Language Measurement Scientist

Our mission at Duolingo is to develop the best education in the world and make it universally available. It’s a big mission, and that’s where you come in!

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. You’ll have limitless learning opportunities and daily collaborations with world-class minds — while doing work that’s both meaningful and fun.

Join our life-changing mission to develop education for our half a billion (and growing!) learners around the world. 

Read our blog to learn more.

About the role...

Duolingo is looking for a language assessment expert to support test development and research for the Duolingo English Test. You will join our Assessment Research and Development team, collaborating across disciplines to design and evaluate innovative language assessments. Your work will help ensure that assessment tasks and scores are valid, reliable, and fair while advancing Duolingo’s mission through science.

🧠  You will...

• Collaborate with measurement researchers, engineers, and designers to develop innovative, research-driven language assessments.
• Design and evaluate assessment tasks, including new interactive item formats.
• Conduct qualitative and quantitative studies examining the validity, reliability, and fairness of assessment tasks and test scores.
• Apply language assessment and measurement principles to improve test design, content, scoring, and quality assurance.
• Translate research findings into clear recommendations for technical and non-technical partners.
• Share findings through technical reports, research publications, blog posts, and presentations to professional and academic audiences.

✅  You have...

• A PhD in language testing, applied linguistics, second language acquisition, educational measurement, or a related field.
• Experience developing or conducting research on high-stakes language assessments or comparable professional experience.
• Expertise in language assessment, including test design, validity, reliability, fairness, and the measurement of language proficiency.
• Experience designing and analyzing qualitative and quantitative research studies.
• Experience communicating research through publications, reports, or presentations.
• The ability to explain complex measurement concepts clearly to collaborators from different disciplines.
• Proficiency with data-analysis tools such as R or Python.
• Strong collaboration, project-management, and organizational skills.

⭐  Exceptional candidates will have...

• Experience applying large language models, natural language processing, or related technologies to language assessment.
• Experience collaborating with software engineers, or AI researchers to develop digital assessment products.
• Experience designing or developing computer-adaptive tests.
• Expertise in evidence-centered design, interactive-task development, or integrated-skills assessment.

The offered salary is dependent upon several factors, including work experience, skills, and internal peer comparisons. The posted range is subject to change in the future. For this role, base salary is supplemented by equity compensation. We encourage you to talk with your recruiter for more information related to compensation for this role!

Salary Range: $110,500—$149,500 USD

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Accommodations: 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 accommodations@duolingo.com.

Equal Employment Opportunity: Duolingo is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.

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