Audio Engineer (Speech / TTS Audio Specialist) – German

Overview We're looking for audio engineers with strong experience editing and quality-checking voice recordings for speech and text-to-speech (TTS) applications, specifically for German-language audio. This role focuses on preparing high-quality audio datasets for machine learning systems, ensuring clarity, consistency, and technical compliance across large volumes of German speech data. Native or near-native German fluency is required to accurately assess speech quality, pronunciation, and naturalness.

What You'll Do

• Edit and process German voice recordings for use in TTS and speech AI systems

• Perform audio cleanup including silence trimming, breath reduction/removal, de-clicking, de-essing, and noise reduction

• Conduct detailed quality assurance checks for:

  • Clipping and distortion

  • Background noise and artifacts

  • Loudness consistency and level balancing

• Ensure audio meets strict technical specifications for ML training pipelines

• Evaluate recordings for German pronunciation accuracy, naturalness, and fluency

• Work with large batches of recordings, maintaining consistency and throughput

• Collaborate with teams working on German speech datasets, voice talent recordings, and model training workflows

Basic Qualifications

• Native or near-native German speaker with strong listening intuition for German speech nuances

• Experience editing speech or voice recordings (not just music production)

• Strong understanding of speech audio quality standards and common issues in recorded dialogue

• Hands-on experience with tools like iZotope RX, Pro Tools, or similar audio restoration software

• Ability to identify and fix artifacts, inconsistencies, and technical defects in audio

• Experience working with high-volume audio datasets or structured workflows

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working with TTS vendors or platforms

• Prior involvement in speech ML, voice AI, or dataset creation/annotation workflows

• Familiarity with audio QA pipelines, labeling, or evaluation processes

• Experience directing or editing German voice talent recordings

Ideal Candidate Profile

• Detail-oriented with strong critical listening skills in German

• Comfortable working with repetitive, high-precision tasks at scale

• Able to balance speed and quality in production environments

• Familiar with the nuances of human German speech vs synthetic voice requirements

We consider all qualified applicants without regard to legally protected characteristics and provide reasonable accommodations upon request.

Contract and Payment Terms

• You will be engaged as an independent contractor.
• This is a fully remote role that can be completed on your own schedule.
• Projects can be extended, shortened, or concluded early depending on needs and performance.
• Your work at Mercor will not involve access to confidential or proprietary information from any employer, client, or institution.
• Payments are weekly on Stripe or Wise based on services rendered.
• Please note: We are unable to support H1-B or STEM OPT candidates at this time.

About Mercor

Mercor partners with leading AI labs and enterprises to train frontier models using human expertise. You will work on projects that focus on training and enhancing AI systems. You will be paid competitively, collaborate with leading researchers, and help shape the next generation of AI systems in your area of expertise.