Staff AI Engineer

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.

We are seeking a Staff AI Engineer 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. The Staff AI Engineer 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 global 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.

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.
• Remain deeply hands-on with software development and contribute production code.
• Build solutions using Python and apply strong distributed-systems engineering principles.
• Participate in system design, architecture, and solutioning discussions with engineering teams.
• Work closely with the Google Gemini team on initiatives designed to bring NextIQ capabilities into Gemini.
• Collaborate with other external technology partners to extend Nextiva capabilities into their environments.
• Partner with U.S.-based Nextiva product and engineering teams on new initiatives.
• Work with teams supporting NextOS to help bring NextIQ capabilities into other areas of the Nextiva ecosystem.
• Navigate ambiguous, early-stage technical problems and translate them into practical engineering solutions.
• Take accountability for designing, building, and successfully launching the capabilities you own.

Requirements

Basic Qualifications

• 7–10+ years of relevant software engineering experience, with strong hands-on experience building and delivering production software.
• Very strong hands-on Python engineering skills.
• Strong system design capabilities.
• Experience designing and building distributed systems.
• Demonstrated experience owning and launching software modules or capabilities end to end.
• Experience taking technical initiatives from solutioning and design through development and launch.
• Ability and willingness to remain hands-on with coding at Staff Engineer level.
• Experience contributing to architecture and technical solutioning discussions.
• Ability to work effectively on new initiatives where requirements and technical approaches may still be evolving.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with internal engineering teams and external technology partners.
• Ability to work remotely within a time zone reasonably aligned with the Arizona-based team.

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.
• Right Attitude: Collaborative, competitive, and resilient team players who jump in to solve tough problems, learn from setbacks, and foster a culture of service, respect, and care for customers and teammates.

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 - $200,000. 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 for salaried employees, PTO for hourly employees, Paid Sick Time, Paid Parental Bonding Leave, and holiday pay
• 💰 Financial Security: 401(k) with company match, Health Savings Accounts with company contributions, Dependent Care FSA
• 🤸‍ Wellness: Employee Assistance Program (EAP) 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!

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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