Staff AI Software Engineer

Redefine the future of customer experiences. One conversation at a time.

At Nextiva, we’re reimagining how businesses connect, bringing together customer experience and team collaboration on a single, conversation centric platform. Powered by AI, driven by human innovation.

Our culture is forward thinking, customer obsessed and built on the belief that meaningful connections drive better business outcomes. Whether it’s through our signature Amazing Service®, the technology we create, or the experiences we cultivate, connection is at the core of who we are.

If you’re ready to collaborate with incredible people, make an impact, and help businesses everywhere deliver truly amazing experiences, this is where you belong.

Location: While this role is open to remote candidates across the United States, team members located within 40 miles of our Scottsdale headquarters (9451 E. Via de Ventura, Scottsdale, AZ 85256) are expected to work onsite four days per week to support collaboration, speed, and execution. Specific scheduling and flexibility will be guided by your leader to support both team collaboration and individual productivity.

The Staff Engineer – AI is a hands-on individual contributor role for an experienced engineer with deep technical expertise in Python, distributed systems, and system design. This role will help design, build, and launch new AI-focused initiatives while working across Nextiva engineering teams and with external technology partners.

As a Staff Engineer, you will operate at the intersection of hands-on engineering, system design, and early-stage solutioning. You will take ownership of new capabilities from initial technical discussions through design, development, and launch. This is not an architecture-only position; we are looking for someone who remains close to the code and is comfortable building alongside the team.

You will work on initiatives involving NextIQ capabilities, including collaboration with the Google Gemini team to bring capabilities built within Nextiva into partner environments. You will also work closely with U.S.-based Nextiva product and engineering teams, including teams working on NextOS, to extend NextIQ capabilities across the Nextiva ecosystem.

This role is ideal for an engineer who enjoys solving ambiguous problems, building new capabilities from the ground up, and taking end-to-end technical ownership while contributing as a deeply hands-on individual contributor.

We are seeking a Staff Engineer – AI to help accelerate new AI initiatives and support Nextiva’s mission of delivering exceptional customer experiences through a unified, modern platform powered by AI and automation.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and launch new AI-focused engineering capabilities and modules.
• Own engineering initiatives end to end, from early-stage solutioning and architecture through implementation and launch.

Requirements

Basic Qualifications

• 7–10+ years of relevant software engineering experience, with strong hands-on experience building and delivering production software.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience operating as a Staff Engineer or at a comparable level in a similarly sized or slightly larger organization.
• Experience building new products, modules, or technical capabilities from the ground up.
• Experience combining system-level design responsibilities with significant hands-on implementation.
• Experience collaborating directly with external technology partners.
• Experience working across distributed engineering teams.

AI & Modern Engineering Expectations

• Use AI-assisted engineering tools as part of day-to-day development to improve productivity and accelerate coding, problem-solving, testing, and engineering workflows.
• Apply strong engineering judgment when working with AI-generated code or recommendations, including appropriate validation, testing, and technical review.
• Understand how AI capabilities can be integrated into larger products and partner environments while maintaining scalable system design.
• Stay current with evolving AI-assisted software engineering practices and apply them where they improve engineering effectiveness.
• Contribute directly to AI-related initiatives involving NextIQ and partner environments such as Google Gemini.

Additional Qualities

• Strong sense of ownership and accountability.
• Comfortable working through ambiguity and early-stage technical challenges.
• Able to move effectively between system design and hands-on implementation.
• Strong problem-solving and technical decision-making skills.
• Collaborative approach to working across engineering teams and external partners.
• Ability to take ownership of a capability through design, build, and launch.
• Self-directed and comfortable operating as a senior individual contributor.

Nextiva DNA (Core Competencies)

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

• Drives Results**:** Action-oriented problem solvers who quickly bring clarity and simplicity to ambiguity, challenge the status quo, and lead meaningful change; celebrating wins to fuel momentum. They act swiftly and pragmatically, learning and improving as they go.
• Critical Thinker: Data-driven, forward-thinking individuals who identify key drivers, anticipate risks, and deliver clear recommendations. They confidently leverage AI and automation to reduce friction, improve decision-making, and focus on higher-value work.

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.

• Health: Multiple health plan options to suit your needs, including medical, dental, vision, and telemedicine coverage

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

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. .

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Founded in 2008, Nextiva has grown into a global leader trusted by over 100,000 businesses and 1M+ users worldwide. Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, and with teams across the globe, we're the future of customer experience and team collaboration through our AI-powered, conversation-centric platform.

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