Linguistics Expert (Sme)

Invisible Expert Marketplace; Gauteng; Remote; ZAR 300 000 - 400 000; Part time

Job summary

A leading remote consulting firm is looking for a Senior Linguistics SME to provide expert guidance on AI training data projects. You will define quality metrics, review outputs, and ensure high technical standards. The ideal candidate has a PhD in Linguistics and over 5 years of experience. This is a remote contract position with a pay range starting at $25 per hour, depending on experience and location.

Benefits

Flexible hours

Autonomy in remote work

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional expertise in linguistic standards and quality control.
• Proven ability to maintain high technical standards in data creation.
• Experience producing training resources and documentation.

Responsibilities

• Define quality metrics for linguistic data.
• Review outputs against technical standards.
• Conduct structured QA passes on deliverables.
• Provide precise feedback to contractors.
• Build dashboards for defect tracking.

Skills

Linguistic analysis

Language data quality control

Technical documentation

Attention to detail

Strong communication

Education

PhD in Linguistics or related field

Job description

Overview

We seek a highly experienced Linguistics SME to consult on AI training data projects for leading model builders and enterprises.

Your focus will be to define success criteria, review outputs, and provide targeted guidance to improve quality and speed—directly contributing to the successful delivery of domain‑specific annotated datasets that meet the highest technical standards.

Key Responsibilities

Define domain‑specific quality success metrics (e.g., accuracy of transcription, consistency in linguistic annotation schemes, phonetic transcription accuracy, adherence to grammatical frameworks, correct use of linguistic markup standards such as IPA or Universal Dependencies).

Develop project‑specific SOPs, QA rubrics, and reference materials to meet client technical standards.

Review project outputs (transcriptions, annotations, language datasets) against technical standards, flagging and correcting defects before client delivery.

Perform structured QA passes on daily / weekly deliverables; flag, track, and resolve defects quickly to hit delivery deadlines.

Return work to contractors with precise remediation notes.

Provide advisory input on tools, workflows, and processes to meet quality benchmarks.

Handle specification changes and edge‑case scenarios—e.g., annotation of rare dialects or ambiguous language constructs—drafting acceptance criteria or workarounds.

Curate gold‑standard linguistic data libraries for calibration and comparability to agreed reference samples.

Participate in vetting and assessing technical contractor talent for specific projects, including transcription accuracy tests and linguistic annotation evaluations.

Review sample work from contractors and provide precise, actionable written feedback to improve outputs.

Create targeted training or calibration resources—e.g., phonetic transcription guidelines, morphological analysis instructions, disambiguation procedures.

Advise on technical scoping and requirements during project setup, including selection of annotation frameworks and language coverage specifications.

Provide expert guidance for edge cases, technical exceptions, and specification changes.

Contribute to post‑project reviews to capture lessons learned and improve future standards.

Identify and summarize client model observations and insights (e.g., frequent misannotations, language‑specific bias patterns).

Build dashboards or trackers with defect categories and recurrence to surface production insights that improve project outcomes.

Conduct post‑mortems, analyze defect trends, and propose process tweaks or training refreshers.

Target Profile

Advanced degree (ideally PhD) in Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, or a closely related field, with demonstrable research or industry impact.

5+ years professional expertise in linguistic analysis, annotation standards, and language data quality control.

Proven ability to set, enforce, and maintain high technical standards in linguistic data creation projects.

Strong communication skills for delivering clear technical guidance.

Experience producing technical documentation, quality rubrics, or training resources.

Ability to work within fixed project timelines and scope.

Strong attention to detail, documentation discipline, and commitment to accuracy and consistency.

Fluency in spoken and written English, with additional language proficiency preferred.

Example Data Annotation Scope

Linguistics– Register / genre fit enforcement, dialect fidelity, orthography consistency

Sociolinguistics– Dialect / register policy setting, code‑switch handling

Phonetics & Phonology– Transcription accuracy, disfluency policy, prosodic annotation

Applied Linguistics– Script / orthography / romanization standards, tokenization

Computational Linguistics– Named entity handling, punctuation conventions

Corpus Linguistics– Metadata completeness, defect tracking, IAA monitoring

Translation & Localization– Policy compliance checking, edge‑case arbitration

Language Technology– Validator creation (regex / scripts), automation of QA checks

Psycholinguistics– Prompt / script design, scenario coverage

Language Documentation– Gold‑standard library curation, reviewer calibration

Language Studies– Multiscript / multimodal transcription QA

Compensation & Logistics

Pay range: $25– per hour (rate determined by experience, expertise, and geographic location).

Contractors supply a secure computer and high‑speed internet.

Company‑sponsored benefits such as health insurance and PTO do not apply.

Employment type: Contract.

Workplace: Remote.

Seniority level: Senior.