Phonetician

About the role

We are looking for a skilled Linguist with expertise in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) to join our team as an Annotation Specialist. In this role, you will produce high-quality phonetic transcriptions and annotations to support speech and language technology development.

Responsibilities

• Perform narrow and broad phonetic transcriptions of speech data using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
• Annotate audio recordings with accurate IPA representations, including segmental and suprasegmental features (stress, tone, intonation, length)
• Review and quality-check annotations produced by other team members
• Follow and contribute to annotation guidelines, style guides, and labeling conventions
• Collaborate with engineers, researchers, and project managers to clarify annotation requirements and edge cases
• Flag ambiguous or problematic data and propose principled resolutions
• Maintain high accuracy and consistency while meeting throughput targets
• Participate in calibration sessions and inter-annotator reliability exercises

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree (or higher) in Linguistics, Phonetics, Speech-Language Pathology, or a closely related field
• Demonstrated proficiency in IPA transcription (both broad and narrow)
• Strong understanding of articulatory and acoustic phonetics
• Familiarity with phonological theory and its relationship to phonetic realization
• Experience with at least one annotation tool (e.g., Praat, ELAN, Audacity, or similar)
• Excellent attention to detail and ability to work systematically through large datasets
• Strong written and verbal communication skills in English

Skills

• International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA
• Linguistics
• Linguist
• Team player
• Spanish
• French
• Mandarin

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's or PhD in Phonetics, Phonology, or a related subfield
• Experience annotating speech data in a production or research environment
• Familiarity with multiple languages or dialects beyond English
• Knowledge of prosodic annotation frameworks (e.g., ToBI, IViE)
• Experience with forced alignment tools or automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems
• Prior work with speech technology teams (TTS, ASR, voice assistants)
• Training or certification in phonetic transcription (e.g., IPA exam, SPS certification)
• Scripting skills (Python, R, or similar) for data processing or automation
• Experience with corpus linguistics tools and methodologies
• Familiarity with Unicode IPA input methods and font standards
• Background in sociolinguistics or dialectology

Opportunity

Opportunity to contribute to cutting-edge speech and language technology
Collaborative, linguistically-informed team environment
Professional development and training opportunities

Job Type & Location

This is a Contract position based out of Menlo Park, CA.

Pay and Benefits

The pay range for this position is $40.00 - $45.00/hr. Individual compensation offered for this position within this range will depend on many factors, including qualifications, skills, relevant experience, job knowledge, geographic location, internal equity, and other pertinent job-related factors.

Benefits are subject to change and may be subject to specific elections, plan, or program terms. If eligible, the benefits available for this temporary role may include the following:

• Medical, dental & vision
• Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital
• 401(k) Retirement Plan – Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available
• Life Insurance (Voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents)
• Short and long-term disability
• Health Spending Account (HSA)
• Transportation benefits
• Employee Assistance Program
• Time Off/Leave (PTO, Vacation or Sick Leave)

Workplace Type

This is a fully remote position.

Application Deadline

This position is anticipated to close on Sep 3, 2026.