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Senior Character Animator

Our mission at Duolingo is to develop the best education in the world and make it universally available. It’s a big mission, and even though we've made a lot of headway, we still have work to do — and that’s where you come in!

Duolingo’s designers care about creating high-quality experiences that look and feel fun. From animators to writers, product designers to researchers, Design brings purpose, feeling, and delight to every interaction with our brand, inside the app and out. As a designer, you’ll join a culture of creativity and craft, where we have a high bar for excellence and an endless curiosity about how to bring more unexpected quirk and fun to the pursuit of learning. 

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

As a Sr. 2D Character Animator, you will bring education to life.You’ll help evolve the quirky style and visual language we’ve been refining for years. Your animated character performances will be used in our mobile apps and on landing pages, advertisements, blog posts, videos, social media posts, and much more, pushing Duolingo’s brand and mission forward to transform the future of education.

You Will...

  • Breathe life into the Duolingo World through eye catching character performances
  • Create original animations from concept to final render
  • Consider the audience/learner experience for all animations you create
  • Collaborate with Design, Product, and Engineering teams
  • Develop a deep understanding of our product focused pipeline and production tools
  • Complete work in accordance with production timelines and communicate needed adjustments to schedules with producers
  • Maintain professionalism in a fast paced and dynamic work environment

You Have...

  • A Character Animation demo reel with a reel breakdown
  • The ability to convey emotional states, personality, and humor through animation
  • A mastery of visual storytelling, weight, physics, balance, and staging
  • 5+ years of professional character animation experience
  • The ability to relocate to Pittsburgh, PA

Exceptional Candidates Will Have...

  • A passion for mentorship
  • Experience collaborating with engineers, TDs, etc. to achieve art direction
  • Familiarity with tools like Adobe After Effects, Lottie/JSON files, and/or RIVE

Please include a link to your portfolio showcasing relevant work samples. A portfolio submission is mandatory for consideration of your candidacy.


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.

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

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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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:

$106,250 - $216,600 USD

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