Tech Lead (AI Agents Team)

Nextiva, a leader in business communications, is seeking a skilled AI Technical Lead to join our AI Agents team within our Data & Intelligence Platform group. In this role, you will develop intelligent, multimodal AI agents (voice and chatbots) as part of Nextiva’s next-generation customer experience platform. You will apply expertise in machine learning and software engineering to build AI-driven features that transform how businesses engage with customers. This position offers the opportunity to work at the forefront of generative AI and multimodal interactions, creating scalable AI solutions that blend automation with the human touch to deliver exceptional customer experiences.

The Technical Lead is a senior individual contributor who combines deep technical expertise with hands-on execution. They actively write code, take ownership of end-to-end feature delivery, and are involved in architectural and design discussions. They also conduct code reviews, mentor engineers, and collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to deliver scalable, high-quality solutions aligned with the product vision and goals. As a key technical leader within the team, this role offers a strong pathway for professional growth, whether deepening expertise as a highly skilled individual contributor or evolving into engineering management.

Key Responsibilities:

• Design & Develop AI Agents: Design, implement, and refine AI agents for Nextiva’s products that understand and respond to customers in multiple formats (e.g., spoken voice, written text). Develop conversational logic and multimodal interaction flows leveraging state-of-the-art natural language processing (NLP) and speech recognition techniques.
• AI Model Integration: Integrate large language models and other AI/ML components into the Agentic AI Platform to enable capabilities such as question answering, task automation, sentiment analysis, and recommendations. Ensure that AI models and solutions perform effectively in real-world environments and at scale.
• Full Lifecycle Engineering: Own the end-to-end development lifecycle of AI features.
• Multimodal Interaction Systems: Build and integrate components for multimodal interactions, including speech-to-text, text-to-speech, and dialog management systems.
• Performance Optimization: Optimize AI algorithms and agent frameworks for performance, scalability, and reliability. Use data-driven methods to tune model accuracy and response times.
• Quality, Ethics & Compliance: Implement robust testing (unit, integration, end-to-end) for AI features to ensure reliability and correctness. Incorporate ethical AI practices, ensuring AI agent behavior is unbiased and compliant with privacy and security regulations.
• Documentation & Mentorship: Document AI agent designs, algorithms, and usage guidelines for future reference. Provide technical guidance and mentorship to junior engineers or new team members as needed.

Success in this role will be measured by your ability to deliver AI features that measurably improve customer experiences (e.g., higher self-service resolution rates, faster response times, improved user satisfaction) while maintaining high software quality and ethical AI standards. You will help Nextiva achieve a balanced integration of AI and human interaction, directly contributing to our CX-first vision.

Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Software Engineering, or a related field (required). A Master’s degree in AI, Machine Learning, or a related discipline is strongly preferred. Equivalent practical experience in AI/ML development will also be considered.
• Software Engineering Experience: 8+ years of professional software development experience, including at least 5+ years building AI or machine-learning powered applications. Proven experience developing production-grade software (e.g., backend services, APIs, data pipelines) in a collaborative team environment.
• AI/ML Expertise: Strong understanding of AI and machine learning fundamentals with hands-on experience in natural language processing (NLP) and/or deep learning. Familiarity with the latest AI advancements (e.g., transformer-based models, conversational AI frameworks) and a history of applying AI models to solve real-world problems.
• Technical Skills: Proficiency in programming languages commonly used for AI development, such as Python (with ML libraries like TensorFlow or PyTorch) and/or a general-purpose language like Java or C# for scalable systems. Experience with machine learning frameworks and libraries for NLP, speech, or computer vision (e.g., Hugging Face Transformers, OpenAI APIs, spaCy, Kaldi, AWS/GCP/Azure AI services) is expected.
• Multimodal Interaction Knowledge: Experience with speech and language technologies – for example, integrating speech-to-text (ASR) and text-to-speech (TTS) engines, or building chatbots and voice bots for conversational interfaces.
• Cloud & Scalability: Familiarity with cloud platforms and deploying AI/ML models at scale (AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure). Experience with microservices architecture and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) for AI services.
• Collaboration & Communication: Excellent teamwork and communication skills.

Nextiva DNA (Core Competencies)

Nextiva’s most successful team members share common traits and behaviors:

• Drives Results: Action-oriented with a passion for solving problems. They bring clarity and simplicity to ambiguous situations, challenge the status quo, and ask what can be done differently. They lead and drive change, celebrating success to build more success.
• Critical Thinker: Understands the "why" and identifies key drivers, learning from the past. They are fact-based and data-driven, forward-thinking, and see problems a few steps ahead. They provide options, recommendations, and actions, understanding risks and dependencies.
• Right Attitude: They are team-oriented, collaborative, competitive, and hate losing. They are resilient, able to bounce back from setbacks, zoom in and out, and get in the trenches to help solve important problems. They cultivate a culture of service, learning, support, and respect, caring for customers and teams.

Total Rewards 

Our Total Rewards offerings are designed to allow Nexties to take care of themselves and their families so they can be their best, in and out of the office. 

Our compensation packages are tailored to each role and candidate's qualifications. We consider a wide range of factors, including skills, experience, training, and certifications, when determining compensation. We aim to offer competitive salaries or wages that reflect the value you bring to our team. Depending on the position, compensation may include base salary and/or hourly wages, incentives, or bonuses. 

The expected hiring range is $115,000 - $179,000. A different level in the job hierarchy may apply to a specific candidate, resulting in a different hiring range. 

• Health 🍏 - Multiple health plan options to suit your needs, including medical, dental, vision, and telemedicine coverage 
• Insurance 💼 - Life, disability, and supplemental indemnity plans 
• Work-Life Balance ⚖️ - Flexible Time Off (FTO) for salaried employees, PTO for hourly employees, Paid Sick Time (PST), paid parental bonding leave, and paid holidays 
• Financial Security 💰 - 401(k) with company match, Health Savings Accounts with company contributions, Dependent Care FSA 
• Wellness 🤸‍ - Employee Assistance Program and comprehensive wellness initiatives 
• Growth 🌱 - Access to ongoing learning and development opportunities and career advancement 

At Nextiva, we're committed to supporting our employees' health, well-being, and professional growth. Join us and build a rewarding career! 

Established in 2008 and headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, Nextiva secured $200M from Goldman Sachs in late 2021, valuing the company at $2.7B.To check out what’s going on at Nextiva, check us out on Instagram, Instagram (MX), YouTube, LinkedIn, and the Nextiva blog. 

Nextiva is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. Nextiva participates in the E-Verify Program where and as required by law. For additional information about E-Verify visit USCIS. 

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