Localization Project Manager

MUST BE FLUENT IN JAPANESE

6-12 month contract

Who We Are:

TransPerfect provides managed localization services to global technology companies. This contractor role supports TransPerfect-led Japanese localization initiatives across multilingual digital products, ensuring linguistic quality and cultural accuracy within established localization workflows.

Responsibilities

Support the Localization Project Manager with all production phases of incoming translation requests from teams. This skilled Project Manager will coordinate the translation and localization of software products for Japan and other established locales. As a Project Manager, you will be instrumental in the successful delivery to the Japanese market, responsible for managing all phases of the localization production process, ensuring the timely delivery of high-quality localized software that meets the linguistic and cultural requirements of the target locale.

You will provide localization project management support to:

• Coordinate all localization activities, including translation, editing, proofreading, and quality assurance.

• Serve as the primary point of contact for all localization-related inquiries and issues, both internally and externally.

• Collaborate with internal teams and external vendors to establish project timelines and deliverables.

• Manage localization resources, including translators, editors, and company engineers, to optimize efficiency and quality.

• Communicate regularly with stakeholders to provide updates on project status, address concerns, and gather feedback.

• Identify and mitigate potential risks and challenges that may impact the localization process or timeline.

• Monitor project progress and performance metrics to ensure adherence to established goals and standards.

• Implement continuous improvement initiatives to streamline processes and enhance localization efficiency and quality.

• Manage incoming translation requests in Jira, collect reference materials and visual context, and assign work to translators

• Be aware of strings internationalization best practices and flag potential internationalization issues found in strings to the engineering team

• Upload requests into the Smartling platform, set due dates for vendors, and deliver completed extracted translations to engineering teams

• Research and answer translators’ queries about source content to ensure accuracy (use internal resources and interface with writers, product, and engineering teams as needed)

• Ensure adherence to established terminology and style guides

Education/Experience

• Relevant university degree, certifications, or professional experience.

• Familiarity or past experience in payments, banking, POS systems, and merchant apps is a plus.

• Experience with terminology management and project management.

• Fluency in the target language; knowledge of additional languages is a plus.

• Proven experience managing localization projects for software products, preferably for the target language/locale.

• Strong knowledge of localization tools (Smartling) and technologies, translation management systems, version control systems, Jira, and Confluence.

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to effectively collaborate with cross-functional teams and external partners.

• Exceptional organizational and time management abilities, with a keen attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.

• Cultural sensitivity and awareness, with a deep understanding of the target market's preferences, norms, and cultural nuances.

• Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to think strategically to overcome challenges and drive project success.

• Project management certification (e.g., PMP) is a plus.

• Experience working in Agile or Scrum environments is desirable.

Required Skills

• 3 - 5 years of relative experience

• Android and Mac environments

• Translation tools (CAT tools) such as Smartling, SDL Trados, XTM, Idiom, Lilt

• Google shared documents and spreadsheets

• Annotating screenshots

• Working with PDFs

• Knowing how to handle software strings, identify text from strings ID's in xml, javascript, .properties, and JSON file formats; knowing how to work with variables/placeholders in text strings

• Familiarity with JIRA or other bug tracking systems

• Understanding of software release cycles and Agile development

• Attention to detail, flexible mindset, independent learner

• Ability to work with multiple product teams around the globe to deliver overall language quality and consistency while maintaining a strong user experience