Voice Technology Validation Scientist

Cambridge Cognition Ltd; Cambridge; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work: 2 days/week in Bottisham

Flexible home-based work 3 days

26 days annual leave + holidays

Private Health Insurance

Pension with company contribution

Life assurance 4x base salary

Employee Assistance Programme

Job summary

Cambridge Cognition is seeking a Voice Technology Validation Scientist to lead evaluation and validation of novel speech and language technologies underpinning their voice-based clinical assessments. This role sits at the intersection of speech tech, data science and measurement science, shaping the scientific foundation for remote, scalable trials.

You will develop analytical validation strategies for ASR systems and downstream voice analytics, ensuring robustness and fit-for-use in global

Qualifications

• PhD or MSc with significant relevant experience in neuroscience, psychology, statistics, speech and language sciences, linguistics, biomedical engineering, data science, or a related field.
• Experience designing analytical and/or clinical validation studies for digital measures, biomarkers, assessments, or healthcare technologies.
• Strong understanding of statistical methods, experimental design, and quantitative data analysis.
• Proficiency in data analysis using R and/or Python.

Responsibilities

• Lead analytical validation of ASR systems and voice analytics pipelines used in digital assessments.
• Design and execute studies to evaluate pipeline performance across languages, demographic groups, recording conditions, and clinical populations.
• Develop validation frameworks and performance benchmarks for speech technology used in clinical research applications.
• Define and evaluate performance characteristics of speech technologies and voice-derived measures, including accuracy, reliability, robustness, reproducibility, bias, and generalisability.
• Assess the impact of transcription errors and ASR model performance on downstream measures.
• Analyse large-scale speech, language, and clinical datasets using statistical and data science methods.
• Collaborate with engineering and product teams to improve model performance and establish evidence-based acceptance criteria.
• Advise on study design and product roadmap decisions involving voice-based assessments.
• Support the generation of scientific publications, technical reports, white papers, and client-facing evidence packages.

Skills

R/Python

Statistical analysis

Experimental design

Scientific communication

Cross-functional collaboration

Data science

Education

PhD or MSc (relevant field)

Tools

R

Python

ASR

NLP

Job description

Job title: Voice Technology Validation Scientist

Department: Science

People Manager? No

Location: UK - Hybrid, ideally with 2-3 days per week from our Bottisham office and the remainder can be worked from home if preferred

Contract: Fixed-term contract (FTC) for 12 months

Working pattern: Full-time. Monday to Friday 37.5 hours.

Salary: £50,000 – £65,000 depending on experience

Who are Cambridge Cognition and what do we do?

We are a talented global team based in the UK, Canada and USA. Backed by over 30 years of scientific discovery and validation, Cambridge Cognition offers the end-to-end platform for CNS clinical trials. Our technologies are reliable in-clinic or at home for an improved patient experience and accelerated drug development.

We aim to make an extraordinary impact by improving the health of people worldwide with innovative assessments and digital biomarkers that provide researchers with precise measures of patients’ symptoms. We lead in CNS research and are broadening our impact across therapeutic areas.

Are you interested in working for a company whose main goal is to make a difference to the health of current and future generations, through the knowledge and experience of our passionate team?

Role Summary:

We're looking for a Scientist, Voice Technology Validation to lead the evaluation and validation of novel speech and language technologies that underpin our voice‑based assessments for clinical research. This role sits at the intersection of speech technology, data science, measurement science, and clinical research, with real scope to shape the scientific foundation for next‑generation voice‑based assessments – work that helps pharmaceutical companies and researchers measure cognitive and neurological function more accurately, remotely, and at scale.

You will be responsible for developing and executing analytical validation strategies for automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems and downstream voice analytics, ensuring our technologies remain robust, reliable, and fit for use in global clinical trials, working closely with engineers and clinical scientists throughout.

What you’ll be doing:

Validation Strategy and Execution

• Lead the analytical validation of automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems and voice analytics pipelines used in digital assessments
• Design and execute studies to evaluate pipeline performance across languages, demographic groups, recording conditions, and clinical populations
• Develop validation frameworks and performance benchmarks for speech technology used in clinical research applications
• Define and evaluate performance characteristics of speech technologies and voice‑derived measures, including accuracy, reliability, robustness, reproducibility, bias, and generalisability

Analysis and Impact Assessment

• Assess the impact of transcription errors and ASR model performance on downstream linguistic, acoustic, and digital biomarker measures
• Analyse large‑scale speech, language, and clinical datasets using statistical and data science methods

Collaboration and Scientific Communication

• Collaborate with engineering and product teams to improve model performance and establish evidence‑based acceptance criteria, listening to understand colleagues' constraints rather than simply advocating for a position
• Advise on study design and product roadmap decisions involving voice‑based assessments, bringing scientific rigour to early‑stage technical choices
• Support the generation of scientific publications, technical reports, white papers, and client‑facing evidence packages

What we need from you:

Essential Requirements:

• A PhD or MSc with significant relevant experience in neuroscience, psychology, statistics, speech and language sciences, linguistics, biomedical engineering, data science, or a related field
• A questioning, evidence‑led mindset, comfortable asking "why," challenging assumptions about model performance, and voicing a view even where it's not the popular one
• Experience designing and conducting analytical and/or clinical validation studies for digital measures, biomarkers, assessments, or healthcare technologies
• Strong understanding of statistical methods, experimental design, and quantitative data analysis
• Proficiency in data analysis using R and/or Python
• Experience working with complex speech, language, behavioural, clinical, or real‑world datasets
• Strong scientific communication skills, including experience preparing technical reports, publications, or presentations
• Confidence working effectively in cross‑functional teams spanning science, engineering, and product development

Desirable Requirements:

• Experience with automatic speech recognition (ASR), speech analytics, natural language processing (NLP), computational linguistics, speech science, or voice biomarker development
• Experience applying the Digital Medicine Society (DiMe) V3 framework or other digital measurement validation frameworks
• Experience working in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, digital health, healthcare technology, or medical device environments
• Knowledge of regulatory considerations relevant to digital measures, digital biomarkers, or software‑based health technologies
• Publication record in speech and language research, neuroscience, psychology, digital health, machine learning, or related disciplines

What We Can Offer You

• Be part of a driven team to achieve commercial success and make an extraordinary impact on global health
• Flexibility – 2 days a week at our office in Bottisham, just outside Cambridge; and 3 days from home
• 26 days annual leave per year plus bank holidays (including 3 days for Christmas break) with a holiday buy/sell scheme
• Generous pension with up to 6.5% company contribution
• Life assurance 4x base salary
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)
• Private Health Insurance - Bupa Insurance and Medicash Cashback Scheme

Cambridge Cognition is an equal opportunities employer, we are committed to equality of opportunity for all employees and application from individuals are encouraged regardless of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, marriage, and civil partnerships