Senior Privacy Engineer

Who We Are

Hi, we're DuckDuckGo, the online protection company and remote-first team of 300+ on a mission to raise the standard of trust online. Founded in 2008 and profitable since 2014, annual revenue now exceeds $100m USD and millions use our browser on Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android, our search engine, and the latest — Privacy Pro. Our culture of trust, inclusivity, and empowered project management underpins everything we do, where each team member takes full ownership of their projects, from scoping and execution to postmortem. If you're seeking end-to-end ownership of your work — you've come to the right place!

Your Team and Role as a Senior Privacy Engineer

Working on the Privacy Functional Team, you'll lead complex projects across key company-wide objectives. Using Go, Node.js, Python, and (in some cases) Perl (Version 5), you’ll write pragmatic, performant, testable code that works consistently and helps protect the privacy of our users. Potential projects include:

• Designing systems for improving our search indexes and AI features without compromising user privacy
• Building new features on top of our Tracker Radar crawler to detect emerging privacy threats
• Implementing new privacy features and maintaining existing ones, such as our Web Tracking and Email Protections

As a Senior Privacy Engineer, you'll collaborate remotely with your peers and take ownership over major components of our privacy technology, taking responsibility for their maintenance and improvement over time. A key part of the role will also be participation in our privacy review and audit processes, ensuring that all product developments align with our privacy principles. In time, you'll formally mentor other engineers, supporting their career growth and the growth of the Privacy Team at DuckDuckGo.

About You

• Ability to lead and collaborate on high-impact and complex projects from proposal through post-mortem.
• Skills to wrangle vague problems, propose innovative solutions, and execute them effectively, involving others when necessary.
• Experience working on privacy solutions in an engineering capacity (e.g., tracker blocker, differential privacy, or similar technology).
• Experience in privacy review and audit processes that ensure product developments align with established privacy principles.
• Deep technical understanding of online privacy threats and the existing solution space to protect against them.
• Proficiency in any of the following: Go, Node.js, and Python.
• Cross-functional communication skills. You can communicate your ideas to and understand the needs of various teams, such as legal, product, and marketing.

Compensation & Benefits

The annual compensation for this role is $178,500 USD, accompanied by stock options. Compensation is transparent and identical within professional levels, regardless of geographic location or team. Our Team Member Support Guide details how we prioritize your wellbeing, including paid parental leave, office setup, and co-working allowances.

Hiring Process

Hiring works best when it's a two-way street. Learn how we help you get to know DuckDuckGo, envision your future role here, and find out more about how we hire.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

DuckDuckGo provides equal work opportunities to all team members and applicants, and it prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type. We are committed to an accessible hiring process; if you need reasonable accommodation, please email careers@duckduckgo.com.

Important Notes

• Required to attend meetings on camera via video conferencing.
• Expect to travel at least two times a year for all-hands and team retreats (around 4-5 days each).
• Flexible work arrangement with no core hours, but expect an average full-time commitment of 40 hours per week.
• Successful candidates must pass a background check.
• All submitted information must be accurate and complete.

Use of AI in Hiring Process

DuckDuckGo utilizes AI technology to assist in reviewing and summarizing job applications and test projects, flagging fraudulent applications, and analyzing applicant experience. All final evaluations and hiring decisions are made by our human hiring team. Data privacy is ensured according to our Recruiting Privacy Policy. By applying, you consent to AI use; for an alternative process, contact careers@duckduckgo.com.

Key Skills/Competency

• Privacy Engineering
• Go/Node.js/Python Development
• Online Privacy Threats
• System Design
• Tracker Blocker Technology
• Differential Privacy
• Privacy Review
• Security Audits
• Cross-functional Communication
• Mentorship