Translation Services Manager at Plan International

Role Purpose

• Programme Y.O.D.A is an organisational change programme through which we will change our Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution, revise our processes and working practices in relation to Finance, Grants, Programmes and Projects and Supply Chain Management, and develop a new Project Management and Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (PMERL) solution.
• Our new ERP solution will strengthen our business processes, leading to a more data driven and transparent organisation, which in turn, makes us more efficient and sustainable. Our PMERL solution will enable us to use data-driven insights to design, deliver and evaluate gender-transformative programmes and influencing, so we can get Girls Standing Stronger for Global Change. Together, they will help us understand the cost and impact of our projects, so we can make more informed decisions as we deliver our global strategy.
• To provide access and include everyone in the change process, systems, data, user & process guides, training materials, and communication and engagement material need to be produced in 3 languages, namely English, French and Spanish.
• The purpose of this post working under the direction of the Programme Y.O.D.A Change Partner is to manage translation services within the change journey.
• The successful candidate must be a process oriented, customer focused, multi-tasking individual with a proven track record in delivering translation and linguistic services, ideally in a change process within a complex organisation. In addition, the successful candidate will combine creativity and a solution orientated mindset with highly effective linguistic skills and relationship building skills.
• You will be responsible to the Change Partner working across the programme, providing excellent management of translation tasks to strengthen and complement the overall transformation journey.

Dimensions of the Role

• We are currently seeking to improve the way we manage translations at Plan International with the increasing use of AI tools and translation software – resulting in the need for enhanced workflow and new ways of working.

Overview

• The role will manage the whole translation process across YODA, supporting business and training teams and ensuring quality and consistency both across YODA and Plan in general. This will involve multiple stakeholders as well as interaction with external translation services. YODA deployment has a high dependency on the success of this role.
• Detail. The role of the Programme Y.O.D.A Translation Services Manager is chiefly internally facing, focussed on supporting all programme stakeholders to achieve the overall language programme benefits and sustained change.
• The role holder is responsible for managing access to the provision of linguistic services in respect of system documentation, user guides, process guides, training material, videos (including subtitles) and engagement material in English, French, and Spanish primarily, and in any other language used within Plan International when required.
• The role holder is also responsible for assessing the most efficient way of securing effective translation products using a variety of tools and software, and for the quality assurance of the final product, working with stakeholders to ensure that the translation meets linguistic standards; and will work closely with the Programme Y.O.D.A Change Partner, to ensure alignment of translated works to the overarching organisational language and culture – consistency with the Plan Glossary. The role has no line management responsibility and will monitor spend against the budget.

Accountabilities:
Management of Translation Services:

• Setting up and managing the various workflows involved in delivering high-quality translation for internal audiences, including revisions and updates of existing material
• Ensuring all translation requirements meet individual project deadlines and highlighting any delays to stakeholders Manage Translation Management Software (TMS) and Computer Assisted Translation (CAT) tools to oversee the process.
• Manage relationships with Plan International’s approved translation service providers
• Manage the review of translations by internal subject matter experts
• Manage the Programme Y.O.D.A translation glossary, guidelines and style guides
• Work with Y.O.D.A Project Managers and leads in line with project plan and to budget for translation deliverables
• Commission specific pieces of work with translation agencies/firms/individuals, ensuring best value for money is achieved whilst observing project and contractual requirements and managing the end-to-end process
• Follow up with clients to ensure satisfaction and understanding, taking up any highlighted issues with providers, as necessary
• Liaise with subject matter experts, translators, reviewers and key focal points to set quality standards and maximise quality of translations.

Translation Support:

• In addition to managing the process you will on occasions be required to translate into one or two of the organisation’s official languages (French/Spanish)
• Adhere to industry quality standards established by the Association of Translation Companies to ensure that all completed work follows legal and ethical obligations.

Key Relationships
High level contact with:

Internal Colleagues:

• Organisational transformation and deployment workstreams colleagues including, Change Partner, Communications and Engagement Manager, Y.O.D.A L&D manager, advisors and administrator, and Change Coordinator.
• Programme Y.O.D.A Project Managers, including ERP, PMERL and Data Warehouse Project Managers; Subject Matter Experts and Business Process Owners.
• Organisational transformation lead.
• Translation Workstream.
• Regional MERL, Project Management, Supply Chain Management and finance specialists.

External:

• Translation suppliers and partner translators.

Medium Level Contact:

• GH internal communication unit.

Technical Expertise, Skills and Knowledge
Essential:

• A record of accomplishment of achieving results and strategic impact in translation and coordinating for translations to be delivered.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and the ability to communicate complicated and technical issues in a concise and clear way, to a wide range of target audiences.
• Ability to work under pressure, to tight deadlines, with competing priorities and minimal supervision.
• Excellent analytical and critical thinking skills, including ability to find, absorb, analyse and prioritise information from many different sources.
• Fluency and translation level in at least two languages amongst English, French and Spanish.
• Ability to work in multi-national, multi-cultural teams Experience of Translation Management Software (TMS) and Computer Assisted Translation (CAT) tools.

Desirable:

• Show demonstrable skills in using translation as an asset to support internal organisational transformation.
• Significant and demonstrable experience in the key responsibilities, including working on developing and delivering translation approaches and plans, managing language access, knowledge of translation artificial intelligence, and creating glossaries.
• Experience of working with international NGOs and understanding of a rights-based approach is an advantage.
• Demonstrable experience of working in project environments with multiple dependencies and consequential milestones and deadlines.
• Ensures that Plan International’s global policies for Child Protection (CPP) and Gender Equality and Inclusion (GEI) are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant Implementation Standards and Guidelines as applicable to their area of responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures.

Salary
We will be happy to disclose the salary and applicable benefits to applicants as part of this process, however, please kindly note that this will vary according to the location of the appointed candidate and therefore it is not possible to include full details here.