Vail Systems, Inc.

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PhD Data Science Intern (Text-to-Speech)

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PhD Data Science Internship: Text-to-Speech (Summer 2020)

Vail Systems Company Profile

The human voice is capable of conveying nuances and meaning that just can't be expressed through clicks and chat messages. For this reason, voice interactions have always had a special power to shape our perceptions and experiences. At Vail, we believe in the unique power of voice interactions to create more expressive and efficient interpersonal interactions. Our experts work with Fortune 500 companies to help them serve their customers more effectively through the use of various voice technologies. From basic network services, to state-of-the-art IP telephony, to cutting edge real-time analytics, Vail technology makes millions of voice interactions better every day.

The Position

Designing emotionally sentient agents is challenging. At Vail, we develop models to process and analyze large amounts of natural language data that affect dynamic, real-time communications in various domains. Systems that respond appropriately to social and emotional cues are considered engaging and trust worthy. Currently, such systems rely on speech synthesis technology, such as text-to-speech. The quality of such text-to-speech systems, crucial for dynamic, real time communications, may be judged by their similarity to the human voice and by their ability to be easily understood.

Vail Systems is looking for summer interns who are enrolled in a Ph.D. program in computational linguistics, computer science, or related programs to work with us on some of the challenges such systems present. The student must be conducting research in NLP and should be able to understand, codify and extract meaning from multiple communication modalities (speech, text), and build new or improve existing models in affective computing using state-of-the-art machine learning techniques. The student will work with a team of researchers to gain insight from trying new machine learning approaches, and will work with practitioners to transition the research to a proof-of-concept.

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Bijal

Technical Project Manager

FOCUS MEETS FUN

Maintain a healthy work-life balance

Bijal said Vail Systems offers a challenging yet welcoming atmosphere cultivated by insightful, helpful individuals. When she isn’t busy refining her software and project management skills, she enjoys connecting with her colleagues through the company’s pickleball league, which is her favorite employee-led group. Given the company’s focus on work-life balance, Bijal said she has plenty of chances to reenergize herself by spending time with family and friends and volunteering through Chicagoland’s Project Management Institute, where she holds a leadership position.

My manager regularly checks in to see how I’m doing to make sure I’m not overworked or stressed.

Will Tangney

Software Engineer II

TACKLE ROBUST PROJECTS

A cutting-edge tech stack spurs progress

Will Tangney’s workdays involve collaborating with various teams, brainstorming with peers and tackling robust projects. Currently, he’s working on developing Hydra, the company’s multichannel conversational AI platform. “We’re presently working on our next major release, which will add many exciting features,” Tangney said. While he’s motivated by the Hydra project, he’s equally energized by a new tool utilized in the company’s tech stack: the GraalVM Native Image compiler. This technology improves application performance by optimizing resource utilization and hardens application security.

I enjoy having so many people to brainstorm with, as it enables everyone to further understand problems and identify potential issues ahead of time.

Akun Taniguchi

Technical Team Lead

SURROUNDED BY SUPPORT

Advance your career and empower others

Since joining Vail Systems as an intern, Akun Taniguchi has had many opportunities to showcase his talents and handle complex challenges. With support from his mentor, he was given the opportunity to transition into a full-time software engineering role, which eventually led to his current position as a technical team lead. Now, Taniguchi gets to stretch his leadership skills while working together with his peers on feature designs and more. “Teamwork is essential to achieving our goals and making a real impact, so this element of the culture really resonates with me,” he said.

It’s really important for me to feel like I’m part of a supportive and collaborative team, and our culture does exactly that.

What are Vail Systems, Inc. Perks + Benefits

Vail Systems, Inc. Benefits Overview

Vail’s core values are integral to every aspect of our company, including how we support each employee’s health and happiness in and out of the workplace. We provide access to top-tier health and wellness benefits, opportunities for continued educational experience, and several other benefits that support a healthy work-life balance.

Culture

Partners with nonprofits

We partner with Seneca Foundation and Chicago Public Schools to educate Black and Latinx recent Chicagoland high school graduates with paid software development training opportunities.

Open door policy

OKR operational model

Pair programming

Open office floor plan

Employee-led culture committees

Hybrid work model

In-person all-hands meetings

Flexible work schedule

Remote work program

Each employee’s balance of remote and on-site work is based on how they work best, and when in-person collaboration is most effective.

Diversity

Documented equal pay policy

Mandated unconscious bias training

We provide training to all employees who participate in our interview process on unconscious biases and interview best practices.

Mean gender pay gap below 10%

Hiring practices that promote diversity

Health Insurance + Wellness

Flexible Spending Account (FSA)

Covers Health, Limited Purpose, Commuter, and Dependent Care.

Disability insurance

Dental insurance

Three (3) plan options through Cigna, including PPO, Buy-up PPO, and HMO.

Vision insurance

Health insurance

Three (3) plan options through Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, including PPO, High Deductible PPO (HSA), and HMO. All plans ensure prescription coverage.

Life insurance

All employees receive Basic Life coverage, provided by Vail Systems. Additional coverage is also available.

Pet insurance

Wellness programs

Team workouts

Mental health benefits

Access to ComPsych’s Employee Guidance Programs and services.

Financial & Retirement

401(K)

401(K) matching

Performance bonus

Charitable contribution matching