THE ROLE
We are hiring expert Swahili transcribers to convert audio recordings of native speakers into precise, conventionally formatted written transcripts. The work powers speech recognition, dialogue, and evaluation systems for major AI labs. Audio ranges from clean studio recordings to natural conversational speech in real-world acoustic conditions.
You will be working at the level of expert linguistic judgment. This is not data entry. Decisions about orthography, code-switching, speaker attribution, disfluencies, and non-speech events shape the quality of every model trained on your output.
DIALECT AND SCOPE
Kiswahili in its main standard form (Kiswahili sanifu) and regional variants across East Africa, including the Tanzanian standard, Kenyan Swahili, and urban varieties such as Sheng. Project audio includes formal and informal registers with natural English borrowing.
Primary speaker regions: Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, eastern DRC.
WHAT YOU WILL DO
- Transcribe audio recordings into accurate, time-aligned written text following Perle's project-specific style guide
- Apply correct conventions for speaker identification, overlapping speech, disfluencies, fillers, false starts, and non-speech events such as laughter, background noise, and music
- Make principled orthographic decisions for dialectal, colloquial, and code-switched speech
- Flag ambiguous segments, uncertain speakers, and audio quality issues using project conventions
- Self-review every submission against Perle's quality bar before delivery
- Engage with QA reviewers on edge cases, calibration sessions, and style guide updates
MUST HAVE
- Native fluency in Swahili with lifelong residence or deep immersion in an East African country
- Mastery of standard Swahili orthography
- Ability to distinguish Tanzanian, Kenyan, and other regional Swahili varieties
- Comfortable transcribing Swahili-English code-switching including Sheng where it appears
- At least two years of professional transcription, captioning, court reporting, broadcast, translation, or linguistic annotation experience
- Demonstrated accuracy at the word level under deadline pressure
- Comfortable with web-based annotation platforms and variable-speed audio playback
- Reliable high-speed internet, quality headphones, and a quiet workspace
- Ability to commit to defined volume per week during active project phases
NICE TO HAVE
- Background in Swahili linguistics, journalism, translation, or education
- Prior experience annotating Swahili or other African-language speech data
- Working knowledge of regional Bantu languages or Arabic loanword conventions
- Familiarity with IPA or other phonetic transcription systems
- Experience with verbatim versus clean-verbatim transcription conventions
HOW WE WORK WITH YOU
- Paid pilot task before full onboarding so both sides can calibrate
- Per-task or per-minute compensation, with rates tied to audio complexity and turnaround
- Flexible scheduling, with volume scaling up and down based on active client projects
- Direct working relationship with Perle's linguistic leads and QA team
- Eligible for invitation to additional Perle expert projects across related domains
HOW TO APPLY
Apply through Winnow, Perle's job portal at winnow.perle.ai. Find the role for your language under Open Jobs, set up your candidate profile, and complete the fully automated interview, which takes about 25 minutes. We review applications within 24 hours and invite passing candidates straight to the project.
Apply here: https://winnow.perle.ai/jobs/889e1d99-107f-473d-b31d-274de4776d72
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY Perle hires experts on the basis of skill, language proficiency, and demonstrated quality. We welcome applicants from every background and every region where our target languages are spoken. |
ABOUT PERLE
Perle is an AI infrastructure company building expert-driven training data, evaluation systems, and applied AI products for the world's leading labs and enterprises. Our partners include xAI, Samsung, ELM, and Unisys. Headquartered in San Francisco with experts across more than forty markets, we specialize in the work that requires real human judgment: domain expertise, linguistic nuance, and cultural fidelity that generic data vendors cannot deliver.
Apply here: https://winnow.perle.ai/jobs/889e1d99-107f-473d-b31d-274de4776d72