Perle is an AI infrastructure company building expert-driven training data, evaluation systems, and applied AI products for the world's leading labs and enterprises. Our partners include xAI, Samsung, ELM, and Unisys. Headquartered in San Francisco with experts across more than forty markets, we specialize in the work that requires real human judgment: domain expertise, linguistic nuance, and cultural fidelity that generic data vendors cannot deliver.
Apply here: https://winnow.perle.ai/jobs/55897cfe-94f2-4e55-a802-1f2b4a71b094
We are hiring expert Mesopotamian Arabic (Iraqi) transcribers to convert audio recordings of native speakers into precise, conventionally formatted written transcripts. The work powers speech recognition, dialogue, and evaluation systems for major AI labs. Audio ranges from clean studio recordings to natural conversational speech in real-world acoustic conditions.
You will be working at the level of expert linguistic judgment. This is not data entry. Decisions about orthography, code-switching, speaker attribution, disfluencies, and non-speech events shape the quality of every model trained on your output.
Iraqi Arabic in both Gilit (central and southern Iraq) and Qeltu (northern Iraq) varieties, with substantial Persian, Turkish, and Aramaic lexical influence. Project audio reflects everyday Iraqi speech, with Baghdad standard as a common reference point.
Primary speaker regions: Baghdad, Basra, Mosul, Najaf, Karbala, Erbil.
Transcribe audio recordings into accurate, time-aligned written text following Perle's project-specific style guide
Apply correct conventions for speaker identification, overlapping speech, disfluencies, fillers, false starts, and non-speech events such as laughter, background noise, and music
Make principled orthographic decisions for dialectal, colloquial, and code-switched speech
Flag ambiguous segments, uncertain speakers, and audio quality issues using project conventions
Self-review every submission against Perle's quality bar before delivery
Engage with QA reviewers on edge cases, calibration sessions, and style guide updates
Native fluency in Iraqi Arabic with lifelong residence or deep immersion in Iraq
Strong command of Modern Standard Arabic for orthographic decisions on dialectal speech
Ability to distinguish Gilit and Qeltu varieties and major regional accents
Familiarity with Persian, Turkish, and Aramaic loanwords as they appear in speech
At least two years of professional transcription, captioning, court reporting, broadcast, translation, or linguistic annotation experience
Demonstrated accuracy at the word level under deadline pressure
Comfortable with web-based annotation platforms and variable-speed audio playback
Reliable high-speed internet, quality headphones, and a quiet workspace
Ability to commit to defined volume per week during active project phases
Background in Iraqi or Mesopotamian Arabic linguistics, translation, or journalism
Prior experience annotating Iraqi or Gulf Arabic speech data
Working knowledge of Kurdish or Persian for cross-lingual audio
Familiarity with IPA or other phonetic transcription systems
Experience with verbatim versus clean-verbatim transcription conventions
Paid pilot task before full onboarding so both sides can calibrate
Per-task or per-minute compensation, with rates tied to audio complexity and turnaround
Flexible scheduling, with volume scaling up and down based on active client projects
Direct working relationship with Perle's linguistic leads and QA team
Eligible for invitation to additional Perle expert projects across related domains
Apply through Winnow, Perle's job portal at winnow.perle.ai. Find the role for your language under Open Jobs, set up your candidate profile, and complete the fully automated interview, which takes about 25 minutes. We review applications within 24 hours and invite passing candidates straight to the project.
Apply here: https://winnow.perle.ai/jobs/55897cfe-94f2-4e55-a802-1f2b4a71b094
Perle hires experts on the basis of skill, language proficiency, and demonstrated quality. We welcome applicants from every background and every region where our target languages are spoken.
