Shuwa Arabic Community Team Leader at Translators without Borders (TWB)

Location: Maiduguri, Borno
Contract length: initially 4 months, with the possibility of extension
Hours: 80%
Travel: some travel in north-east Nigeria and between Maiduguri and Abuja/Lagos

Background
TWB conducted an initial assessment of language support needs in the humanitarian response in north-east Nigeria in July 2017. This found very significant levels of need: in a context where people affected by the conflict and food crisis speak dozens of first languages, humanitarian communication is overwhelmingly in English and Shuwa Arabic. Organizations lack basic information about the languages spoken and understood by affected people, and struggle to hire either language professionals or national staff and volunteers with the right language skills. So far TWB has developed a protection glossary app, conducted comprehension testing with IDPs, worked with partners on collecting and mapping language data, and carried out training on the basics of interpreting.

The next step is to prepare the groundwork for setting up a full program of activities in support of affected people and the humanitarian community working with them. This entails developing a community of volunteer translators for relevant languages of north-east Nigeria, identifying skills development needs and carrying out initial training, and leading and coordinating translation and terminology development activities in support of and in liaison with humanitarian organizations.

The Role

• The Shuwa Arabic Community Team Leader will lead on recruiting, capacity building, and managing a community of translators in Shuwa Arabic, from among qualified translators and suitably skilled bilinguals in Nigeria and the wider region.
• The role will identify capacity building needs and coordinate training and support measures to respond to them.
• The post-holder will be responsible for delivering high-quality Shuwa Arabic language translation, terminology development, and training services to humanitarian organizations in north-east Nigeria and will provide research, administrative and logistical support to other TWB activities as needed.

Responsibilities
Recruitment and management of the Shuwa Arabic language team:

• Research and report on the existing capacity of professional language service providers (LSPs) for Shuwa Arabic in north-eastern Nigeria, identifying their training and support needs
• Recruit a team of qualified translators and suitably skilled bilinguals for training and recruitment into a TWB community of translators (posting vacancies, shortlisting, interviewing, reaching out to universities, LSPs, community groups)
• Test Shuwa Arabic applicant translators to ensure high-quality applicants are selected
• Train and coach new Shuwa Arabic translators to improve their skills and ensure they know how to use TWB translation platforms and glossaries
• Manage and support the Shuwa Arabic language the pool of translators to encourage exchanges of experience, sharing of learning, mutual support and a sense of belonging to a TWB team
• Manage the volunteer and translator incentive program in collaboration with the Crisis Response Translations Project Manager

Management of translation and language services:

• Liaise between partner organizations, Shuwa Arabic translators and TWB’s wider translation team to take full responsibility for delivering high-quality translations on time
• Lead for Shuwa Arabic in the provision of multilingual terminology support to humanitarian partner organizations, including terminology harvesting, collaborative development of sectoral terminology in relevant languages, and support to field testing
• Working with the CD, coordinate training activities, including liaising with partner organizations on needs, timings and venue; identifying suitable trainers with the right skills and languages; collecting evaluation forms; and maintaining a register of trained Shuwa Arabic translators and interpreters
• Support TWB in the implementation of field activities, including comprehension studies, needs assessments and wider research on language
• Working with the Crisis Translation Manager, make sure that alternative workflows are in place and available to members of the Shuwa Arabic translator pool who cannot access and/or use TWB’s web-based translation platform
• Research, contribute to and/or write language factsheets guides, dos and don’ts, etc.
• Participate in research and monitoring, evaluation and learning activities
• Test interpreters to assess language competency levels
• Identify needs for new translation technology tools and assist with the development and roll-out of new tools as they emerge (including online testing modules and audio translation)
• Support a peer network of interpreters and translators in north-east Nigeria

Other activities:

• Provide administrative and logistical support to TWB’s activities in Nigeria as needed
• Support TWB in scaling up operations in Nigeria, particularly with recruiting other language team leaders
• Attend occasional meetings of humanitarian organizations to relay TWB messaging and report on discussions or decisions, as directed by the Humanitarian Program Manager/Country Director
• Produce regular reports
• Any other duty as required
• Reporting lines: The post holder will be reporting to the Crisis Response Translations Project Manager.

Qualifications

• Professional translation or interpreting qualifications and experience
• Excellent quality written and spoken Shuwa Arabic
• Good level of written and spoken English
• Resourcefulness and ability to innovate to find creative solutions
• Integrity and professional verbal and written presentation
• Team player; experience managing volunteers a plus
• Previous experience with non-profit organizations, particularly in development and/or humanitarian action, a plus
• Training experience a plus
• Familiar with office management (financial, logistics) routine is a plus
• Experience of Computer Assisted Translation tools
• Track record of working with and managing volunteers and small teams

Requirements

• 3+ years' experience in translation or interpretation into Shuwa Arabic, ideally from English
• Experience in team work management/facilitation
• Mother tongue Shuwa Arabic speaker with superb Shuwa Arabic writing skills
• Willingness to travel to insecure locations for work

Core Values

• Translators without Borders employees and volunteers are made of people who believe passionately about the value of this work and take personal responsibility for achieving the mission. Translators without Borders’ mission and organizational spirit embody the core values established in its strategic framework:
• Excellence: As the leading voice for communicating humanitarian information in the right language, Translators without Borders is a leader in the translation industry and in the non-profit sector.
• Integrity: Translators without Borders believes that every person, whether it’s the people who we serve, our volunteers or our staff, has value, deserves respect and has inherent dignity.
• Empowerment: Translators without Borders believes in using language to empower people around the world to control their own development and destiny.
• Innovation: Translators without Borders recognizes and celebrates the power of innovation to address humanitarian and crisis issues around the world.
• Sustainability: Translators without Borders recognizes that meeting our mission necessitates establishment and maintenance of a solid financial and organizational infrastructure.
• Tolerance: Our staff and volunteers are highly knowledgeable and skilled; value each other, our partner and our recipients; create a supportive work environment; and, conduct themselves professionally at all times.
• Translators without Borders is an equal-opportunity employer, committed to diversity and inclusion, and encourages qualified candidates of all genders and from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organization.