• The IB provides all its services and documents in English, French and Spanish and a limited set of documents in additional languages such as Arabic, Chinese, German, Japanese and Korean. The Multilingual Editorial Production department (MEP) provides editorial, production and translation services to the whole of the organization to support the IB’s external stakeholders in the IB languages.
• Within MEP, the Translator (Grade 2) carries out translation, revision and other quality control tasks for a variety of individual projects into one of the IB’s target translation languages, ensuring that the translations are completed on time, in accordance with the department’s quality assurance framework and providing feedback to other translators as needed.
• The job holder contributes to the maintenance of the department’s quality assurance assets for the relevant target language, such as house style guides and glossaries.
• The translator acts as an advisor for the target language and associated cultures to all content authoring departments and colleagues from MEP.
The successful incumbent will be offered a 4-month contract in the first instance based in Japan.
Revision
• Revises the translations of documents and other IB materials produced by external translators and other members of the team in the relevant target language, using a suitable level of intervention, to ensure the accuracy, quality and consistency of translated materials.
• Evaluates the performance of translators, providing supporting comments on changes made to the translated text as part of the QA framework.
• Conducts necessary research on meaning and terminology to support revision, including raising translation queries for authors and external experts or answering translators’ queries wherever possible.
• Assesses degree of urgency of assigned projects to ensure timely delivery.
Translation
• Translates documents and other IB materials into the relevant target language accurately and faithfully, without additions, omissions or deviations unless agreed with the author, meeting deadlines and quality standards.
• Consults with other members of the team that are working or have worked on related projects.
• Carries out any research necessary for completing the translation, providing the sources of research to the reviser of the translation for information.
• Raises queries as required to ensure that the original text is faithfully rendered in translation.
• Uses support materials such as CAT tools, termbases, glossaries and reference materials effectively.
Proofreading
• Proofreads individual documents to ensure their readiness for publication.
Quality assurance
• Contributes to the maintenance of target language house style guides, glossaries, translation memories and term bases through appropriate research and consultation.
• Assists in the recruitment and training of freelancers and new members of the team.
• Provides guidance to external translators on best usage of terminology, style guidelines and typography.
Cultural guidance
• Provides advice and guidance to authors and other IB staff as required on matters relating to target language house style, grammar, syntax, IB terminology and translation practices and procedures, to ensure quality and consistency in the documents produced by the organization in translation.
• Provides cultural insight to other IB staff to ensure the translatability and international mindedness of projects and publications.
• Contributes to the delivery of target language QA training sessions for freelancers and IB staff.
• Provides quality control on short documents written by staff in other departments who are responsible for producing material in the relevant target language.
Knowledge management
• Stays abreast of developments in the field of publishing and translation to be able to make recommendations for changes in practices and/or procedures, ensuring that tools, team practices and processes continue to meet the objectives of the Multilingual Editorial Production department.
Knowledge and Experience
• University graduate (Master’s) and qualified translator
• Sound experience as translator (at least two years in an in-house position)
• Proven translation and editing skills
• Excellent command of English, to be able to interpret correctly and with minimal assistance complex texts
• Excellent command of the relevant target language, equivalent to that of an educated native speaker
• Aware of linguistic and cultural differences within the target language
• Good knowledge of other IB languages will be beneficial.
Technical and Soft Skills
• High level of computer literacy, including experience with CAT tools
• Good analytical skills
• Excellent eye for detail
• Good communication and organizational skills
• Able to work independently and proactively, and to meet deadlines.
