Job Title: Software Engineer - Chess

Company Name: Duolingo

Job Url: https://boards.greenhouse.io/embed/job_app?token=8445379002&utm_source=jobright&jr_id=69a6ebb176bbe83d3afa4037

Job Description: About the role...

The Chess team is building Duolingo's newest subject from the ground up, reimagining how millions of learners discover and play chess. As an engineer on the team, you'll build core gameplay experiences, own projects end-to-end, and run fast experiments to shape the future of the product. You'll work at the intersection of chess and AI to create adaptive, engaging features that make learning effective – and fun. We’re looking for engineers who actively play chess, enjoy thinking deeply about the game, and want to help shape how it’s taught to millions of learners.

🧠  You will...

Build and scale backend services that power Duolingo’s chess learning experience
Help design features such as game review, move explanations, and chess learning systems
Collaborate with AI researchers to develop more human-like chess experiences and insights
Contribute your chess knowledge to help identify meaningful gameplay patterns and teaching moments
Work closely with product, design, and engineering partners to run fast experiments
 

✅  You have...

A Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related technical field
Experience programming in Java, Python, or Kotlin
Interest in how AI can enhance products and user experiences
Experience working in fast-moving product environments
 

⭐  Exceptional candidates will have...

Active experience playing chess with a rating around 1200+ (or equivalent familiarity with the game) on platforms like Chess.com, Lichess, or similar
You play chess regularly and enjoy improving your game
You can point to a rating or experience level
You’re excited about helping others learn chess
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:
$177,700—$240,400 USD