Senior Sign Language Specialist in Canada Creek, Nova Scotia at Jobgether
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Job Description
This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Senior Sign Language Specialist based in Canada.
As a Senior Sign Language Specialist, you will play a key role in advancing the quality and accessibility of American Sign Language (ASL) language technologies. Working in a fully remote environment, you will contribute your expertise in ASL linguistics, annotation, and language standardization to support innovative AI-driven solutions. You will collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, ensuring linguistic accuracy across sign language resources, training data, and digital outputs. This position offers the opportunity to influence industry-leading language initiatives while mentoring peers and shaping best practices. If you are passionate about Deaf culture, linguistic excellence, and emerging technologies, this is an opportunity to make a meaningful and lasting impact.
- Maintain and expand the ASL sign dictionary by creating new entries, reviewing existing content, documenting regional and stylistic variations, and resolving linguistic inconsistencies.
- Annotate ASL video content using advanced linguistic conventions, including glossing, classifier predicates, non-manual markers, role shift, prosody, and grammatical structures.
- Collaborate with AI and machine learning teams to define linguistic requirements, evaluate training data quality, review model outputs, and provide expert feedback on complex language cases.
- Assess text-to-sign avatar outputs for grammatical accuracy, naturalness, and cultural appropriateness while documenting findings through standardized evaluation frameworks.
- Lead regular linguistic calibration sessions, maintain annotation standards, and oversee documentation of glossing conventions and linguistic decision-making.
- Mentor fellow Sign Language Specialists during collaborative projects and cross-functional initiatives.
- Maintain accurate documentation of annotations, linguistic decisions, and edge cases using internal tools and knowledge management systems.
- Bachelor's degree in ASL Linguistics, Deaf Studies, ASL Studies, Interpreting, Deaf Education, or a closely related field; a graduate degree is considered an asset.
- At least 3 years of professional experience in ASL linguistics, annotation, interpreting, Deaf education, or a comparable discipline.
- Fluency in both ASL and English, with the ability to produce high-quality English transcriptions from ASL source material.
- Strong expertise in ASL linguistics, including gloss conventions, classifier predicates, non-manual markers, role shift, and ASL grammar.
- Active involvement within the Deaf community, with a strong understanding of regional and generational language variation.
- Experience creating or annotating ASL content for research, education, interpreting, media, or related applications.
- Strong written communication skills and experience producing clear documentation and annotation guidelines.
- Comfortable using annotation platforms and productivity tools such as Microsoft Office, Confluence, JIRA, ELAN, CVAT, or similar technologies.
- Experience collaborating with AI, machine learning, or language technology teams is highly desirable.
- Familiarity with signed avatars, sign language corpora, dictionary development, North American signing varieties, and mentoring other linguists or annotators is considered an advantage.
- Excellent attention to detail, consistency, collaboration, communication, and the ability to work independently in a remote environment.
- Fully remote position available anywhere in Canada.
- Annual salary of $74,629 CAD, with compensation based on experience, skills, and location.
- Potential eligibility for incentive compensation.
- Opportunity to contribute to innovative AI and language technology initiatives.
- Collaborative, mission-driven work environment focused on accessibility and inclusion.
- Professional growth through cross-functional collaboration and leadership opportunities.
- Limited travel requirements (less than 5%).