Virtual Back End Developer Jobs in Chicago, IL (NOW HIRING)

Ascensus is the leading independent technology and service platform powering savings plans across America, providing products and expertise that help nearly 16 million people save for a better today and tomorrow.
Section 1: Position Summary
At Ascensus, we are building a team that is empowered to use AI to solve the business needs by having a rapid development and deployment pipeline with a focus on rapid iteration, continuous delivery, and intelligent automation.
We are looking to add a software engineer who will design, develop, and support conversational AI solutions that enhance customer and associate experiences across our contact center platforms. This role combines software engineering, generative AI, prompt engineering, and customer engagement technologies to deliver virtual agents, intelligent self-service capabilities, agent assist solutions, and AI-powered business workflows. If you're AI-Forward and excited to explore and apply the latest tools and technologies to solve real-world business problems, this is the role for you. You'll work with a modern tech stack including Python, .NET, Azure OpenAI, LangChain, PostgreSQL, Docker, Cursor, Git, Azure DevOps, NICE CXone, AI Agents, and conversational AI technologies to deliver high value software to our business.
Section 2: Job Functions, Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Design, develop, test, and maintain conversational AI experiences including voice bots, chatbots, virtual assistants, and agent-assist solutions using NICE CXone, Azure OpenAI, and related technologies.
Create and optimize conversational flows, prompts, intents, and knowledge retrieval mechanisms to improve customer and associate experiences.
Analyze conversation transcripts and interaction data to continuously improve AI accuracy, containment rates, and customer satisfaction.
Develop integrations between NICE CXone and internal systems using APIs, event-driven architectures, and AI services.
Support the design and implementation of intelligent routing, self-service, and automation capabilities within the contact center ecosystem.
Partner with contact center business teams to identify opportunities for AI-driven process automation and customer experience improvements.
Collaborate with cross-functional teams to integrate AI capabilities using Azure OpenAI, Langchain, and AI Agents.
Apply prompt engineering techniques to optimize LLM interactions for precision, consistency, and business value.
Monitor AI solution performance and implement safeguards to ensure accuracy, compliance, reliability, and responsible AI usage.
Build and maintain containerized applications using Docker and deploy via Azure DevOps pipelines.
Work with PostgreSQL and other data technologies to design efficient, reliable data models.
Develop and consume REST APIs to enable seamless integration across services and platforms.
Participate in sprint planning, estimation, and retrospectives as part of an Agile Scrum team.
Contribute to the evolution of our AI-driven development environment using tools like Cursor.
Stay current with emerging technologies and bring a mindset of continuous learning and experimentation.
Section 3: Experience, Skills, Knowledge Requirements
A strong interest in leveraging AI and the latest tools to drive innovation and efficiency.
Extensive experience using .NET to develop web applications and back-end services
Extensive experience designing, developing, and integrating REST APIs in distributed systems and enterprise applications.
Ability to design, develop, test, and maintain scalable MCP server architectures using Python
Experience with Docker, Git, Azure DevOps, CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and infrastructure as code.
Experience building AI solutions using Azure OpenAI, LangChain, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), AI agents, prompt engineering techniques, and related AI development frameworks.
Experience with prompt engineering and optimizing LLM interactions for accuracy and reliability.
Experience with NICE CXone or similar contact center platforms such as Genesys, Five9, Amazon Connect, or Cisco Contact Center.
Understanding of contact center operations, including inbound and outbound customer engagement.
Familiarity with IVR design, intelligent routing, call flows, skills-based routing, and self-service automation.
Experience integrating contact center platforms with CRM, case management, and enterprise business systems.
Experience designing, implementing, or supporting virtual agents, chatbots, voice bots, or conversational AI platforms.
Understanding of natural language processing (NLP), natural language understanding (NLU), speech recognition, and text-to-speech technologies.
Experience evaluating and improving AI-generated responses for accuracy, effectiveness, and customer experience outcomes.
Experience working with other developers, quality engineers (QE), ops engineers and support engineers to ensure smooth deployment and continual operation
Strong problem-solving skills, attention to detail, and a passion for learning and applying new technologies.
Excellent communication skills with the ability to collaborate effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Familiarity or experience with Agile engineering practices (test driven development, continuous integration and pair programming, etc.
Ability to work with legacy systems while contributing to modernization efforts.
Familiarity with Agile methodologies and open-source development practices.
The national average salary range for this role is$100K-160K in base pay, exclusive of any bonuses and benefits.This base salary range represents the low and high end of the salary range for this position. Actual salary offered will vary and may be above or below the range based on various factors including but not limited to location, experience, performance, and internal pay alignment. We do not anticipate that candidates hired will begin at the top of the range however, from time to time, it may occur on a case-by-case basis. Other rewards and benefits may include: 401(k) match, Medical, Dental, Vision, Paid-Time-Off, etc. For more information, please visit careers.ascensus.com/#Benefits
Be aware of employment fraud. All email communications from Ascensus or its hiring managers originate from @ascensus.com or @futureplan.com email addresses. We will never ask you for payment or require you to purchase any equipment. If you are suspicious or unsure about validity of a job posting, we strongly encourage you to apply directly through our website.
For all virtual remote positions, in order to ensure associates can effectively perform their job duties with no distractions, we require an uninterrupted virtual work space and there is also an expectation of family care being in place during business hours. Additionally, there is an internet work speed requirement of 25 MBps or better for individual use. If more than one person is utilizing the same internet connection in the same household or building, then a stronger connection is required. If you are unsure of your internet speed, please check with your service provider. Note: For call center roles specifically, it is a requirement to either hardwire your equipment directly to the internet router or ensure your workstation is in close proximity to the router. Please ensure that you are able to meet these expectations before applying.
Ascensus provides equal employment opportunities to all associates and applicants for employment without regard to ancestry, race, color, religion, sex, (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and/or related medical conditions), gender, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition (including cancer and genetic characteristics), marital status, military or veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, criminal conviction record or any other protected category in accordance with applicable federal, state, or local laws ("Protected Status").