Sign Language Specialist

About the role

Join us at the industry leader in language services for the Deaf and hard-of-hearing. Benefits include full-time benefits, including paid vacation, sick leave, holidays, 401(k) matching, medical insurance, dental, vision, and telemedicine coverage. The position also offers an Employee Assistance Program, engaged employee resource groups, learning and career development opportunities, and potential incentive compensation.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Review ASL content for training applicability
• Transcribe ASL content to English
• Annotate sign language video content, adding linguistic labels and metadata
• Validate AI-generated sign output for linguistic correctness, naturalness, and cultural appropriateness
• Provide sign-language consultation to other Sorenson teams as needed

Supervisory Responsibility

This position has no supervisory responsibilities.

Travel Requirements

Less than 25%

Education and Experience

• Minimum 4-year Bachelor's degree in ASL Linguistics, Deaf Studies, ASL Studies, Interpreting, Deaf Education, or related fields
• At least 2 years of substantive professional ASL work (annotation, linguistics, interpreting, Deaf education, or comparable)

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Bilingual in ASL and English, with the ability to produce and quality-assure professional English transcriptions from ASL source content
• Familiarity with ASL linguistics, including gloss conventions and non-manual markers
• Experience producing, translating, or quality-assuring captioned, transcribed, or translated ASL content
• Comfortable working with computer-based tools, transcription tooling, and AI-augmented workflows; willingness to learn new software
• Attention to detail, consistency, and willingness to follow and improve standardized conventions
• Able to work both independently and collaboratively with peer Specialists, Senior Specialists, the Lead, and engineering teams
• Proficiency with standard productivity and collaboration tools (Microsoft Office, Confluence, JIRA, or equivalent)
• Positive attitude, team player, strong interpersonal communication skills, and able to work across research, engineering, and business departments

Preferred Qualifications

• American Sign Language as a primary or native language
• Prior captioning, subtitling, or transcription experience — particularly ASL-to-English work
• Background as a Deaf bilingual professional or as a graduate of Gallaudet, RIT/NTID, or a comparable ASL/Deaf-focused program
• Active and informed participant in the Deaf community, with awareness of regional and generational ASL variation
• Certification as a Deaf Interpreter (CDI) for asynchronous transcription or translation work
• Familiarity with annotation tools such as ELAN, CVAT, or similar platforms
• Experience working with AI/ML teams, technology companies, or research groups that generate sign language data
• Familiarity with PSE, SEE, and other North American signing varieties

Working Conditions and Physical Requirements

• Able to travel up to 5% of the time
• Able to sit/stand for long periods of time in an office or remote work environment
• Dexterity of hands and fingers to operate a computer keyboard, mouse, and related tools
• Regular and predictable attendance required

Company Summary

Harnessing the power of language, we connect diverse people and enrich the human experience. Our mission is to provide global language services that expand opportunities, nurture belonging, and empower the world to connect beyond words. As one of the world’s leading language services providers, Sorenson combines patented technology with human-centric solutions to increase accessibility and inclusion through communication solutions for all.

Equal Employment Opportunity

We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all individuals without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristic protected by law.