Principal AI Engineer

Location: Remote | HQ: Seattle, WA

About Sign AI: Sign AI is creating the world’s largest multimodal model of American Sign Language, centered around the Deaf community at every level — from data creation and model development to product design and community engagement. We're a mission-driven startup tackling the interpreter shortage and unlocking accessible communication at scale. 

Role Overview: As a Principal AI Engineer, you will lead a team to develop an MVP for our SLR system. This is a hands-on, technical leadership role where you will make key decisions on architecture, algorithms, and model training. Your work will directly impact the development of a real-time, bi-directional translator that will change the accessibility landscape for the Deaf community.

Responsibilities:

• Lead technical design and implementation of our SLR MVP.

• Collaborate with the Deaf-led dataset creation team, helping steer efforts based on model needs and business goals.

• Develop computer vision and machine learning models focused on sign language recognition.

• Contribute to the codebase, ensuring quality, scalability, and accuracy.

• Foster a robust feedback loop with the dataset creation team to continually improve the model.

• Mentor junior engineers and contractors, building technical expertise within the team.

• Drive innovation by fostering an open, collaborative environment
  

Requirements:

• MS or PhD in Computer Science (or related field) with a focus on Sign Language Recognition, Computer Vision, or deep learning.

• Proven track record in computer vision, machine learning, and SLR systems.

• Experience with large-scale datasets, especially in diverse, real-world environments.

• Expertise in frameworks like TensorFlow, PyTorch, or similar.

• Strong problem-solving skills and a passion for accessibility and innovation.
  

Why Join Us:

• Join a mission-driven company focused on improving accessibility for the Deaf community.

• Work with world-class experts in AI and computer vision.

• Enjoy a collaborative, supportive, and flexible work environment.

• Competitive compensation package including salary + equity.
  

How to Apply

To apply, email greg@sign-ai.co with your resume and your answers to the following question:

1. The goal of our model is to enable real-time, bi-directional translation of sign and spoken language. Discuss the types and scale of data you would like to train a model on as well as some of the architecture choices you would like to explore. 

I’ll be interviewing candidates who demonstrate an ability to think beyond an LLM output.

Get paid to contribute sign language samples in-person in our Deaf-led studio in Seattle’s Pioneer Square or remotely. Your contributions will help shape the future of ASL and AI. To learn more, please fill out this form.

Glosser – Hourly Contractor

Location: Remote or In-person (Seattle)

About Us:
Join Sign AI’s linguistics and quality control team as a Glosser, where your role will be integral to the accuracy and quality of our sign language dataset. You’ll work with a team of experts to ensure that our data is properly annotated and organized for training high-performance AI models.

Role Overview:
As a Glosser, you will review and apply various levels of gloss to sign language data, ensuring linguistic accuracy and consistency. Your contributions will support the creation of a high-quality dataset, advancing our efforts in real-time, bi-directional sign language translation.

Responsibilities:

• Review sign language video data and apply glossing annotations at different tiers of detail.

• Work closely with the linguistics team to maintain consistency and accuracy in annotations.

• Assist in applying linguistic rules to ensure data is appropriately labeled for model training.

• Conduct quality control checks to maintain the integrity of the dataset.

Requirements:

• Fluency in English and experience teaching ASL.

• Familiarity with the glossing process and ASL linguistic principles.

• Strong attention to detail and commitment to high-quality annotations.

• Experience with quality control processes in data annotation or similar fields is a plus.

Why Join Us:

• Work on a project that has a direct impact on accessibility for the Deaf community.

• Opportunity to work with a talented and diverse team.

• Flexible, remote work environment with competitive hourly compensation.

To learn more, please fill out this form.