Staff Program Manager (Brand Campaigns)

Join Duolingo as a Staff Program Manager, where you'll lead complex, multi-quarter programs that span across teams and functions. You'll have significant autonomy to turn strategy into execution, align senior stakeholders, and build systems that help teams deliver impactful work on time. Your responsibilities will include end-to-end planning and execution of cross-functional programs, managing dependencies, surfacing and resolving risks, and continuously improving processes. You'll also manage and develop a bench of freelance program managers.

• Lead end-to-end planning and execution of multiple complex, cross-functional programs from inception through launch, reporting and retro.
• Build and maintain integrated program plans and timelines; proactively identify risks, manage dependencies, and drive mitigation plans to protect delivery and quality.
• Manage and develop a bench of freelance program managers who can help scale your impact.
• This role is ideal for a program leader who brings crisp structure to ambiguity and elevates how cross-functional work gets done at scale
• Experience leading contractors or freelancers and holding external partners to clear scopes, timelines, budgets, and quality bars
• Deep proficiency with project/task management and tools (e.g., Asana, Jira, Google Workspace) and a documentation‑first approach
• Ability to work from New York City, with willingness to travel 10–15% for shoots and partner meetings
• Excellent communication and facilitation skills; you simplify complexity, drive decisions, and influence across levels without authority
• Data‑informed mindset; you define success metrics and use results to shape next steps and recommendations
• Demonstrated strength creating structure in ambiguity and designing systems/rituals that scale execution without unnecessary overhead
• Experience orchestrating cross-channel marketing or product launch workflows in partnership with Brand/Creative and external partners; comfort navigating trade-offs to protect quality and timelines
• 10+ years of experience in program/project management leading high-impact, cross-functional programs end-to-end in consumer tech or a comparable fast-paced environment, including multi-workstream initiatives with senior stakeholders
• Proven mastery of integrated campaign planning and timelining; strong ability to manage multiple concurrent programs, dependencies, and change with clarity and calm
• People management experience, including hiring, developing, and performance-managing program managers (FTE or blended FTE/freelance teams) and building team-wide standards and career growth
• Experience coordinating multi-market or multi-team launches with localization and/or external partner coordination
• A track record building lightweight decision frameworks, retro processes, and operating cadences that stick across teams
• Background working across multiple tracks of program management (e.g., Product, Design, Content/Localization, or Marketing) and connecting them into a coherent portfolio
• Depth managing agencies and a freelance bench for integrated brand campaigns
• Experience upleveling adjacent workstreams through coaching, templates, and tooling—improving execution beyond directly owned programs