Senior Sign Language Specialist

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Senior Sign Language Specialist based in Canada.

As a Senior Sign Language Specialist, you will play a key role in advancing the quality and accessibility of American Sign Language (ASL) language technologies. Working in a fully remote environment, you will contribute your expertise in ASL linguistics, annotation, and language standardization to support innovative AI-driven solutions. You will collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, ensuring linguistic accuracy across sign language resources, training data, and digital outputs. This position offers the opportunity to influence industry-leading language initiatives while mentoring peers and shaping best practices. If you are passionate about Deaf culture, linguistic excellence, and emerging technologies, this is an opportunity to make a meaningful and lasting impact.

• Maintain and expand the ASL sign dictionary by creating new entries, reviewing existing content, documenting regional and stylistic variations, and resolving linguistic inconsistencies.
• Annotate ASL video content using advanced linguistic conventions, including glossing, classifier predicates, non-manual markers, role shift, prosody, and grammatical structures.
• Collaborate with AI and machine learning teams to define linguistic requirements, evaluate training data quality, review model outputs, and provide expert feedback on complex language cases.
• Assess text-to-sign avatar outputs for grammatical accuracy, naturalness, and cultural appropriateness while documenting findings through standardized evaluation frameworks.
• Lead regular linguistic calibration sessions, maintain annotation standards, and oversee documentation of glossing conventions and linguistic decision-making.
• Mentor fellow Sign Language Specialists during collaborative projects and cross-functional initiatives.
• Maintain accurate documentation of annotations, linguistic decisions, and edge cases using internal tools and knowledge management systems.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in ASL Linguistics, Deaf Studies, ASL Studies, Interpreting, Deaf Education, or a closely related field; a graduate degree is considered an asset.
• At least 3 years of professional experience in ASL linguistics, annotation, interpreting, Deaf education, or a comparable discipline.
• Fluency in both ASL and English, with the ability to produce high-quality English transcriptions from ASL source material.
• Strong expertise in ASL linguistics, including gloss conventions, classifier predicates, non-manual markers, role shift, and ASL grammar.
• Active involvement within the Deaf community, with a strong understanding of regional and generational language variation.
• Experience creating or annotating ASL content for research, education, interpreting, media, or related applications.
• Strong written communication skills and experience producing clear documentation and annotation guidelines.
• Comfortable using annotation platforms and productivity tools such as Microsoft Office, Confluence, JIRA, ELAN, CVAT, or similar technologies.
• Experience collaborating with AI, machine learning, or language technology teams is highly desirable.
• Familiarity with signed avatars, sign language corpora, dictionary development, North American signing varieties, and mentoring other linguists or annotators is considered an advantage.
• Excellent attention to detail, consistency, collaboration, communication, and the ability to work independently in a remote environment.

Benefits

• Fully remote position available anywhere in Canada.
• Annual salary of $74,629 CAD, with compensation based on experience, skills, and location.
• Potential eligibility for incentive compensation.
• Opportunity to contribute to innovative AI and language technology initiatives.
• Collaborative, mission-driven work environment focused on accessibility and inclusion.
• Professional growth through cross-functional collaboration and leadership opportunities.
• Limited travel requirements (less than 5%).