Chief Translator/Reviser (English Language) at African Development Bank - AfDB

The Hiring Department

• The primary role of the Language Services Department is to ensure, as required by the Bank's Agreement, the accessibility in the two working languages of the Bank (English and French, and on occasion Arabic and Portuguese) of all issues and documents submitted to Senior Management and governing bodies of the Bank, for efficient decision-making aimed at the achievement of the Bank's mission.
• In this regard, the Department accords high priority to ensuring an accurate and effective flow of communication within the Bank, and also between the Bank, its shareholders, development partners and the public at large, by providing the highest quality of translation, interpretation and terminological services to the Institution. It also seeks to promote multilingualism to enhance communication among staff with the Bank’s clients and partners.

The Position

• Under the general supervision of the Translation Division Manager, the Chief Translator-reviser (English Language) will translate from French to English complex and confidential documents of the organization; revise documents translated internally or externally by independent translators; contribute to the design and implementation of quality control mechanisms for translations produced by the Division.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Translate, from French to English, highly sensitive and technical documents from various sources, including Management and the Boards, using Translation Memory, Terminology Databases, and a whole range of CAT tools.
• Revise translations of complex and sensitive documents covering the full range of the Bank’s work, namely: reports of an economic and financial nature, statements from Senior Management, audit reports, planning and programming documents, project appraisal reports, legal documents, etc.;
• Aim for and ensure a high standard of accuracy, faithfulness to the spirit, style and nuances of the original document;
• Work with client departments to develop terminology for new concepts in the Bank's work, as well as ensure compliance with established terminology and consistency among translators;
• Contribute to the development and sharing of terminology within the Division (terminology consultation meetings with all members of the Division):
• Contribute to the performance evaluation of external translators;
• Initiate training programmes in the use of computer-assisted translation tools;
• Supervise and coach less experienced translators, including external consultants;
• Lead in-house and freelance translators to build capacity and ensure compliance with professional standards;
• Coordinate translation activities, by serving as focal point for complexes with a view to advising them and monitoring their requests.

Selection Criteria
Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience:

• At least a Master’s Degree or its equivalent in translation;
• At least 7 (seven) years of professional experience in a similar organization, with increasing levels of responsibility;
• Ability to provide high quality translation and revision for Bank Management and decision-making bodies;
• Ability to contribute to strategic thinking with a view to improving translation and other business processes of the Language Services Department;
• Ability to work under pressure, with calm and serenity, setting priorities and managing multiple tasks simultaneously;
• Capacity to analyze complex translation requests and scenarios and find appropriate solutions;
• Capacity to lead, supervise and motivate teams of translators in a complex multicultural environment;
• Ability to communicate efficiently (written and oral) in English or French;
• Competence in the use of standard Microsoft Office Suite applications and demonstrate knowledge of other software packages applicable to translation (workflow, scheduling, translation memory, etc.).