Technical Historical Records Linguist II, Russian, Ukrainian, Old Church Slavonic (2-Year-Fixed Term)

We are seeking an experienced, detail-oriented individual with native-level fluency in Russian or Ukrainian, experience with Old Church Slavonic, and deep knowledge of historical genealogical documents. This individual will help build high-quality data for machine learning systems, supporting FamilySearch’s efforts to make billions of historical records more accessible through automation and machine learning.

As a Technical Historical Records Linguist II at FamilySearch, you will apply your expertise in paleography, linguistics, technology, and historical records to build machine learning datasets from historical genealogical documents.

In this role, you will

• Use paleography skills to accurately decipher historical documents
• Annotate language data with linguistic information to build natural language processing (NLP) datasets
• Model the way people naturally read historical documents by creating hierarchies of relationships between areas of text
• Precisely map the layout of historical documents
• Curate large volumes of structured and unstructured data
• Review datasets for errors and provide timely corrections
• Complete other data modeling activities and duties as assigned.
• Support FamilySearch’s automation efforts by meeting deadlines and consistently delivering high-quality, accurate work

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 at least one of the following languages: Russian, Ukrainian

Experience with Old Church Slavonic

• Experience with additional languages is 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• Demonstrated paleography skills to accurately decipher historical documents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Experience working with historical documents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 focus on data quality, 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
• Ability to manage a high volume of work on a daily basis
• High proficiency in Microsoft Office tools including: Word, PowerPoint, and Excel
• Ability to quickly understand and apply technical concepts