17 August: fyi -- 4 jobs, Santa Clara

Index of August 2000 | Index of year: 2000 | Full index



1) Linguist

We are looking for a linguist to bring an understanding of human vocal
behavior to the interaction design process. You will work with dialogue
designers, writers, and usability experts to ensure a natural experience
for BeVocal users. Using your knowledge of speech patterns, you will
help to direct the pronunciation of prerecorded voice prompts. You will
work with engineers to optimize grammars and speech recognition of our
application based on usability studies and customer use of the BeVocal
service. BS/BA in linguistics is required. A background in sociology,
psychology, or human-computer interaction is desirable.



2) Linguistics Manager


Job Description:

We are looking for someone with strong management skills and
a linguistics background to manage the development, tuning,
and ongoing maintenance of our recognition grammars. These
grammars control the effectiveness of our speech recognition
technology, so this is a critical piece of every BeVocal
user interaction. Responsibilities will include:

Growing and managing a team of technical linguists who will
create recognition grammars for specific dialogs, and then
tune them for optimal performance based on in-use data.

Developing processes for:
data flow from the production environment
reporting on and evaluating performance of production grammars
testing, source control, and installation of new grammar versions

Managing development of tools that generate grammars from data,
such as a list of US cities.

Managing large grammar development projects, such as
transcribing pronunciations of millions of names.

Interfacing with our dialog design group, and our applications
development group.


Requirements:

Proven management skills (this is the primary requirement)

Linguistics background (this is also an important requirement)
familiarity with natural language grammars and phonetics

Familiarity with speech recognition technology (preferred)

Familiarity with software development (preferred)
principles of modularity, re-usability, and maintainability
are equally important here, and the level of detail required
of the developer is the same.


Education:

MA/MS, Linguistics




3) Dialogue Designer

We are looking for experts in human interaction to help us create a
natural and compelling experience for the consumer. Using your
knowledge of human behavior, you will design interactions and create
voice prompts to elicit appropriate responses. You will design
usability studies and recommend improvements based on your
observations. Background in human factors, cognitive sciences, and/or
social sciences is required. Knowledge of linguistics and/or
human-computer interaction is preferred.



4) Usability Engineers

We are looking for usability champions for our voice interface. You
will design and conduct usability studies with small groups of
users. You will analyze consumer usage data to pinpoint usability
issues in BeVocal services. Based on observations and feedback, you
will work with the dialog designers and the engineering teams to
create the optimal user experience. You should understand computer
interface issues and have a natural tendency to critique consumer
products like stereos, VCR's, Palm Pilots and voice mail systems; you
should also be a great listener. Experience interacting with user
groups and engineering design teams is key. Knowledge of
human-computer interaction is desirable. A bachelor's degree in human
factors, cognitive sciences, and/or social sciences is required.




Janet Bourland janet@bevocal.com
982 Walsh Ave
Santa Clara
California 95050
United States

Index of August 2000 | Index of year: 2000 | Full index