Principal Conversational & Agentic AI Architect

When you join Verizon You want more out of a career. A place to share your ideas freely — even if they’re daring or different. Where the true you can learn, grow, and thrive. At Verizon, we power and empower how people live, work and play by connecting them to what brings them joy. We do what we love — driving innovation, creativity, and impact in the world. Our V Team is a community of people who anticipate, lead, and believe that listening is where learning begins. In crisis and in celebration, we come together — lifting our communities and building trust in how we show up, everywhere & always. Want in? Join the #VTeamLife. What you’ll be doing... We are seeking a highly skilled Conversational & Agentic AI Architect to design, build, and optimize enterprise-grade conversational AI and multi-agent solutions within a Consulting organization. This role demands hands-on technical architecture, a product-led engineering mindset, and extensive expertise in both speech science and Generative AI. You will be responsible for consulting with customers to create seamless, multi-turn conversational experiences that move beyond rigid decision trees into dynamic, agentic interactions, successfully integrating complex backend systems while managing both sophisticated NLU models and LLMs. Key Responsibilities Agentic & Conversational Architecture: Architect and maintain complex conversational flows, transitioning from traditional State-Based Flows and event handlers to modern Generative AI and multi-agent orchestrated solutions (e.g., Dialogflow Playbooks, Vertex AI , or Microsoft Copilot Studio). LLM Engineering & NLU Design: Manage complex intent taxonomies capable of handling 200+ unique intents without overlapping, ensuring high Intent Precision & Recall while minimizing False Positives. Lead efforts in LLM fine-tuning, prompt engineering, distillation, and evaluating small/efficient models for latency-sensitive voice applications. Collision Analysis & Tuning: Conduct regular conflict detection and ambiguity testing to resolve intents that compete for the same user phrases, while securing AI models against prompt manipulation and data vulnerabilities. STT, STS & Multi-Modal Extraction: Tune Speech-to-Text (STT) and Speech-to-Speech adaptations and hints to improve recognition for industry-specific jargon, and design complex custom entities to extract critical data from unstructured speech and generative interactions. System Integration & Backend: Build and deploy robust webhooks and serverless backend services using Node.js or Python to connect virtual agents with third-party APIs, CRMs, and databases. Implement model serving infrastructure and scalable cross-platform AI solutions. Performance Benchmarking & ROI: Build "Golden Sets" for automated regression testing to measure F1-scores across model versions, and use tools like BigQuery to analyze real-world "No-Match" logs. Conduct Return-on-Investment (ROI) analysis of AI-powered solutions and interpret telemetry data to drive continuous product improvement. What we’re looking for... You’ll need to have: Bachelor’s degree or four or more years of work experience. Six or more years of relevant experience required, demonstrated through one or a combination of work and/or military experience, or specialized training. Proficiency in modern programming languages and frameworks such as Python, JavaScript, Java, Next JS, Node.js, React js Strong working experience with GenAI, LLM Models, MCP, Vector DB, RAG, Vertex AI, Agentic AI frameworks like NGA, ADK or LangChain/LangGraph, creating AI agents. Experience with Cloud platforms like GCP, Azure or AWS and cloud technologies like OpenStack, Terraform, Ansible or Chef Experience working with LLM observability, analytics, evaluations, testing and annotation using tools like LangSmith, LangFuse, Streamlit, Arize or similar tools. Experience working with AI/ML development. Willingness to travel 25% Even better if you have one or more of the following: Background in Computational Linguistics or Data Science. Certifications such as Microsoft Agentic AI Business Solutions Architect, Google Cloud Professional Architect, or Machine Learning Engineer. Experience with Generative and NLU design. Experience using Python libraries (Pandas/NumPy) for large-scale utterance data cleaning and optimization. Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines for automated agent deployment and modern Product-Led operating models If Verizon and this role sound like a fit for you, we encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet every “even better” qualification listed above. Where you’ll be working In this remote role, you'll work from home with occasional in-person trainings and meetings. Scheduled Weekly Hours 40 Equal Employment Opportunity Verizon is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to veteran status, disability or other legally protected characteristics. Benefits and Compensation Our benefits are designed to help you move forward in your career, and in areas of your life outside of Verizon. From health and wellness benefit options including: medical, dental, vision, short and long term disability, basic life insurance, supplemental life insurance, AD&D insurance, identity theft protection, pet insurance and group home & auto insurance. We also offer a matched 401(k) savings plan, up to 8 company paid holidays per year and up to 6 personal days per year, paid parental leave, adoption assistance and tuition assistance, plus other incentives, we’ve got you covered with our award-winning total rewards package. Depending on the role, employees have the opportunity to receive compensation in the form of premium pay such as overtime, shift differential, holiday pay, allowances, etc. Newly hired employees receive up to 15 days of vacation per year, which grows with additional service. For part-timers, your coverage will vary as you may be eligible for some of these benefits depending on your individual circumstances. The salary will vary depending on your location and confirmed job-related skills and experience. This is an incentive based position with the potential to earn more. For part-time roles, your compensation will be adjusted to reflect your hours.