IVA and Digital Platform Developer

Astound is seeking an on-site IVA and Digital Platform Developer in Wilkes-Barre, PA, offering USD 70,000 - 80,000 per year, with a Bachelor's degree and a minimum of 3 years of experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead full lifecycle development of Interactive Virtual Assistant and digital chat solutions, including intent recognition, entity extraction, dialogue management, API connections, and advanced response generation to deliver robust conversational AI experiences.
• Leverage and master IVA and digital development platforms such as Kore.ai, Google Dialogflow, Amazon Lex, and Microsoft Bot Framework to design, train, configure, and deploy high-performing conversational agents.
• Integrate IVA and digital solutions with backend systems via API connections, using REST and SOAP web services to ensure seamless data exchange and a consistent user experience.
• Implement and optimize NLU models, improve intent accuracy and entity recognition, and develop natural sounding NLG templates; explore small language models for task-specific needs.
• Handle data using JSON and work with databases including SQL, Oracle, Redis, and MongoDB for efficient storage and retrieval.
• Prepare and organize data, technology information, and metrics for audiences including upper management, team members, and vendor partners.
• Conduct UAT and QA testing, debugging, and performance tuning across scenarios and channels to ensure high availability and reliability.
• Analyze conversation logs and user feedback to identify pain points, refine dialogue flows, add intents, and continuously enhance IVA capabilities based on data-driven insights.
• Collaborate with product managers to translate business requirements into technical specs and contribute to the product roadmap; work with UX/UI designers and data scientists to optimize interfaces and AI models.
• Stay current with advancements in conversational AI, NLP, machine learning, and related technologies; evaluate and recommend adoption of new tools and techniques, including SLMs.
• Travel up to 25 percent as required.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Linguistics, Data Science, or a related quantitative field; equivalent practical experience considered.
• Experience on a Conversational AI platform and with Generative AI concepts specific to conversational products.
• Strong background in natural language processing and understanding.
• Proficiency with Node.js for backend chatbot development.
• Experience with REST and SOAP web services.
• Experience in design and solution architecture for chatbots and voicebots.
• Minimum of 3 years developing and deploying IVR, digital, voicebot, or chatbot solutions.
• Strong knowledge of REST and SOAP web services.
• Proficiency in Java, Python, and Node.js; solid JSON data handling.
• Experience with SQL databases and NoSQL options such as Redis and MongoDB.
• Solid understanding of NLP and NLU concepts, including intent classification, entity extraction, and dialogue management.
• Excellent analytical, critical thinking, and problem-solving abilities with attention to detail.
• Strong written and verbal communication; ability to explain technical concepts to diverse stakeholders.
• Proven ability to collaborate effectively in a team environment.
• Experience working with Small Language Models (SLMs) for targeted conversational tasks.
• Ability to travel up to 25%.

Technologies

• Kore.ai
• Google Dialogflow
• Amazon Lex
• Microsoft Bot Framework
• Node.js
• REST
• SOAP
• JSON
• SQL
• Oracle
• Redis
• MongoDB
• Java
• Python
• Small Language Models (SLMs)
• NoSQL

Benefits

• 401k retirement plan with employer match
• Medical, dental, vision, life and short-term disability insurance
• Paid time off starting at 80 hours per year, increasing with tenure
• Floating holiday of 40 hours per year
• Paid holidays totaling 7 days per year
• Paid sick leave in accordance with state and local laws
• Tuition reimbursement program
• Employee discount program