Part-Time Arabic Linguist – AI & TTS

Unifonic, Inc.; Riyadh; On-site; SAR 78,000 - 123,000; Part time

Job summary

Unifonic, a leading AI-native customer experience platform, seeks an Arabic Linguist to support TTS projects with dialect expertise, especially Najdi. You will collaborate with the Arabic NLP and AI teams to analyze phonology, morpho-syntax, and lexicons for Saudi dialect data.

Native Arabic with MSA and Najdi proficiency is essential. Remote collaboration with Türkiye and Saudi teams is expected, with strong English communication and teamwork skills welcome.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Linguistics or related field.
• Native Arabic with MSA and Saudi Arabic dialect proficiency.
• Experience with Arabic phonology, IPA, and dialects.
• Good English; working language with R&D/AI team.
• Part-time remote collaboration with Türkiye and Saudi teams.

Responsibilities

• Conducting research on phonology, morphology, and syntax of Arabic with focus on MSA and Saudi/Gulf dialects, especially Najdi.
• Acting as linguistic point of contact for R&D/AI team and translating linguistic requirements into actionable input for engineers.
• Analyzing and reviewing pronunciation data, including grapheme-to-phoneme mappings and diacritization for Arabic TTS/ASR.
• Evaluating TTS output quality for pronunciation accuracy, prosody, dialect authenticity, and naturalness, focusing on Saudi Arabic.
• Providing linguistic guidance for Arabic voice data collection and speech synthesis projects, including onboarding voice talents.

Skills

Arabic language proficiency

Najdi dialect

MSA knowledge

English proficiency

Education

Bachelor's degree in Linguistics or related field

Tools

TTS/ASR tooling

IPA

G2P

Job description

Proudly recognized as a Great Place to Work®, we are an AI-native customer experience platform purpose-built for emerging markets. With more than 25 years of conversational AI research and development, we serve over 5,000 enterprises across MENA and are pioneering sovereign, agentic AI through our Agentic Studio platform. As the category takes shape, the way Unifonic is perceived — by buyers, analysts, media, and the broader market — is a strategic asset. This role owns that perception.

We thrive on creativity, collaboration, and fun, where every idea is welcomed and celebrated. As shareholders in the company, we’re more than just communicators—we’re innovators shaping the future together. We are Unifones. Join us and be part of something extraordinary!

Meet the team!

Our Engineering team is responsible for designing, developing, and maintaining the systems and technologies that drive Unifonic’s solutions. We work closely with other departments to ensure our products and services meet the needs of our customers. If you are passionate about technology and are excited about working on cutting-edge communication and engagement solutions, we want you on our team.

As an Arabic Linguist, you will support our Text-to-Speech (TTS) team with linguistic analysis, Arabic dialect expertise, pronunciation and speech-quality evaluation, and voice-related projects. The ideal candidate will have strong expertise in Saudi Arabic dialects, with native or near-native proficiency in the Najdi dialect highly preferred.

This is a great opportunity to work closely with an AI and TTS team, contribute linguistic expertise to real production projects, and help improve the quality, accuracy, and naturalness of Arabic speech technology.

Help us shape the future of communications by:

• Conducting research on the phonological, morphological, and syntactic structures of Arabic — with a focus on Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and Saudi/Gulf dialects, particularly the Najdi dialect — and providing linguistic guidance for their integration into Sestek products.

• Acting as a linguistic point of contact for the R&D / AI team and translating linguistic requirements into clear, actionable input for engineers.

• Analyzing and review pronunciation data, including grapheme-to-phoneme mappings, diacritization/tashkeel, and lexicons, for Arabic TTS and speech recognition systems.

• Evaluating TTS output quality in terms of pronunciation accuracy, prosody, dialect authenticity, and naturalness, with a particular focus on Saudi Arabic.

• Providing linguistic guidance and support for Arabic voice data collection and speech synthesis projects, including identifying and onboarding suitable voice talents when needed.

• Supporting the coordination and review of voice recording and editing processes to ensure linguistic accuracy and consistency.

• Supporting the onboarding and coordination of external Arabic language consultants when needed and providing guidance on linguistic requirements.

• Reviewing and providing linguistic feedback on data annotation activities and guidelines, ensuring appropriate quality standards for Arabic and Saudi dialect data.

• Collaborating closely with the Sestek TTS and AI Research teams and providing ongoing linguistic expertise throughout the project.

What you will bring:

• Bachelor's degree in Linguistics, Arabic Language and Literature, Translation and Interpreting, or a related field.

• Native proficiency in Arabic, with strong command of MSA and Saudi Arabic dialects. Native or near-native proficiency in the Najdi dialect is strongly preferred.

• Familiarity with Arabic dialects beyond Saudi Arabic is also preferred.

• Strong knowledge of Arabic phonology and morphology, and familiarity with the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).

• Good command of English, as it will be the working language with the R&D / AI team.

• Strong communication skills and comfort working with technical, non-linguist colleagues.

• Familiarity with speech technologies (TTS/ASR), voice data collection, or NLP is a plus.

• Experience working with Saudi Arabic dialects, particularly the Najdi dialect, is highly preferred.

• Ability to work on a part-time basis and collaborate remotely with teams based in Türkiye and Saudi Arabia

Craft and Toolkit:

• Arabic Linguistics: MSA, Saudi/Najdi dialects, phonology, morphology, syntax

• Phonetics & IPA

• TTS / ASR / Speech Technology

• NLP / Computational Linguistics

• G2P, diacritization (Tashkeel), Arabic lexicons

• Pronunciation, prosody & speech-quality evaluation

• Voice data collection & annotation

• Speech synthesis & voice recording workflows

• Linguistic QA / AI & R&D collaboration

• Arabic + strong professional English

Character Traits:

• Analytical thinking and problem-solving – approach problems clearly, use data, and find solutions.

• Ownership and accountability – take responsibility and follow projects through to completion.

• Communication – explain ideas clearly and listen to others across teams.

• Collaboration – work well with others and support team goals.

• Adaptability and learning – adjust to change and keep learning new skills or tools.

• Mentorship and knowledge sharing – help others grow and share what you know.

• Resilience – stay calm under pressure and handle setbacks constructively.

• Quality and attention to detail – do work carefully and strive for improvement.

• Advocacy and innovation – encourage best practices, efficiency, and new ideas

As a Unifone you’ll receive a range of benefits:

• Competitive salary and bonus

• Unifonic share scheme (we are all owners!)

• 30 holiday days after the first anniversary

• Your Birthday off!

• Spend up to 25 days per year working from anywhere in the world!

• Paid leave for new parents