Tech Lead

Summary

Join Nextiva, a leader in business communications, as an AI Technical Lead to develop intelligent, multimodal AI agents for our next-generation customer experience platform. You will leverage expertise in machine learning and software engineering to build AI-driven features transforming how businesses engage with customers. This role involves designing, implementing, and refining AI agents for various formats (voice, text), integrating large language models, and owning the full development lifecycle of AI features. You will also build and integrate components for multimodal interactions, optimize AI algorithms, and ensure ethical AI practices. Success is measured by delivering AI features that improve customer experiences while maintaining high software quality and ethical standards. This position offers a strong pathway for professional growth.

Requirements

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Software Engineering, or a related field (required)
• 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

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

Preferred Qualifications

• 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

Benefits

• Health 🍏 – Supplemental health plan available with coverage for prescriptions, paramedical expenses, dental and vision care
• Insurance 💼 – Company paid life and disability coverage
• Work-Life Balance ⚖️ – Flexible Time Off (FTO) for salaried employees, paid holidays
• Financial Security 💰 – RRSP employee long-term savings plan with company match
• Wellness 🤸‍ – Employee Assistance Program and comprehensive wellness initiatives
• Growth 🌱 – Access to ongoing learning and development opportunities and career advancement