Data Scientist II | Acorns

Acorns is how everyday consumers can save & invest for the long term. By putting tools of responsible wealthmaking in everyone’s hands, Acorns has become the largest subscription service in U.S. consumer finance, serving millions of everyday Americans subscribers. Customers get automated investing in diversified portfolios, built with help from experts like Nobel Laureate economist, Dr. Harry Markowitz. Acorns easy retirement account allows customers to invest for a better life later in minutes, no expertise required. To help everyone spend smarter, Acorns introduced banking that invests with every swipe, and cash-forward rewards. And, everyday Americans may invest in their kids and get money news they can use, all from the same app. Customers have invested billions with Acorns, much of it in spare change. From acorns, mighty oaks do grow!

The Acorns Data Science team is growing. Acorns is actively seeking a motivated, detail-oriented, and solution-focused Data Scientist II who will report to the Head of Data Science.  The data science team is focused on solving problems that directly affect customers and the Acorns business, including allocation, personalization, growth propensity, retention, and fraud and risk detection.  We know that solving problems with data is an art and a science. Data Scientists at Acorns are as good at communicating and collaborating as they are at building machine learning solutions and writing code.  At Acorns, Data Scientists have broad latitude around data and you will collaborate with groups including: Analytics, Engineering, Product Management, Marketing, Operations, Risk, and Business Development.

This role has the option to be remote or based in our Irvine or New York offices.

You are not expected to have experience with all listed requirements. If you feel passionately about Acorns' mission, vision and values, please apply.  

Within 1 month, you will:

• Learn Acorns products, data warehouse, and how data fits into the products.
• Become familiar with the DS processes and tools.
• Meet people across the company with whom you would likely work.

 Within 3 months, you will:

• Become integrated into the process of building models and DS solutions.
• Work on a model development or Data Science Solution with a colleague.
• Make production quality code commits into the team’s repository.

Within 6 months and beyond, you will:

• Carry out well-defined data science projects of minimal scope, including building and evaluating predictive models.
• Be capable of completing all parts of a model development including data validation, feature generation, sampling, feature selection, generating performance definitions, and analyzing performance.
• Contribute to development of design documents.
• Complete standard data investigations and determine suitability of data for DS efforts.
• Be responsible for the quality of their own code, ensuring that it has sufficient test cases and comments.
• Contribute to the creation and documentation of the model package.
• Mentor junior members of the team through DS approaches used at Acorns.
• Actively participate in discussions on new technical approaches by asking relevant questions.

What you will bring to Acorns:

• Empathy for our customers’ financial situations and the desire to help our customers in need of personalized products and services.
• The ability to uphold the values of transparency, honesty, and support for the team.
• An ability to explain complex problems in a simple way.
• Capability to build algorithms that touch statistics and machine learning.
• Knowledge of scalable and efficient methods for large scale data analysis and model development.
• Pride in your work.
• MS / PhD in a relevant field.

• Relevant fields include: Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Operations Research, Physics, Statistics

• Two (2) years of experience. 
• Experience in at least two of the following: Python, Scala, Java, Spark, C and R.  Experience with Databricks or notebooks a plus.
• Experience analyzing large datasets and generating features.
• Experience with building data science solutions using at least 2 statistical and machine learning techniques, and technical depth in at least 1 technique.
• Some financial industry experience is a plus.

What we offer:

• Competitive salary and stock options
• A comprehensive benefits package to meet the needs of you and your family
• Flexible paid time off
• Numerous career possibilities that allow you to grow with Acorns
• Talented and motivated team members who care deeply about one another, our mission and our customers.
• The rare opportunity to create a new world. We inspire one another every day to do meaningful work that solves big societal challenges.

About Acorns:

Acorns is the leading micro-investing app in the U.S. It allows users to round up their daily purchases and automatically Invest the Change® into a low-cost, diversified portfolio of exchange-traded funds offered by some of the world's top asset managers (including Vanguard and BlackRock). Founded in Newport Beach, Calif., by father and son team Walter and Jeff Cruttenden, Acorns provides a simple entry-point using the Acorns app on iPhone or Android. Customers accumulate fractional shares in one of five portfolios constructed by world-renowned Nobel Laureate economist Dr. Harry Markowitz. Acorns' smart portfolio algorithms automatically work in the background of life, helping users build wealth naturally, pennies at a time. From Acorns mighty oaks do grow.

Mission:

With benevolence and courage, we look after the financial best interests of the up-and-coming; beginning with the empowering step of micro-investing.

Commitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion:

Acorns believes diversity, equity and inclusion are fundamental obligations that strengthen our team. We need a diverse, multi-disciplinary team to build a meaningful company and culture.

Values:

• Lead with heart
• Make bold decisions
• Always build trust
• Never stop growing
• Find a way