Staff AI/ML Engineer

About the role

Chime's Data Science & Machine Learning team builds the models, services, and platforms behind how millions of members manage and grow their financial lives. We're hiring a Staff AI/ML Engineer on our Lending and Cashflow team to lead the modeling behind cash flow underwriting and surface member insight: using members' transaction and deposit data to make fair, accurate credit decisions for people that traditional credit scores often miss.

In this role, you'll build and deploy machine learning systems on some of the richest transactional and behavioral data in fintech, turning it into the credit decisions behind products like MyPay, Instant Loans, and SpotMe. This is a highly applied role: you'll own problems end to end, from framing the question through to a model running in production and moving a metric that matters, and you'll set the technical direction for how Chime underwrites with cash flow data.

In this role, you can expect to

• Lead the design, training, and deployment of deep learning and classical ML underwriting models that turn members' transaction and cash flow data into credit decisions, from approval and line assignment to loss forecasting
• Take models from problem framing through to production - training, evaluation, deployment, monitoring, and iteration - and stay accountable for how they behave once they're live
• Design and improve the systems around the model: feature pipelines, batch and real-time inference, monitoring, and retraining
• Partner with Product, Engineering, Analytics, and Risk to turn ambiguous business problems into ML solutions, and to make sure the solution is the right one
• Connect model performance to member outcomes and business metrics, and use experimentation to prove impact
• Set the technical roadmap for Lending ML and raise the bar across the team through design reviews, mentorship, and shared standards for model development, validation, and governance
• Help identify where AI/ML creates measurable impact for members - and where a simpler answer is the better one

To thrive in this role, you have

• A track record of leading the design and deployment of deep learning models in production, including multi-quarter initiatives that span teams, with a solid grasp of architecture choice, training dynamics, and evaluation, and the judgment to make model design choices
• Solid machine learning fundamentals: classical modeling, evaluation design, and knowing which metric actually answers the question in front of you
• Hands-on experience across the end-to-end ML lifecycle - training, experimentation, optimization, deployment, and monitoring
• Comfort with messy real-world data, including label definition, leakage, class imbalance, and train/serve skew
• Strong proficiency in Python and SQL, with deep learning frameworks such as PyTorch and distributed compute such as Spark or PySpark
• Working knowledge of modern ML infrastructure - AWS and tools such as SageMaker, Airflow, Kafka, Redis, and Snowflake - and an MLOps mindset for keeping production systems healthy
• The ability to operate independently in ambiguous environments, influence technical direction beyond your own team, and explain model decisions clearly to engineers, risk partners, and senior leaders

Nice-to-have

Experience in either of these is a plus:

• Credit or underwriting models, and familiarity with model governance, explainability, and fairness requirements, such as adverse action reason codes and fair lending testing
• Cash flow or alternative-data underwriting: building credit features from bank transaction data, such as income and expense detection, balance trends, and transaction categorization
• Deployed transformer models in production

#LI-Onsite #LI-DA1

Below is the base salary offered for this role and level of experience. Full-time employees may also be eligible for bonus(es), competitive equity, and benefits. For commissioned roles, the base salary listed in this job description does not include incentive/variable pay. The actual base salary offered may be higher, depending on your location, skills, qualifications, and experience.

Wage Notice

$246,000—$340,000 USD

A little about us

At Chime, we believe that everyone can achieve financial progress. We created Chime-a financial technology company, not a bank*-on the premise that core banking services should be helpful, easy, and free. Through our user-friendly tools and intuitive platforms, we empower our members to take control of their finances and work towards their goals. Whether it's starting a savings account, purchasing a first car or home, launching a business, or pursuing higher education, we're proud to have helped millions unlock their financial potential.

We're a team of problem solvers, dreamers, and builders with one shared obsession: our members. From day one, Chimers have worked tirelessly to out-hustle and out-execute competitors to bring our mission to life. Their grit and determination inspire us to work harder every day to deliver the very best experience possible. We each bring an owner's mindset to our work, refusing to be outdone and holding ourselves accountable to meet and exceed the highest bars for our teams, our company, and our members.

We believe in being bold, dreaming big, and taking risks, while also working together, embracing our diverse perspectives, and giving each other honest feedback. Our culture remains deeply entrepreneurial, encouraging every Chimer to see themselves as stewards of our mission to help everyday Americans unlock their financial progress. 

We know that to achieve our mission, we must earn and keep people's trust-so we hold ourselves to the highest standards of integrity in everything we do. These aren't just words on a wall-our values are embedded in every aspect of our business, serving as a north star that guides us as we work to help millions achieve their financial potential.

Because if we don't-who will?

*Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by The Bancorp Bank, N.A. or Stride Bank, N.A., Members FDIC.

What we offer for our full-time, regular employees

• Our in-office work policy is designed to keep you connected - with four days a week in the office and Fridays from home for those near one of our offices, plus team and company-wide events depending on location. Whether you’re coming in regularly or are part of our fully remote program, you’ll stay engaged with your work and teammates.
• Benefits that support your work and life, including backup child, elder, and pet care and subsidized commuter benefits for eligible employees.
• Comprehensive health, financial, and wellbeing benefits designed to support you at every stage of life.
• Generous vacation policy and company-wide paid days off
• 1% of your time off to support local community organizations of your choice
• Annual wellness stipend to use towards eligible wellness related expenses
• Up to 22 weeks of paid parental leave for birthing parents and 12 weeks of paid parental leave for non-birthing parents
• Access to family planning reimbursement
• A challenging and fulfilling opportunity to join one of the most experienced teams in FinTech and help millions unlock financial progress

We know that great work can’t be done without a diverse team and inclusive environment. That’s why we specifically look for individuals of varying strengths, skills, backgrounds, and ideas to join our team. We believe this gives us a competitive advantage to better serve our members and helps us all grow as Chimers and individuals.

Chime is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We consider qualified applicants without regard to race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital or family status, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other legally protected basis under provincial, federal, state, and local laws, regulations, or ordinances. We will also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of state and local laws, including the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, Cook County Ordinance, NYC Fair Chance Act, and the LA City Fair Chance Ordinance, and consistent with Canadian provincial and federal laws. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation during any stage of the application process, please contact: [email protected].

To learn more about how Chime collects and uses your personal information during the application process, please see the  Chime Applicant Privacy Notice.