Lead Conversational AI Developer

University of Maryland Global Campus; United States; On-site; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Job summary

University of Maryland Global Campus is seeking a Conversational AI Developer to lead the design, development, and deployment of chatbots and virtual assistants using CAI tech such as Microsoft Bot Framework and Azure OpenAI. You will own end-to-end delivery from design to production across channels.

The ideal candidate has 5+ years in software dev, strong Azure Bot Framework v4 experience, and hands-on integration with Salesforce APIs, Cosmos DB, and Power BI for analytics.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• 5+ years in software development, with a focus on conversational AI or chatbots.
• Proven expertise with Azure Bot Framework v4 and Azure services for orchestration.
• Experience with Salesforce integrations and Live Agent handoffs.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end development of scalable chatbots and virtual assistants using CAI technologies.
• Collaborate with product, design, and UX to gather requirements and design conversational flows.
• Integrate NLP and NLU to understand user intent and generate responses.
• Leverage Generative AI to enhance responses with personalization.
• Develop multi-channel deployments across web, mobile, and messaging platforms.
• Test, debug, and optimize conversational AI solutions for performance and accuracy.
• Monitor user interactions and analytics to identify improvement opportunities.
• Stay updated on advances in Conversational AI and best practices.

Skills

Conversational AI

Azure Bot Framework v4

Adaptive Dialogs

Waterfall Dialogs

Azure Functions

Logic Apps

Salesforce API integration

Azure Cosmos DB

Azure OpenAI / GPT

MuleSoft / ESB

Power BI

CI/CD pipelines

SDLC leadership

Communication

Independent work

Education

Bachelor’s Degree

Tools

Azure Bot Framework v4

Adaptive Dialogs

Waterfall Dialogs

Azure Functions

Logic Apps

Salesforce API

Azure Cosmos DB

Azure OpenAI

MuleSoft

Power BI

Job description

Full Time, Exempt Regular, Pay Grade 4.2

We are seeking a talented and passionate Conversational AI Developer to join our team and play a key role in creating innovative and engaging chatbots and virtual assistants. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in software development, with a focus on AI and natural language processing technologies.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Drive the full lifecycle development — from design to deployment — of scalable chatbots and virtual assistants utilizing Microsoft Bot Framework, Kore.ai, or similar CAI technologies
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams (product managers, designers, UX/UI specialists) to gather requirements, design conversational flows, and implement user stories
• Integrate Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Natural Language Understanding (NLU) techniques to enable chatbots to understand user intent and respond accordingly
• Leverage Generative AI services to enhance chatbot responses with creativity and personalization
• Develop chatbots for deployment across multiple channels (web, mobile apps, messaging platforms) ensuring a seamless user experience
• Conduct thorough testing and debugging to ensure high performance and accuracy of conversational AI solutions
• Monitor and analyze user interactions and chatbot performance to identify areas for improvement and optimization
• Stay updated on the latest advancements in Conversational AI technologies and best practices

Required Qualifications:

Education

• Bachelor’s Degree

Experience

• 5+ years of experience in software development, preferably with a focus on conversational AI or chatbots
• Deep expertise in Azure Bot Framework v4, specifically utilizing Adaptive Dialogs, Waterfall Dialogs, and middleware customization
• Hands-on experience with Azure Integration Services, using Azure Functions and Logic Apps to orchestrate workflows between the bot and external systems
• Proven experience with Salesforce API integrations (REST/SOAP), specifically for managing Live Agent handoffs, Knowledge base retrieval, and Case creation
• Experience configuring Azure Cosmos DB for storing conversation state, user data, and telemetry logs
• Experience implementing Hybrid AI strategies, bridging classical NLU services (Azure CLU) with Generative AI models (Azure OpenAI/GPT) for fall-back handling or content generation
• Middleware familiarity, with exposure to MuleSoft or similar ESB platforms for enterprise-grade data exchange
• Data-driven optimization skills, utilizing Power BI to analyze conversation logs, identify drop-off points, and drive NLU accuracy improvements
• SDLC leadership experience, including defining CI/CD pipelines for bot deployment across multiple environments (Dev/Test/Prod)
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills
• Ability to work independently and manage multiple projects simultaneously
• Passion for innovation and a strong desire to push the boundaries of Conversational AI technology