Speech Data Engineer

THE COMPANY

Speech Graphics’ technology automates facial animation processes by interpreting emotional content in the voice, to drive detailed models of the muscle systems involved in speech.

The software is used to great effect in the video games industry, saving studios significant time, effort and money in realizing the highest quality output for premium titles such as ‘Halo Infinite’, ‘The Last of Us Part II’ and ‘Star Wars: Squadrons’.

Now, the product suite is expanding to serve a number of enterprise applications in the metaverse using avatars and digital characters, from sales to service to healthcare, under the banner of ‘Rapport’.

Demand for our products and services is growing rapidly, and so must our team.

THE OPPORTUNITY

We are looking for a Speech Data Engineer to join our growing Data and Linguistics team, who will be responsible for the continued development of our extensive multilingual speech database as well as designing and executing various speech data projects.

The Speech Data Engineer will be an integral part of the core technology group, collaborating with other data engineers and linguists; machine learning researchers; software engineers; technical artists; producers, and more.

This is an exciting opportunity for a graduate or professional to see their work directly impact the quality and features of our award-winning facial animation technology.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Work closely with the broader speech science team to gain insights into our current data and identify future data requirements
• Use existing tools and methods as well as developing new approaches towards:
  • quick and effective speech data and metadata collection
  • annotation specific to the goal of accurate and emotive facial animation
  • management; processing and analysis of speech data and its corresponding metadata
• Research novel solutions to improve and develop Speech Graphics core technology
• Present projects and scientific findings to the broader speech science team and CTO in weekly meetings
• Promote data best practices and scientific integrity at all times
• Maintain orderly and accurate documentation

Requirements

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE

The ideal candidate is enthusiastic about working with interesting and complex data. They are able to independently manage their own work while coordinating and communicating clearly within their team. They should bring excellent scripting and problem-solving skills which they can confidently apply to a wide variety of projects big and small.

ESSENTIAL QUALIFICATIONS/REQUIREMENTS

• MSc in a relevant field and/or previous professional employment in the field
• At least one years’ experience programming in a scripting language

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS/REQUIREMENTS

Please note these are desirable skills and are not required to apply for the role.

• Strong programming skills in Python
• Experience working with speech or audio data, including:
  • speech or audio processing
  • speech or audio data collection and/or annotation
• Experience working with databases (ideally SQL)
• Experience working with version control (git; dvc)
• Data analysis and visualization skills
• Research experience
• Understanding of the relationship between data and machine learning
• Background/interest in linguistics
• Interest in animation

Benefits

BENEFITS

Rapport offers a competitive benefit package including:

• Pension Scheme
• Private Health Insurance
• Online Mental Health Support
• Generous Holiday Allowance
• Working from home support
• Flexible working hours
• Advancement opportunities
• Stock options in future staff option rounds

Discrimination/harassment will never be tolerated. There will be no discrimination based on: race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, age, gender, marital domestic partner status, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status, or veteran status. Above and beyond discrimination/harassment based on 'protected categories,' we also strive to prevent other, subtler forms of inappropriate behavior (e.g., stereotyping) from ever gaining a foothold in our team.