AI Engineering Specialist

About Acorn:

At Acorn PLMS, we're pioneering performance-based corporate learning powered by AI. We're seeking a passionate AI enthusiast to coordinate the architecture, delivery and scale of our internal AI systems built on a serverless AWS stack incorporating CloudFront, S3, API Gateway, Cognito, Lambda, DynamoDB, Amazon Bedrock, RAG components (Aurora/OpenSearch/Kendra), and key data sources like S3, SharePoint, and Confluence.

If you're keen to experiment and passionate about designing and delivering production-grade AI systems with scalable, secure integrations — we'd love to hear from you

We're looking for someone based in
Sydney or Canberra, Australia to join our in-office team

.  

Role overview:

As our
AI Engineering Specialist
, you will work towards the development of key AI infrastructure and feature delivery projects, including:

• Generative AI agents powered by Amazon Bedrock
• RetrievalAugmented Generation (RAG) systems using Aurora, OpenSearch Serverless, and Kendra
• Cloud-native orchestration using AWS Lambda, API Gateway, Cognito, DynamoDB, and S3

You'll be responsible for the entire project lifecycle - from gathering requirements and architecting the system, to execution and deployment - working closely with data engineers, machine learning researchers, product teams, and business stakeholders.

5 Key Capabilities:

The best part… we use our Acorn software at Acorn. We believe in the power of our Managers and Staff being aligned on the 5 capabilities needed for each role. Here are the
5 capabilities for our AI Engineering Specialist

to give you an idea of what the role entails: 

1. Designing RAG Architectures
– Contribute to the design and setup of Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems, including hybrid pipelines, intent-based routing, embedding-based search, reranking, and contextual generation. You apply best practices in system modularity and scalability to enable reliable, interpretable AI outputs.

2. Semantic Search Strategy & Embedding Optimization
– Help create the strategy for vector search and semantic retrieval—selecting embedding models, designing metadata tagging and query expansion, and managing indexing pipelines to ensure high relevance and discoverability in real-world enterprise data.

3. Scalable, Serverless AI Infrastructure
- Architect event-driven, serverless cloud infrastructure that supports scalable AI workflows. Leverage services like API Gateway, Lambda, Cognito, DynamoDB, Aurora, OpenSearch/Kendra, and S3 to ensure secure, performant, and cost-efficient deployments.

4. Prompt Engineering & Model Integration in Production
– Create prompt strategies and instructions for domain-specific use cases, ensuring effective integration of foundation models (e.g., via Amazon Bedrock) into production systems. You fine-tune inputs for accuracy, reduce hallucination, and enhance task automation across workflows.

5. Enterprise-Grade Integrations & Governance
- Design and implement secure, bi-directional integrations with enterprise tools such as SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, and Jira—enabling knowledge retrieval and action automation. Oversee governance, access controls, monitoring, and optimization to uphold performance, compliance, and data quality standards.

Key Responsibilities:

• Contribute to the development of key AI infrastructure and feature delivery projects, including generative AI agents and RAG systems
• Execute full project lifecycles from planning and architecture to delivery and deployment, working with our functional leads to deliver AI projects within different areas across Acorn
• Develop seamless integrations across Bedrock, RAG components, and enterprise systems like SharePoint, Confluence, Teams, and Jira
• Work on prompt authoring, model tuning, embedding pipelines, and retrieval logic design
• Oversee architecture set-up using Lambda, API Gateway, Cognito, DynamoDB, Aurora/OpenSearch/Kendra, and S3
• Monitor system health and drive improvements in performance, accuracy, and cost
• Collect stakeholder feedback to iteratively refine roadmaps for AI optimisation across Acorn

Required Skills & Experience:

• Direct experience with Amazon Bedrock, OpenSearch Serverless or Kendra, and Aurora or DynamoDB
• Expertise building RAG systems, embedding pipelines, prompt engineering, and retrieval optimization
• Proven capability integrating AI workflows with enterprise collaboration tools like SharePoint, Teams, and Jira
• Strong stakeholder management across technical and business teams
• Deep knowledge of AI governance, security, scalability, and cost control in large organisations

Why Join Us?

• Contribute to the creation of a world-class internal AI platform powering enterprise learning and performance
• Experience working hands-on with cutting-edge AWS services and language models
• Join a collaborative, fast-moving team dedicated to innovation and real business impact
• Influence systems that scale across global teams and drive measurable results

How We Hire:

• We welcome applications from diverse backgrounds and champion inclusive recruitment
• Our process typically includes stakeholder interviews, technical/architecture discussions, and a case exercise
• Please let us know if you require any accommodations at any stage of the recruitment process

Location:

We are open to individuals based in
Sydney or Canberra
, Australia. We are an
office-first
company
, meaning we work from our local offices the majority (if not all) of the time. We want to create cool stuff with great people, and we know from experience that is best done through daily moments like the coffee run, walk to grab lunch, or quick huddles. Being able to capitalise on this is key to our ongoing success and a large part of the reason we can work at the pace we do. Please note candidates will need to be in commuting distance to our offices.

Applicants must have full working rights in Australia to be considered for this role. Unfortunately we are unable to provide visa sponsorship at this time.

About Working at Acorn:

Acorn's AI-powered Performance Learning Management System transforms how organisations learn and perform. Serving millions of learners globally, we're on a mission to close the loop between learning, capability, and business performance.

There's still so much more to do, and we need people who are keen to help us journey into the next phase on board And since we're still growing, there's so much you can learn on that journey with us. To find out more about life at Acorn, our Values and working with us, check out our website at and see our
Life At Acorn video here