Full-Time

Senior Backend Engineer

AI Team

Acorns

Acorns

501-1,000 employees

Micro-investing platform with roundup investing

Compensation Overview

$184.5k - $217.1k/yr

+ Sign-on Bonus + Equity Grants + Discretionary Cash Bonus

No H1B Sponsorship

Irvine, CA, USA

Remote

Remote-first organization with optional access to office space in Irvine, CA.

Category
Software Engineering (1)
Required Skills
LLM
Scikit-learn
Kubernetes
Python
Data Science
Neural Networks
Pytorch
Machine Learning
AWS
Pandas
LangChain
NumPy
Databricks
Requirements
  • Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Data Science, Statistics, or a STEM-related field
  • 5+ years of total software engineering experience
  • 3+ years of experience in artificial intelligence, data science, or machine learning engineering
  • 3+ years of experience with modern cloud computing technologies, such as AWS, Bedrock, Sagemaker, Databricks, or Kubernetes
  • Foundational knowledge with Generative AI, Transformer, fine tuning LLM, Search ranking, RAG improvement, and LLM Agent
  • Experience tuning neural networks on custom datasets
  • Experience with Huggingface, LangChain, chatbot development
  • Proficiency in programming languages and analytical tools, such as Python or PyTorch, Pandas, NumPy, SciKit-Learn, Matplotlib
Responsibilities
  • Understand Acorns’ mission, vision, strategic objectives, and fintech industry knowledge while building relationships with team members, stakeholders, and cross-functional teams.
  • Review and analyze proprietary datasets, existing Vector database architecture, pipelines, and tools to identify gaps and propose improvements.
  • Contribute to key customer-facing projects, debugging and enhancing models, scaling pipelines, and delivering the virtual support bot MVP to production.
  • Collaborate with cross-functional teams to align AI efforts with business goals, mentor junior team members, and drive innovation through LLM capabilities.
  • Optimize data pipelines, establish scalable monitoring processes, and develop a roadmap for innovation aligned with fintech objectives.

Acorns simplifies investing by automating micro-investing through round-ups. It lets users link cards, rounds up purchases to the nearest dollar, and invests the difference automatically. It also offers retirement accounts and checking accounts, plus educational content. Revenue comes from a monthly subscription ($1–$5) and brand partner cashback that is reinvested. The platform targets beginners and people who prefer a hands-off approach to finances, making investing accessible even with small amounts of money. Key differentiators include a structured subscription model, automatic spare-change investing with cashback reinvestment, and partnerships with financial experts for guidance. The goal is to help everyday people grow wealth over time with simple, automated tools and trusted financial education.

Company Size

501-1,000

Company Stage

IPO

Headquarters

Irvine, California

Founded

2012

Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Gold customers get free tax filing via april partnership, investing $3,000 refunds.
  • 62% parents lack money-talk confidence; Acorns fills gap with 2.1M missions.
  • Kasia Leyden as CMO and Edgewater Castle FC partnership boost marketing.

What critics are saying

  • Robinhood Gold undercuts $5 tier with free data, margin, 3% IRA match.
  • Chime replicates round-ups with no-fee checking, 2% APY, poaches users.
  • SEC $10M fine for misleading yields triggers lawsuits, halts acquisitions.

What makes Acorns unique

  • Acorns rounds up purchases to invest spare change in Vanguard and BlackRock ETFs.
  • Acorns Early offers Money Missions, 80+ YouTube videos for kids aged 6-18.
  • Acorns acquired Zeta and EarlyBird to expand family finance tools.

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Benefits

Healthcare

401(k)

Equity

Competitive Compensation

Flexible Paid Time Off

Learning & Development

Wellness

Flexible Work Hours

Quarterly Team Outings

Personal Development Plans

Annual Compensation Reviews

Recognition

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

-2%

1 year growth

-3%

2 year growth

-1%
PR Newswire
Feb 17th, 2026
Acorns offers free tax filing and automatic refund investing for Gold customers

Acorns has partnered with april Tax Solutions to offer free federal and state tax filing for all Acorns Gold customers. The service eliminates the approximately $60 filing fee many Americans face and includes automatic prefilling of Acorns tax documents and access to in-app tax expert support. Customers can automatically invest their tax refunds through the platform. According to the IRS, the average American receives about $3,000 in tax refunds annually, which could compound to $842,000 over 40 years at an assumed 8% annual return if invested rather than spent. The benefit adds to Acorns Gold's services, which the company says delivers $921 in average annual value. Acorns has served over 14 million people since 2014, helping customers save and invest over $30 billion.

New Jersey Coalition for Financial Education
Jan 27th, 2026
1/27/26 - Acorns Early Launches Free Financial Education on YouTube for Families Nationwide

1/27/26 - Acorns Early launches free financial education on YouTube for families nationwide. Acorns Early launches free financial education on YouTube for families nationwide. Acorns Early, the smart money app with a debit card for kids from Acorns, today announced the launch of its financial education curriculum, Money Missions, on YouTube. The material is now free and accessible to every American family.

PR Newswire
Jan 21st, 2026
Acorns Early launches free financial education curriculum on YouTube for American families

Acorns Early has launched its financial education curriculum, Money Missions, for free on YouTube, making it accessible to all American families. The programme comprises over 80 videos covering 110 lessons across three levels for ages 6–18. Developed in partnership with the National Standards for Personal Financial Education, the curriculum transforms complex money concepts into animated videos. Topics range from basic money understanding to saving, investing and compounding. The launch addresses a significant gap: whilst 95% of parents discuss money with their children, 62% lack confidence in doing so, according to Acorns' 2025 Money Matters report. Kids using the Acorns Early app have completed over 2.1 million Money Missions, demonstrating strong engagement with the standards-aligned content.

VentureCapital.com
Jun 24th, 2025
Acorns Acquires Zeta for Family Finance

Acorns has acquired Zeta, a financial planning platform for couples and families, to enhance its financial wellness offerings across various life stages. This acquisition, which includes Zeta co-founders Kevin Hopkins and Aditi Shekar joining Acorns, marks the company's fifth strategic acquisition in under two years. Existing Zeta customers will gain access to Acorns' financial wellness benefits. Financial terms were not disclosed.

HeyCoach
May 15th, 2025
Acorns Acquires EarlyBird: Investment Gifting Platform to Shut Down

Savings and investing startup Acorns has announced its acquisition of EarlyBird, an investment gifting platform designed for families.