Director of Sourcing

About the role

Duolingo is seeking a Director of Sourcing to lead and evolve how we identify, engage, and build relationships with top talent. This role sits within Talent Acquisition and focuses on improving sourcing strategy and effectiveness, elevating team capabilities, and delivering strong pipelines against hiring priorities. You will partner closely with Recruiting leaders, Hiring Managers, and Function Leads to translate business needs into actionable sourcing strategies, using data and market insights to drive continuous improvement. This role is based in Pittsburgh, PA or New York, NY. You will architect and execute end-to-end sourcing strategies for critical roles, ensuring a steady flow of high-caliber candidates that directly support business objectives. You will elevate the capabilities of the sourcing team by developing coaching frameworks and practical playbooks that standardize excellence. In this position, you will leverage data rigorously to measure what works and iterate quickly on channels and techniques. You will also act as a strategic partner to Hiring Managers, advising on market realities and talent mapping to inform hiring decisions. This is an opportunity to own the vision for sourcing excellence and implement the systems that make it real.

Key facts

What you'll do

Develop and implement sourcing strategies across priority roles and functions, ensuring consistent, high-quality pipelines aligned to hiring needs.

Collaborate with recruiters and hiring managers to calibrate target profiles and translate hiring goals into actionable sourcing plans that complement broader recruiting strategies.

Build and maintain proactive pipelines for high-priority and hard-to-fill roles, including structured approaches to candidate engagement and re-engagement.

Identify opportunities to improve tools, workflows, and processes within sourcing; test and implement new approaches that increase efficiency and candidate quality.

Define and track key sourcing metrics (e.g., pipeline health, conversion, efficiency), using data and market insights to identify gaps, adjust strategies, and provide visibility into impact.

Coach and support recruiters and sourcers on best practices to raise the bar on sourcing quality, candidate engagement, and market insights.

Lead cross-functional initiatives that reduce friction in the hiring funnel, drive adoption of improvements, and increase overall sourcing effectiveness.

Evaluate and deploy sourcing technologies, ATS/CRM integrations, and workflow improvements to create scalable and efficient pipelines.

Establish talent communities and long-term engagement programs that convert to hires through consistent nurturing and targeted outreach.

Partner with function leads to anticipate future hiring needs and build scalable sourcing solutions that keep pace with growth.

Own the development of playbooks, training materials, and rubrics that standardize sourcing best practices across the team.

Analyze hiring funnel data to diagnose bottlenecks and implement experiments that improve pipeline yield and quality.

Champion diversity of sourcing channels and strategies to build a robust and inclusive pipeline for hard-to-fill roles.

Provide clear and data-driven reporting to stakeholders, demonstrating the impact of sourcing initiatives on time-to-fill and quality of hire.

Drive continuous improvement by testing new channels, refining value propositions, and iterating based on performance data.

Requirements

You have 10+ years of experience in sourcing, recruiting, or talent acquisition within high-growth or tech environments, including 3+ years managing people.

You have a track record of solving complex recruiting challenges and leading initiatives from strategy through execution.

You demonstrate strong cross-functional collaboration skills with the ability to influence stakeholders and drive alignment.

You are able to use data and market insights to inform decisions and improve outcomes in a fast-paced environment.

You have experience improving processes, tools, and ways of working within recruiting or sourcing organizations.

You communicate clearly and directly, showing sound judgment, including navigating and delivering difficult messages when needed.

You are able to work from or relocate to Pittsburgh, PA or New York, NY.

You are comfortable operating at a high level of autonomy and ownership within the Talent Acquisition organization.

You have a history of building and mentoring teams, developing skills, and elevating the performance of direct reports.

You are able to manage multiple priorities and competing deadlines while maintaining a high standard of accuracy and attention to detail.

Nice to have

Experience building structured talent communities and long-term engagement programs that convert to hires.

Hands-on evaluation and rollout of sourcing technologies, ATS/CRM integrations, and workflow improvements.

Demonstrated success scaling sourcing practices across a recruiting team or function.

Advanced capability building for sourcers and recruiters through playbooks, training, and rubrics that generate measurable uplift in pipeline quality.

Comfort operating at the L4 director scope with high autonomy, domain leadership, and cross-functional influence within Talent Acquisition.

Practical notes

This role is based in Pittsburgh, PA or New York, NY.

Engagement type is listed as "See source" on the original posting.

Candidates must be able to work from or relocate to one of the two specified locations.

No specific hours, travel, visa, or deadline information is provided in the source material.