FamilySearch Technical Historical Records Linguist II, Japanese (2-yr Fixed Term)

This is a 2 year Fixed-Term position. Seeking an individual with a deep knowledge of and demonstrated native-level Japanese language expertise reading historical genealogical documents in Hiragana, Katakana, Kanji, Furigana, and cursive scripts (Click HERE to see sample documents) to help us build high-quality training data for machine learning systems. This person’s work will help make billions of records available in FamilySearch’s automation and machine learning platform.

• Exercise demonstrated expertise in paleography, linguistics, technology, and historical records to build machine learning training datasets for historical genealogical documents
• Use paleography skills to accurately decipher historical documents
• Annotate language data with linguistic information to build natural language processing (NLP) datasets
• Model how individuals naturally read historical documents by creating hierarchies of relationships between areas of text
• Precisely map the layout of historical documents
• Perform data curation and quality assurance by:
  • Curating large volumes of structured and unstructured data
  • Reviewing datasets for errors and providing timely corrections
  • Completing other data modeling activities and duties as assigned
• Enable FamilySearch’s automation efforts by meeting aggressive deadlines and delivering consistently high output, quality, and accuracy

Education:

• BA/BS in Computer Science, Linguistics, Family History, or other bachelor’s degree with related or equivalent experience required

Experience:

• 2 years relevant or related experience or equivalent experience

Skills & Abilities:

• Native level fluency in Japanese including:
  • Expertise in Japanese cursive scripts (To see samples, click HERE)
  • Experience with Hiragana, Katakana, Kanji, and Furigana
• Experience with additional languages a plus
• Business level fluency in English
• Demonstrated paleography skills to accurately decipher historical documents
• Demonstrated linguistic skills to build NLP datasets
• Experience working with historical documents
• Strong technical and analytical aptitude with a passion for data, efficiency, and accuracy
• Independent worker who is self-motivated, dependable, detail oriented, responsible, self-disciplined, and a team player with a record of timely delivery of requests
• Willingness to support several projects at one time, and to accept reprioritization as necessary in a fast paced, constantly evolving environment
• Comfortable handling a high volume of work on a daily basis
• High proficiency in Microsoft Office tools including: Word, PowerPoint, and Excel
• Ability to quickly grasp technical concepts