Speech Scientist / Phonetics / Computational Linguistics

Job title: Speech Scientist

Location: Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire

Salary: Competitive salary and excellent benefits and a superb working environment

Job Type: Permanent, Full Time (37 hours per week)

The Company is an exciting established Technology business providing some of the largest businesses in the UK and globally with customer service and payment solutions. Their customers include some of the best known brands across the world in the UK, US and Australia. Today, their aim is simple: To help their customers make every contact centre experience satisfying and secure for consumers. Come and discover what's refreshingly different about the Company.

The Role

They are currently seeking a Speech Scientist to join a small team responsible for creating, managing and tuning a range of speech recognition services. This exciting and varied role includes the following areas of responsibility:

• Analysing and tuning recognition systems
• Training and supervising in-house and third-party transcription of caller interactions
• Creating and maintaining SRGS and statistical grammars and dictionaries
• Software script development to create or process system data or results
• Documentation and reporting
• Contributing to the design of Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems and dialogues

Working under the direction of the Senior Speech Scientist as part of a cross-functional team of experienced Developers, Project Managers and Dialogue Designers the successful candidate will contribute principally to the development and maintenance of the Company's speech solutions.

A background in speech recognition analysis and phonetics or linguistics is ideally required, preferably with some industrial experience, and with a demonstrable capability in software/scripting development.

You will work in a team with a broad set of skills so the ability to communicate effectively across this range is required. Moreover, you must be self-motivated and tenacious with a desire for excellence, attention to detail and a hardworking attitude. Outstanding candidates who may lack some specific skills listed are encouraged to apply.

Candidate profile, experience and skill

Qualification

• A degree, preferably involving coursework in speech technology/processing, phonetics, computational linguistics or related subjects

Experience and skills

• Analysis and tuning of speech recognisers and resources
• Design and development of SRGS grammars and dictionaries
• Experience of Nuance technologies is desirable but not essential
• Any experience of natural language processing, statistical/semantic language modeling or speech biometrics would be advantageous but is not essential
• Proficiency in a scripting language, preferably JavaScript, Perl or Python
• Good familiarity with Windows and preferably also Linux/Unix command shells
• Good skills in Microsoft Office Word, Excel, PowerPoint
• Analytic skills including use of general mathematics and statistics
• Excellent spoken and written English is essential, with fluency or working knowledge of other European languages an advantage
• Excellent communication and organisational skills, especially using computer-based systems
• Ability to clearly present and report the results of analytical work internally and to clients

Temperament/motivation

• A passion for speech recognition, linguistics and technology in general
• A desire to make speech recognition solutions work for real users
• Strong analytical skills and methodological approach
• A willingness to participate in audio transcription
• A hands-on, proactive approach, with thorough attention to detail
• Self-motivated with strong personal organisation skills
• Capable of managing several projects simultaneously and working well under pressure when necessary
• Willing to learn new systems and take on a new intellectual challenge

Their Benefits

• 25 days holiday and increases with service
• Excellent Share Incentive Scheme
• Life insurance
• Simply Health scheme
• Access to group Bupa membership scheme.
• Pension scheme
• Discretionary annual bonus
• Employee Recognition schemes
• Free tea, coffee, fresh fruit and snacks
• Relaxation floor (lunch area, quiet room, pool table, Xbox)
• Well-being initiatives, such as in-house Reflexology and Sports Massage
• Discounted offers
• Team days and Volunteering events
• Christmas & summer company events
• Focused on education and training (conference attendance, higher education sponsorship)

Please click the APPLY button to send your CV and Cover Letter for this role.

Candidates with the experience or relevant job titles of; Speech Systems Analyst, SRGS, Speech Scientist, Software Script Development, IVR, Interactive Voice Response, Speech Systems, Speech Technology Specialist, Phonetics, Computational Linguistics, JavaScript, Perl, Python, Linux, Unix, Systems Analyst, Linguistics Specialist may also be considered for this role.