19 January: FYI -- computational linguistics (Seattle, WA)
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We believe that the future of writing is knowing who will respond to anything
you write before you even publish it. Textio’s category-defining augmented
writing platform is delighting customers, and we’re looking for a Director of
Data with a strong sense of ownership to join our Seattle team.
At their core, Textio’s linguistic data sets are real-world documents paired
with their real-world performance outcomes. As Textio’s augmented writing
platform extends to more and more kinds of writing, these linguistic data sets
are the foundation on which our entire platform and user experience are based.
Whether Textio’s platform is being applied to job posts, emails, or any other
kind of writing, it all starts with the data.
In this role, you will build linguistic data sets from the ground up using
whatever techniques are required. You will work with our customers to collect
data where appropriate. You will design and run crowdsourcing experiments to
build labeled data sets and will take advantage of publicly available data
sources where it makes sense. You are scrappy and you see labeled data sets
where other people don’t even think to look.
Our Director of Data knows how to turn these labeled data sets into testable
hypotheses. If you can look at a piece of writing and immediately understand
which linguistic variables are likely to influence its performance, then you
can work with ML and NLP engineers to test your hypotheses against the data
sets you have assembled.
Finally, you will turn Textio’s models into writing guidance that real people
can use. Textio writers are not linguists, statisticians, or data scientists.
We can’t assume they are familiar with linguistic concepts. The Director of
Data will translate predictive models into real writing guidance—and come up
with clever ways to automate this process along the way.
We’d love to hear from you if:
- You have a strong background in empirical linguistics, experimental design,
and/or user experience
- You have previously shipped production software that real people have used
- You have experience building text corpora from the ground up, including use
of crowdsourcing platforms to build tagged data sets
- You are not a theoretical purist, and understand that the best product
experiences come from blending approaches in machine learning, NLP, and
linguistics
- You are comfortable working closely with data and infrastructure engineers,
but you speak better human than machine
- You know how to ship a project on schedule, and you have a deep desire to
own and lead
- You’re at ease writing scripts (in R, Python, or similar) and SQL to bring
value out of data
- You are an excellent communicator verbally and in writing—Textio stands for
editorial quality, and you do too
- You’re committed to quality as a top priority—you pay attention to what you
make, and take pride in it
- You have a track record of experimenting, building, and learning new things
- You have a point of view but are low ego
This is a leadership role on our growing Product team.
We’re not looking for ninjas or rock stars. We want an awesome and trustworthy
Director of Data to lead our most critical language experience work from
design all the way through implementation.
Textio embraces diversity and equal opportunity in a serious way. We are
committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds,
perspectives, and skills. The more inclusive we are, the better our work will
be.
Application Deadline: (Open until filled)
Email Address for Applications: elizabeth@textio.com
Contact Information:
Elizabeth Dizon
Email: elizabeth@textio.com
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