Director, Language Services Department at African Development Bank - AfDB

Reference: ADB/17/132
Location: Côte d’Ivoire
Position N°: 50092472
Grade: EL-5

The Complex

• The Vice-Presidency, Human Resources and Corporate Services ensures the delivery of efficient, people-centered, client-oriented, corporate services to ensure overall institutional effectiveness in all aspects of the Bank’s corporate services.
• The complex leads efforts to digitalize and transform the Bank into a knowledge-driven workforce, promote human resources policies that enhance talent, drive a performance-driven culture, and ensure the competitiveness of the Bank as the employer of choice.
• The complex ensures that all Human Resources and Corporate Services are re-aligned to drive greater corporate performance and execution of the Bank's strategic vision and priorities.
• The complex is responsible for providing leadership in the formulation and implementation of Bank’s strategies on people, IT, general services and institutional procurements, language services, business continuity and, health and safety strategies.

The Hiring Department

• The Language Services Department is responsible for ensuring quality translation of major Bank documents primarily into English and French, but also into Arabic and Portuguese, as well as other languages as required; providing high standard interpretation in English and French or Arabic and Portuguese, editing documents meant for publication and ensuring quality; analyzing and evaluating strategic choices and making relevant recommendations on the use of English and French within the Bank Group; reviewing, updating and implementing practical guidelines and procedures for the efficient delivery of language services; and assisting partner organizations eliciting the Bank’s assistance in establishing, restructuring or improving their language services; promote bilingualism so as to enhance communication among staff and with the Bank’s clients and partners.

The Position

• The Director for the Language Services Department reports to the Vice President, Human Resources and Corporate Services, and is key to the attainment of the Bank’s transformative agenda for Africa by ensuring the Bank’s languages services facilitate the communication among staff; and between staff, partners and stakeholders.
• He/she will ensure that there is a sound translation and interpretation strategy and effective and quality process regarding the translation of Bank’s documents into the Bank’s official languages and any other language. 
• He/she should also ensure that the Bank’s meetings and conferences are duly interpreted.
• To that end, the Director has the overall responsibility to plan, organize, direct and control the activities of the Department.

Duties and Responsibilities

• The Director plans, organizes, directs and controls the activities of the department whose functions are to provide translation, interpretation, and editing services, and promote multilingualism to enhance communication among staff and with the Bank’s clients and partners. Amongst others, he/she will perform the following duties:
• Manage a department that provides translation and interpretation services to the Bank;
• Set objectives, formulate policies, establish priorities, define and monitor the key performance indicators of the department;
• Plan, organize and coordinate all operational language activities in the Language Services Department;
• Ensure that the department produces a high-quality output within available resources, by making the best use of its human, financial and technological assets, and by monitoring and enforcing efficiency targets;
• Ensure effective communication between the Management and staff of the Bank, the authorities of member countries, officials from other organizations;
• Promote and encourage, through training and sensitization, staff efforts to use both official languages of the Bank, so as to strike a reasonable balance in the production of documents in French and English;
• Supervise budget preparation and follow its execution, and advise senior management on the budgetary and financial impacts of the department’s operations;
• Monitor best practice in the industry and, as appropriate, liaise with counterparts in other organizations;
• Promote the sharing of best practice across the translation, editorial and interpretation areas;
• Represent the Language Services Department as needed in bank-wide working groups;
• Determine the appropriate organizational structure of the department, assigning staff and material resources based on priorities and workload, coordinating and evaluating the work of staff and providing guidance on work problems;
• Assess the training needs of staff in the Department, monitor and evaluate their performance, and recommend personnel actions to the Vice President;
• Perform language services when appropriate and necessary.

Selection Criteria (Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience)

• Hold at least a Master's degree or its equivalent in translation or interpretation or related disciplines
• Have a minimum of ten (10) years of extensive and progressive experience in a similar organization, five (5) years of which must be at a managerial level
• Demonstrated ability to take prudent business risks and make effective, timely and well-determined decisions
• Proven ability to build and lead motivated and committed teams across functional boundaries, and utilize talent and expertise of team members in a productive way
• Strong managerial, interpersonal and communication skills; strong negotiating skills; ability to think strategically
• Ability to work under pressure, prioritize work programs, and handle multiple tasks simultaneously
• Ability to gain the confidence of senior management in delivering an efficient and effective service within agreed time and cost constraints
• Ability to work effectively with other technical and management professionals of diverse occupational and cultural backgrounds in a cooperative team environment
• Demonstrated ability to present and win support for ideas; a good listener; high level of integrity, discretion and confidentiality
• Competence in the use of Microsoft Suite of applications such as Word, Excel, Access, and PowerPoint
• Excellent written and verbal communications in English and French.