Director of Paid Acquisition

At Acorns, our mission is to look after the financial best interests of the up-and-coming, beginning with the empowering, proud step of micro-investing. How do we accomplish our mission? Our values. Lead With Heart - With compassion, integrity, and tenacity, inspire yourself and others to move past all previous thresholds of possibility Make Bold Decisions - We are creating a new world. Be optimistic, adventurous, and courageous. Leap fearlessly into the future Always Build Trust - Say what you mean, mean what you say, and do what you say you’re going to do. We are all owners. We are one team Never Stop Growing - Change IS the constant. Stay hungry and curious. Be relentless in the pursuit of progress Find a way - Never settle, no excuses, nothing is impossible. Just make it happen Our values guide us, and our mission drives us. Come join us and help deliver financial wellness for the whole family, putting the tools of wealth-making into everyone’s hands. ___________________________________________________________________ Director of Paid Acquisition | Acorns Acorns is seeking a Director of Paid Acquisition who thinks like an entrepreneur. This leader will own profitable subscriber growth, modernize our AI-powered growth engine, and expand our reach to new audiences, while improving customer quality, trust, and long-term value. Acorns is a remote-first organization, offering the flexibility to work remotely while providing optional access to office space in Irvine, CA. What you will do at Acorns: - Strategic Leadership: Own profitable subscriber growth across all paid channels, driving CAC efficiency, LTV/CAC improvement, and sustainable scale. Define and execute the paid acquisition strategy to hit ambitious growth targets while strengthening cohort quality and plan mix. Lead and develop a high-performing team with clear accountability and performance standards. - AI-Driven Efficiency: Integrate AI into campaign optimization, creative testing, budget allocation, and forecasting to accelerate learning velocity and improve performance. Build a scalable, data-driven growth engine that continuously optimizes toward long-term value. - Growth Experimentation & Channel Expansion: Develop a disciplined testing framework to identify and scale new channels, audience segments, and upper-funnel opportunities. Diversify and future-proof the acquisition portfolio while maintaining performance rigor. - Advanced Measurement: Lead the cutting-edge of incrementality testing and deliver key inputs into the Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM) to prove the impact of spend and ensure maximum efficiency across large budgets. Create a holistic view of brand and performance impact to inform scaling decisions. - Cross-Functional Growth Partnership: Collaborate with Product, Lifecycle, Analytics, SEO, and ASO teams to optimize the full funnel, from acquisition through activation and retention, strengthening product-led growth loops and conversion efficiency. - Brand & Performance Integration: Align paid media with core brand narratives to drive both reach, trust and conversion. Partner with Brand and Creative to ensure campaigns address key barriers to growth while improving marketing recall and performance outcomes. - Operational Excellence: Build scalable reporting, automation, and workflows that enable fast, informed decision-making. Ensure clarity, accountability, and high standards across internal teams and agency partners. What you will bring to Acorns: - Education: BS/BA in Business, Marketing, or a related field. - Experience: 10+ years of acquisition marketing experience for mobile apps and web, with a proven record of managing large-scale budgets efficiently. - Technical Expertise: Deep knowledge of paid acquisition channels, alongside experience in offline channels, brand media campaigns, and native ads. - Growth Mindset: A result-driven professional with a mindset of relentless experimentation and broad exposure across digital and traditional acqu