Transcription Quality Assurance (QA) Reviewer

Translation Excellence; United States; On-site; USD 42,000 - 72,000; Full time

Job summary

Translation Excellence is seeking a Transcription QA Reviewer to join our two-person production model, ensuring transcripts meet federal court standards before submission. You will proofread every transcript, audit against the style guide and templates, and deliver precise, fully formatted outputs within weekly deadlines, while working in a secure Azure Virtual Desktop environment.

Experience with AAERT or 1 year transcription/proofreading in legal settings preferred; strong attention to detail

Qualifications

• AAERT certification or 1 year transcribing/proofreading experience in legal proceedings.
• Experience with multi-channel courtroom audio and fast-paced transcripts.
• Strong attention to detail and adherence to style guides.

Responsibilities

• Proofread 100% of every assigned transcript before delivery.
• Audit line-by-line against source recording to verify accuracy.
• Verify against the DOJ Style Guide and Pre-Submission Checklist.
• Confirm document properties, bookmarks, and template compliance.
• Provide corrective feedback and re-review corrected transcripts.
• Escalate quality issues to the Project Manager.
• Escalate any style questions through the Project Manager.
• Maintain weekly turnaround to meet DOJ upload deadlines.
• Work exclusively in the Azure Virtual Desktop environment.

Skills

AAERT certification

Transcription proofreading

Attention to detail

Security clearance

Tools

Transcription/audio-review software

Multi-speaker audio analysis

Job description

Transcription Quality Assurance (QA) Reviewer

The Transcription QA Reviewer ("Proofreader/Auditor") is responsible for the quality assurance step in a two-person production model: one transcriber produces the transcript, and a separate QA Reviewer proofreads and, audits every transcript before it is delivered. This is not a supervisory or training role — it is a hands-on production role that directly determines whether a transcript meets the accuracy and formatting standard required for submission to a federal court record.

Core Responsibilities

• Proofread 100% of every assigned transcript — full sight-read of the completed transcript for errors, omissions, and formatting deviations prior to delivery.
• Audit — Perform a line-by-line audit while listening to the source recording to verify accuracy.
• Verify the transcript against the current TETP Transcriptionist Style Guide and Pre-Submission Checklist , including speaker labels, bracketed notation ([phonetic], [indiscernible]), procedural notation formatting, numeral rules, and Oral Decision non-verbatim conventions.
• Confirm document properties, required bookmarks, and template compliance against the DOJ Case Hearing Template.
• Return transcripts with clear, specific, corrective feedback when standards are not met; re-review corrected transcripts before final sign-off.
• Escalate recurring individual transcriber quality issues to the Project Manager rather than resolving them independently.
• Escalate any ambiguous or unresolved style/policy question through the Project Manager rather than making an independent determination on DOJ practice.
• Maintain strict weekly turnaround discipline to meet the contract\'s Wednesday DOJ upload deadline.
• Work exclusively within the approved Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) environment; no transcript content may be transferred outside the authorized security boundary at any time.

Requirements

Certification / Experience
AAERT certification, or a minimum of one year of experience transcribing or proofreading digital audio recordings of multi-channel courtroom or other fast-paced, multi-party legal proceedings.

Technical Skill
Demonstrated ability to use transcription/audio-review equipment and software with multi-speaker, overlapping audio.

Attention to Detail
Consistent, demonstrated precision in applying detailed style and formatting rules; comfortable following a living, version-controlled style guide.

Reliability
Ability to balance multiple assigned cases, meet firm weekly deadlines, and maintain organized records of completed reviews.

Communication
Direct, professional, and constructive in delivering corrective feedback to transcribers.

Security
Must obtain and maintain Public Trust–level security clearance; subject to DOJ personnel security screening and all required contract security training prior to production access.

Preferred

• Prior direct experience with DOJ immigration court transcription or similar federal court transcription programs.
• Familiarity with verbatim vs. non-verbatim transcription standards (Oral Decision transcripts are non-verbatim; case hearing transcripts are verbatim).

Performance Standards

• 100% proofreading of all assigned transcripts before delivery, and full audit performed.
• 100% quality standard for typing, editing, and formatting corrections, consistent with contract Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) requirements.
• Adherence to weekly turnaround windows supporting the contract\'s DOJ upload schedule.
• Consistent, traceable application of current style guide and checklist versions — no reliance on outdated or memorized guidance when a documented standard exists.

Pay is calculated using a per-page rate that varies by turnaround tier. Faster-turnaround assignments carry a higher per-page rate:

Rate Per Page

Routine Audio File Transcription QA 5 Business Days $0.50

Priority I Audio File Transcription QA 3 Business Days $0.59

Priority II Audio File Transcription QA 1 Business Day $0.64

Premium Audio File Transcription QA Next Business Day $0.68

Same Day Audio File Transcription QA Same Business Day $0.80

Actual hourly earnings vary with reading speed and case complexity. Experienced reviewers working clean, standard-pace audio at typical tiers generally land in the $22–$35/hour range; earnings run lower on complex, interpreter-mediated, or multi-speaker hearings that require a full line-by-line audit against the recording, and higher on faster-turnaround tiers worked at an efficient pace.