Coordinator, Translation Services

Job Summary

The Coordinator, Translation Services coordinates the overall operations of the translation services in IDRC by acting as the main resource person for internal clients and outsourced service provider(s). The incumbent receives and dispatches all translation requests and solves all operational issues in order to ensure good quality products delivered on time. He/She has the responsibility to coordinate the Centre’s translation budget, including to process invoices, maintain database of translated texts and statistics on volume of transactions. The incumbent ensures the monitoring of translation services including the respect of terms of the contract(s) and is involved in the selection of service providers with procurement services.

The incumbent also assumes full responsibility for ECHOnet, the Centre's electronic news bulletin

Primary Duties or Responsibilities

Coordination of Outsourced Translation Services

Coordinate the daily operations of the translation requests coming from all parts of the organization, to ensure the smooth flow of work to external service provider(s) by acting as the interface between the internal clients and the external service provider(s). More specifically:

• Receive and check all translation requests, verify client’s needs such as urgency, confidentiality, format of documents, etc. It is noted that translation requests must be handled very quickly, and that urgent requests must be dealt with immediately. The incumbent must therefore check constantly for messages and process the requests in a quick manner;
• When appropriate, use the software ‘multitrans’ to determine if translation is already available in our database and therefore request for translation of only parts of the document. Doing so results in cost savings for the Centre;
• Calculate translation costs and set deadlines, based on the number of words in the document and client specifications (urgency and costs) and inform clients of estimated costs and deadlines;
• Assign the translation requests to the external service provider, and indicate any special features thereof in light of client’s specifications;
• Follow-up on translation requests sent to external service provider(s) in order to respect deadlines;
• Develop and maintain the Centre’s translation databases (Isys, Naturel and MTX) to ensure that all translation files are up to date. This is an essential tool for ensuring the uniformity of translations and for avoiding the re-translation of work already done;
• Advise clients and service provider(s) on language usage and vocabulary used in the Centre and may carry out some terminological research to responds to these requests;
• Provide external translators with documentation needed to ensure the uniformity and quality of translations and to facilitate their work;
• If a translation does not meet IDRC’s performance standards (as defined in the service contract) with respect to language and terminology, return it to the contractor and negotiate a reduction in the price charged to the client.  Substandard work can result in a contract cancellation;
• Edit and format some texts to ensure that, to the extent possible, all translations have the same presentation as the original texts;
• Create macros or templates and produce standard forms that will enhance efficiency by eliminating repetitive tasks;
• Produce and update terminology files for use by all staff (i.e. acronyms list);
• Handle all "strictly confidential" documents sent to the service provider(s) for translation, particularly those coming from the Board of Governors, President's Office, Vice-President, Corporate Strategy and Communications’ office and Human Resources; and
• Solve day-to-day operational issues between clients and the service provider(s) and escalate the most important to the attention of the supervisor with his/her recommendations.

ECHOnet Coordination

Coordinate all aspects of the production of ECHOnet, the Centre's electronic internal newsletter. More specifically:

• Receive, format, verify articles from internal clients and prepare articles for translation (as for all other translation requests, including researching for old articles on the same subject), and ensure that all articles posted online are bilingual and respect internal procedures;
• Establish publication priority for articles, in light of the nature of the text and the date of the activity; Review/proofread all articles before they are released electronically;
• Check the accuracy of links and URL addresses, and create new ones as necessary;
• Follow-up on notice of events or positions to be filled, as indicated by clients;
• Reply to messages addressed to the ECHOnet email box;
• Suggest changes to Communications Division management to improve the quality of ECHOnet and of the Intranet, for the benefit of the readers;
• Design Web pages for special events (i.e. awards recognition day, Christmas celebrations, special corporate activities, etc.); and
• Monitor for articles that might be considered of a delicate nature and consult his/her supervisor about the appropriateness of their content, if necessary.
• Help coordinate intranet content for the Corporate Communications Division.

General Administration (Contract, Budget and Procedures)

As the primary contact person with the service provider(s) for translation services in IDRC, the incumbent ensures that services are rendered according to the terms and conditions of the contract. More specifically:

• Monitor translation services received from service provider(s) by gathering information from various sources (IDRC staff, management, on-going quality control, etc.) on performance indicators identified in the service contract. Assess this information and identify issues related to quality of service, respect of timelines etc.;
• Discuss areas for service improvements, value enhancement strategies, industry trends with his/her supervisor. Participe in meetings with management and the service provider(s) to discuss service maintenance and improvement;
• Ensure that corrective actions are taken and directed through the translation services provider(s) global account representative and report to management;
• Compile and update various types of statistics on translation activities and other communications products produced by the Communications Division, and prepare regular reports for management; and
• At regular intervals, provides technical support to the procurement staff into the competitive process for the selection of translation service suppliers — the sourcing and selection process being carried out by the Procurement Unit.  Ensure that the resulting contracts incorporate measures that facilitate IDRC meeting its business objectives while providing good value. Seek the Manager’s input to establish a negotiating position, prepare terms of reference for the Manager’s review and review of proposed contracts.

Develop internal engagement processes and coordinate financial transactions on translation services. More specifically:

• In collaboration with his/her supervisor, develop and maintain internal engagement process to access outsourced translation services, inform clients and service provider(s) of these procedures and ensure their application in IDRC;
• Provide information for the translation budget preparation such as past and forecasted volume of transactions;
• Review supplier invoices, certify that services have been received in compliance with contracts and purchases, assess invoices for completeness and accuracy, follow up on errors and corrections, and make recommendations to the Manager for payment; and
• Compile financial information on transactions, monitor the corporate translation budget and raise any issues to the attention of the supervisor.

Job Scope

The volume of transaction for translation services is approximately 1,500,000 words a year to be translated in different languages but mostly in English and French to respect Canada’s Official Languages Act.  The incumbent has to dispatch the work to service provider(s) and ensure that deadlines and quality will be met that can have a serious impact on the image of the Centre, both in Canada and abroad.

The incumbent coordinates the corporate component of the Centre’s translation budget (approximately $200,000).  This person must ensure that the budget is respected, is also involves in contract negotiation and monitoring with suppliers, and has signing authority for the invoices charged against this budget.

Internal communications are very important within IDRC and the main tool for reaching all staff at headquarters and in regional offices is ECHOnet, the electronic newsletter.  The incumbent has the full responsibility of this newsletter. He/She decides what will be published and how, and the deadline