Conversational AI Tech Lead

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Conversational AI Tech Lead based in India.

This is a high-impact technical leadership role at the intersection of Conversational AI, software engineering, and intelligent automation. You will lead a team responsible for building and deploying sophisticated chatbots and voicebots for global customers. The role combines hands-on engineering with technical leadership, mentoring, architecture, and delivery oversight. You will work extensively with LLMs, Agentic AI, NLU, speech technologies, APIs, and databases to create production-ready solutions. You will also shape technical standards, governance, reusable IP, and best practices across projects. The environment is fast-paced and collaborative, offering significant opportunities to influence both technology and team capabilities.

Accountabilities:

• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of Conversational AI Engineers, fostering a collaborative, high-performance culture and supporting individual growth and career development.
• Provide hands-on technical leadership across the design, development, testing, and deployment of complex conversational AI solutions, including chatbots and voicebots.
• Define robust technical architectures, assess feasibility and constraints, identify dependencies, and evaluate APIs, integrations, data sources, and platform capabilities.
• Engineer and optimize prompts while integrating LLMs, Agentic AI, NLU models, APIs, databases, and external platforms to deliver reliable conversational experiences.
• Design and optimize speech technology solutions, including Speech-to-Text (STT), Text-to-Speech (TTS), and telephony integrations.
• Conduct code reviews and architecture audits, ensuring engineering standards, maintainability, security, scalability, and production readiness.
• Manage sprint activities, resolve technical blockers, identify project risks, and support the successful delivery of technical milestones.
• Establish AI governance, guardrails, evaluation practices, and technical standards that support production stability and responsible AI deployment.
• Lead system integrations and development work required to deliver seamless automation and high-quality user experiences across platforms.
• Apply best practices for hybrid conversational systems combining NLU, LLMs, and Agentic AI, while continuously evaluating emerging technologies and approaches.
• Build reusable technical components and intellectual property that improve delivery efficiency and strengthen engineering capabilities.
• Collaborate closely with product, design, and other cross-functional teams to translate business and user requirements into effective technical solutions.
• Maintain clear technical documentation covering architecture, configurations, integrations, deployment procedures, and system dependencies to ensure transparency and reproducibility.

Requirements:

• Strong professional experience in Conversational AI, with hands-on expertise across LLMs, Agentic AI, and NLU-based systems.
• Proven experience working as a Tech Lead, Engineering Manager, or in a comparable technical leadership position, with demonstrated ability to lead and mentor engineering teams.
• Degree or professional background in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
• Deep understanding of AI engineering, LLM application development, Agentic AI, and production deployment.
• Practical experience with Speech-to-Text, Text-to-Speech, voice technologies, and telephony systems.
• Strong proficiency in API integrations, including REST APIs, webhooks, and authentication mechanisms such as OAuth.
• Hands-on prompt engineering experience and the ability to design effective knowledge structures for conversational systems.
• Strong programming skills in Python, JavaScript, and/or TypeScript, with familiarity with JSON and YAML configurations.
• Experience using SQL and/or NoSQL databases to support conversational AI applications and external data retrieval.
• Excellent English communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Strong technical documentation skills, including the ability to clearly communicate architectures, configurations, dependencies, and deployment processes.
• Experience with platforms such as Cognigy, Sierra, ElevenLabs, or comparable Conversational AI technologies is advantageous.
• Familiarity with RAG, vector databases, MLOps/LLMOps, model evaluation, observability, and drift monitoring is a plus.
• Knowledge of Git workflows, CI/CD, environment promotion, and DevOps practices is beneficial.
• Experience with AWS, Azure, or GCP is preferred, as is familiarity with agentic frameworks such as LangChain, LlamaIndex, MCP, or tool/function calling.
• Cognigy certification, or willingness to obtain certification shortly after joining, is a plus.
• Proficiency in German, French, or another European language would be an additional advantage.
• A proactive, curious mindset and genuine interest in emerging Conversational AI and Agentic AI technologies.

Benefits:

• Remote work opportunity based in India.
• Opportunity to lead and mentor a specialized Conversational AI engineering team.
• Hands-on exposure to LLMs, Agentic AI, NLU, voice technology, and intelligent automation.
• Opportunity to work on global customer-facing conversational AI solutions.
• Significant technical ownership across architecture, integrations, deployment, and continuous improvement.
• Opportunities to develop reusable technology, establish engineering standards, and influence AI delivery practices.
• Professional growth through exposure to rapidly evolving AI technologies and cross-functional projects.
• Potential support for relevant professional certifications and development opportunities.
• Collaborative, international working environment focused on innovation and technical excellence.