 million users and over half a billion exercises completed daily. Beyond our core learning product, we have also entered into literacy with Duolingo ABC and English proficiency testing with the Duolingo English Test.

We are passionate about educating our users, making fact-based decisions, and finding innovative solutions to complex problems. We offer meaningful work, limitless learning opportunities, and collaboration with world-class minds. Come brighten your life and over half a billion more!

We are looking to hire a Senior or Staff User Experience Researcher to help us answer foundational questions about Duolingo learners, around the world.

This role will focus largely on product initiatives for Duolingo’s growth, and identifying new features and functionality to answer learner needs in key markets. This role has the opportunity for management of other UX Researchers. 

You Will...

• Identify and define impactful research opportunities working with product managers (PMs), product designers, curriculum experts, regional marketing managers, and executive leaders
• Design and conduct foundational and evaluative research to guide executive decision-making
• Glean insights that are concrete and valuable to company leadership and product teams
• Work with PMs and designers to run usability studies of new designs and features
• Craft compelling narratives about our learners’ needs, attitudes, aspirations, expectations, obstacles, and motivations
• Own relationships and the insight quality bar for research vendor partnerships

You Have...

• Strong communication skills. A knack for getting to the heart of the matter, telling stories and being convincing—making the opaque feel obvious in hindsight. Ability to ask, as well as answer, meaningful and impactful research questions.
• Product sense. You have hands-on experience shaping product decisions. Familiarity with the levers of product growth and user retention. 
• Leadership. The proven track record to lead others through difficult problem solving and project pivots. Encouraging a sense of collaboration and showcasing thought leadership appropriate for the given situation.

Requirements:

• 4+ years of experience leading user research projects, ideally at a consumer-focused product company
• Bachelor’s degree in Human Factors, Cognitive Psychology, Education, Human-Computer Interaction or a related field
• Expertise in a variety of qualitative research methods and frameworks, such as ethnography, contextual inquiry, running diary studies, creating segmentations, mapping user journeys, conducting card sorts and usability studies
• Comfort with quantitative research methods, including surveys and statistical analysis
• Ability to work full-time from or relocate to Pittsburgh, Seattle, or New York City

Exceptional Candidates Will Have...

• Managerial experience
• An advanced degree in Anthropology, Statistics, Human-Computer Interaction or a related field
• Proficiency in multiple languages — the ability to conduct primary research in non-English
• Experience conducting international research in Brazil, Mexico, Japan, Germany, or China
• Experience thriving in a startup environment
• Experience working with consumer products for gaming or education
• Knowledge of SQL

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 your recruiter.

We aim to return to office, and as such are requiring all employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Take a peek at how we care for our employees' holistic well-being with our benefits here.