Language Lead - Japanese (Contract)

Ovii's Interpretation of the Role

Cartesia seeks a native‑level Japanese speaker with a linguistics background to lead language quality for voice AI. The contractor will own end‑to‑end annotation workflows, audit data, and serve as the go‑to resource for Japanese‑specific issues. Flexible 40‑hour weeks with remote work; US Pacific hours preferred for syncs.

Role Snapshot

• Native Japanese language expertise
• Linguistics or related academic background
• Data annotation and quality assurance
• English written communication
• Independent project ownership

Must-Have Requirements

• Native-level Japanese proficiency
• Linguistics or related field background
• Experience with data annotation or transcription
• Strong written English proficiency
• Ability to write clear, structured instructions
• Data annotation
• Linguistics
• Degree in Linguistics or related field
• Must be authorized to work in country of residence

Nice-to-Have Signals

• Experience writing or maintaining annotation guidelines
• Experience training or mentoring annotators
• Audio evaluation (TTS/STT) experience
• Conversational spoken English for meetings
• Experience with distributed remote teams
• Guideline authoring
• Annotator training
• Audio evaluation

Work Setup

• Location: Remote
• Work mode: REMOTE
• Remote scope: UNSPECIFIED
• Timezone: Availability during US Pacific business hours preferred
• Employment type: Contract
• Shift: US Pacific business hours preferred

Eligibility Gates

• Work authorization: Must be authorized to work in country of residence
• Visa sponsorship: yes
• Background check: Form I‑9 verification

Not Specified in JD

• Salary range
• Benefits
• Visa sponsorship certainty

What You'll Likely Work On

• Answer annotator questions on guidelines, edge cases, and language‑specific issues.
• Audit annotation quality, review audio outputs, and flag language‑specific problems.
• Write and update annotation guidelines, calibration materials, and QA reports.
• Run calibration meetings and office‑hours sessions for annotators.
• Coordinate with the Human Evals Manager on timelines and deliverables.
• Analyze metrics such as inter‑rater agreement scores to drive improvements.

Good Fit If You Have

• Enjoys detailed, structured feedback and clear instruction writing.
• Comfortable operating independently across multiple workstreams.
• Experience with remote, distributed teams is a plus.