Expert Audio Transcriber, Icelandic

Perle; United States; Remote; USD 34,000 - 83,000; Full time

Job summary

Perle is hiring expert Icelandic transcribers to convert audio recordings of native speakers into precise, conventionally formatted transcripts. This is not data entry; you will apply orthography, speaker attribution, and diacritics to produce model-ready outputs.

You'll work remotely, with paid pilot tasks, per-task compensation, and collaboration with Perle’s linguistic leads and QA team to ensure accuracy and consistency across projects.

Qualifications

• Native fluency in Icelandic with immersion in Iceland.
• Mastery of Icelandic orthography including diacritics.
• Strong Icelandic inflectional morphology handling.
• Experience in transcription, captioning, or linguistic annotation.
• Ability to meet weekly volume targets.

Responsibilities

• Transcribe audio recordings into accurate, time-aligned written text following Perle’s project-specific style guide
• Apply correct conventions for speaker identification, overlapping speech, disfluencies, fillers, false starts, and non-speech events
• Make principled orthographic decisions for dialectal, colloquial, and code-switched speech
• Flag ambiguous segments, uncertain speakers, and audio quality issues using project conventions
• Self-review every submission against Perle’s quality bar before delivery
• Engage with QA reviewers on edge cases, calibration sessions, and style guide updates

Skills

Icelandic fluency

Linguistic judgment

Attention to detail

Tools

Web-based annotation platforms

Job description

THE ROLE

We are hiring expert Icelandic transcribers to convert audio recordings of native speakers into precise, conventionally formatted written transcripts. The work powers speech recognition, dialogue, and evaluation systems for major AI labs. Audio ranges from clean studio recordings to natural conversational speech in real-world acoustic conditions.

You will be working at the level of expert linguistic judgment. This is not data entry. Decisions about orthography, code‑switching, speaker attribution, disfluencies, and non‑speech events shape the quality of every model trained on your output.

DIALECT AND SCOPE

Icelandic (islenska), a conservative North Germanic language with limited regional dialectal variation. Project audio reflects everyday Icelandic speech across formal and conversational registers.

Primary speaker regions: Reykjavik, Akureyri, Hafnarfjordur, Kopavogur, Selfoss, Akranes.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

• Transcribe audio recordings into accurate, time‑aligned written text following Perle’s project‑specific style guide
• Apply correct conventions for speaker identification, overlapping speech, disfluencies, fillers, false starts, and non‑speech events such as laughter, background noise, and music
• Make principled orthographic decisions for dialectal, colloquial, and code‑switched speech
• Flag ambiguous segments, uncertain speakers, and audio quality issues using project conventions
• Self‑review every submission against Perle’s quality bar before delivery
• Engage with QA reviewers on edge cases, calibration sessions, and style guide updates

MUST HAVE

• Native fluency in Icelandic with lifelong residence or deep immersion in Iceland
• Mastery of current Icelandic orthography including diacritics and special characters
• Strong handling of Icelandic inflectional morphology in transcription
• Comfort transcribing both formal and colloquial Icelandic registers
• At least two years of professional transcription, captioning, court reporting, broadcast, translation, or linguistic annotation experience
• Demonstrated accuracy at the word level under deadline pressure
• Comfortable with web‑based annotation platforms and variable‑speed audio playback
• Reliable high‑speed internet, quality headphones, and a quiet workspace
• Ability to commit to defined volume per week during active project phases

NICE TO HAVE

• Background in Scandinavian or Germanic linguistics, translation, journalism, or media
• Prior experience annotating Icelandic speech data
• Working knowledge of Faroese, Old Norse, or other Scandinavian languages
• Familiarity with IPA or other phonetic transcription systems
• Experience with verbatim versus clean‑verbatim transcription conventions

HOW WE WORK WITH YOU

• Paid pilot task before full onboarding so both sides can calibrate
• Per‑task or per‑minute compensation, with rates tied to audio complexity and turnaround
• Flexible scheduling, with volume scaling up and down based on active client projects
• Direct working relationship with Perle’s linguistic leads and QA team
• Eligible for invitation to additional Perle expert projects across related domains

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY

Perle hires experts on the basis of skill, language proficiency, and demonstrated quality. We welcome applicants from every background and every region where our target languages are spoken.