Job description
Role Overview
Part-Time Arabic Linguist โ AI & TTS at Unifonic. This is a part-time position supporting the Text-to-Speech team with linguistic expertise and Arabic dialect knowledge.
Company Overview
Unifonic is a Great Place to Workยฎ recognized AI-native customer experience platform purpose-built for emerging markets. With more than 25 years of conversational AI research and development, the company serves over 5,000 enterprises across MENA and is pioneering sovereign, agentic AI through its Agentic Studio platform. The Engineering team is responsible for designing, developing, and maintaining the systems and technologies that drive Unifonic's solutions, working closely with other departments to ensure products and services meet customer needs.
Role Purpose
As an Arabic Linguist, you will support the Text-to-Speech team with linguistic analysis, Arabic dialect expertise, pronunciation and speech-quality evaluation, and voice-related projects. You will contribute linguistic expertise to real production projects and help improve the quality, accuracy, and naturalness of Arabic speech technology.
Key Responsibilities
Research & Linguistic Analysis
- Conduct 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.
- Provide linguistic guidance for integration of Arabic linguistic structures into Sestek products.
Engineering Collaboration & Requirements
- Act as a linguistic point of contact for the R&D and AI team.
- Translate linguistic requirements into clear, actionable input for engineers.
Quality Evaluation & Analysis
- Analyze and review pronunciation data, including grapheme-to-phoneme mappings, diacritization/tashkeel, and lexicons for Arabic TTS and speech recognition systems.
- Evaluate TTS output quality in terms of pronunciation accuracy, prosody, dialect authenticity, and naturalness with particular focus on Saudi Arabic.
Voice Data & Recording Support
- Provide linguistic guidance and support for Arabic voice data collection and speech synthesis projects.
- Identify and onboard suitable voice talents when needed.
- Support coordination and review of voice recording and editing processes to ensure linguistic accuracy and consistency.
Consultant & Stakeholder Management
- Support onboarding and coordination of external Arabic language consultants when needed.
- Provide guidance on linguistic requirements to consultants.
Data Quality & Standards
- Review and provide linguistic feedback on data annotation activities and guidelines.
- Ensure appropriate quality standards for Arabic and Saudi dialect data.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Collaborate closely with the Sestek TTS and AI Research teams.
- Provide ongoing linguistic expertise throughout projects.
Qualifications & Experience
- Native or near-native proficiency in the Najdi dialect of Saudi Arabic highly preferred.
- Strong expertise in Saudi Arabic dialects.
Skills & Competencies
- Expertise in Arabic phonology, morphology, and syntax.
- Knowledge of Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and Saudi/Gulf dialects.
- Proficiency in linguistic analysis and evaluation.
- Understanding of grapheme-to-phoneme mappings, diacritization/tashkeel, and lexicon development.
- Familiarity with Text-to-Speech and speech recognition systems.
- Ability to translate linguistic concepts into technical requirements.
- Strong communication and collaboration skills.
Additional Information
- Part-time contract.
- This role offers the opportunity to work closely with an AI and TTS team and contribute to cutting-edge communication and engagement solutions.