Computational Linguist: Voice Computing at Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)

About the job:

The CSIR has a vacancy for a Computational Linguist in the Voice Computing Research Group within the Next Generation Enterprises and Institutions Cluster. The incumbent will be responsible to  undertake research in computational linguistics (CL) with a focus on human-computer interaction (HCI) with systems, products, services and tools relating to human language technology (HLT) in a Research and Development (R&D) environment; covering the end-to-end HCI workflow of requirements elicitation and analysis, solution design and testing, user evaluation and feedback, with the aim to support the commercialisation of voice computing (VC) products and services. This position is based in Pretoria.

Key responsibilities:

• Manage research on Computational Linguist and Human-Computer Interaction;
• Analyse, design, develop, implement and evaluate new and/or legacy user experience and usability methodologies to ensure new solutions address user needs and to inform business decisions pertaining to VC products and services, following an agile (iterative) approach;
• Lead the elicitation of detailed requirement specifications, business requirement specifications, functional and non-functional requirements, and the development of use cases, personas, and user stories;
• Guide research and development projects relating to CL and HCI with the VC domain, guides troubleshooting of problems, and directs the implementation of projects, according to best practice;
• Direct the integration of various areas of CL and HCI-related research to develop new tools and technology and improve existing tools and technology;
• Conduct various forms of both qualitative and quantitative research, including questionnaires/surveys, interviews, focus groups, concept/prototype testing, A/B testing, and others, with both users and clients/stakeholders. Identifies and recruits’ participants for research. Builds and manages user panels as required. Analyses and presents research findings;
• Collaborate with HCI and natural language processing (NLP) team members, product owners, development teams, and other stakeholders to design and deliver on research needs and influence the user experience, maximize technology capabilities, and deliver on business goals;
• Work with HCI and NLP team members and supports project team members through input on technical aspects, advice, guidance, and coaching;
• Support new avenues of knowledge application in VC. Contributes to proposals for internal/external clients which source research funding;
• Liaise with clients and other stakeholders to ensure that the outcomes of projects meet the needs of the stakeholders;
• Understand and respond to the needs and requirements of clients;
• Manage a portfolio of R&D projects, often integrating approaches across several fields of research or disciplines. Assist in developing a human-computer interaction (HCI) research strategy for the research group.

Qualifications, skills and experience:

• A Bachelor’s degree in computational linguistics, linguistics, computer science, human-computer interaction (HCI), human-centered design (HCD) or related fields with at least one year experience in designing and executing research and/or projects, CL/HCI experience will be advantageous.
• Experience in the following will be advantageous:
• Research on CL systems, voice systems, machine learning or artificial intelligence-driven systems;
• Specialised HCI software tools, including prototyping tools.
• Experience in conducting qualitative and quantitative user research.
• Knowledge of the following is required/will be advantageous:
• Wireframing and prototyping software (such as Balsamiq);
• Scripting language such as Python;
• African language linguistics;
• Desktop and/or mobile user interface design processes and methodologies;
• Information architecture and/or user experience design;
• User testing processes;
• Evidence of successful and impactful research in the field of CL/HCI by the applicant.
• Evidence of ongoing application of new/improved CL/HCI-related methodologies or tools.
• Familiarity with NLP toolkits such as NLTK.
• Working in a CL/HCI team.
• Demonstrated knowledge of research ethics.
• Good written and verbal communication skills and ability to interact efficiently with diverse teams of people (end-users, clients, researchers, developers and engineers).
• Strong analytical skills
• All international qualifications require an evaluation report / certificate issued by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA).

Closing date: 30 June 2023