TRANSLATION COORDINATOR

Location: Any MSF office*
Contract: Temporary contract at 50%
Duration: 12 months
Starting date: January/February 2023
Report to: IMC – IMC officer

*By default, the successful candidate will be offered a contract in the MSF office of their country of residence at the time of application.

I. MSF INTERNATIONAL

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international, independent, medical humanitarian organisation that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, healthcare exclusion and natural disasters. MSF offers assistance to people based only on need and irrespective of race, religion, gender or political affiliation.

MSF International is the legal entity that binds MSF’s 23 sections, 25 associations and other offices together. Registered in Switzerland, MSF International provides coordination, information and support to the MSF Movement, as well as implements international projects and initiatives as requested.

II. POSITION BACKGROUND

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) produces medical guidance documents for its staff in the field. Protocols, handbooks, manuals, guidelines, and others. These medical documents are typically developed by MSF’s International working groups (WGs). There are hundreds of medical guidance documents available for the field.

The objective of the medical guidance documents is to disseminate adapted medical knowledge to help in analysing and understanding the situation and implementing a quality response rapidly. Based on the experience gathered in its projects, and in the absence of relevant documents from other agencies, MSF has been producing practical medical guiding documents for more than 25 years.

III. PLACE IN THE ORGANISATION

The Translation coordinator is part of the International Medical Coordination Office team of MSF International. He/she reports to the International Medical Coordinator (IMC) and works closely with the International Medical Coordination Officer and the WGs of MSF.

IV. OBJECTIVES OF THE POSITION

The Translation coordinator leads the development of the translation of medical documents written by the WGs that are not managed by the International Guidelines Team. This includes:

• Overseeing the development of the intersectional translation project routed in OCs and partner section capacities to increase the overall quality of the translation in different languages. The medical documents to translate are the ones validated by the DirMed platform in the in WGS Action Plans;
• Overseeing the execution of translation projects, ensuring that they run smoothly, and efficiently and are completed within the expectations (timeframe and quality) of the IMC unit. He/she prepares, monitors, and reports on the translation project budget.
• The Translation Project Coordinator interacts and plans the editing work with the medical editors, manages the pool of freelancers, translation service providers, and collaborate with partner sections’ translators;
• He/she coordinates and is responsible for the identification and selection of translation resources, editors, DTPs, instructional designers and proofreaders in the Movement. Freelancer services (editors and others) can be recruited as needed for specific projects;
• He/she ensures high-quality translations in all languages and the continuous improvement of translation processes while ensuring an absolute minimum risk of errors.

V. MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Translation project management:

• Develop a plan to increase the capacity of quality translations within OCs and partner sections;
• Handle the entire cycle of translation project management from preparing the documents to final delivery;
• Prioritize and plan translation projects in coordination with the International Medical Coordination Officer;
• Regularly monitor the translation projects’ progress and development and report to the IMC and IMC Officer on progress, quality assurance, and budget;
• Clarify project parameters with the IMC unit and identify and mitigate any potential risks;
• Plan and coordinate resources’ requirements considering the timeframe and size of the project. He/she reacts in a timely way to modifications in the schedule or size of the project;
• Promote regular effective communication with WGs and IMC team members, assuring they are kept up to date on the progress of projects and seek feedback throughout projects;
• Analyse, organise, troubleshoot, and solve problems with available resources and in coordination with the IMC team;

2. Pool of translators lead, supervision, coordination, and guidance:

• Supervise and provide support/constructive feedback to translators, editors, DTPs, instructional designers, and proofreaders;
• Organise and lead translation project teams;
• Establish and maintain excellent relationships with external translators and editors globally, including the relationship with the pool of translators of the partner sections;
• Assure regular and timely collaboration and communication among different teams;
• Provide all translators/language editors the necessary professional guidance to ensure consistency of terminology and style across all guides (reference documents, glossaries, exchanges on terminology/style/comprehension issues etc.)

3. Recruitment temporary staff and service providers

• Check with the International Coordination Officer available translation budget before negotiating and contracting any translation service;
• Develop a job description and define the type of contract with the support of the IMC Officer;
• Conduct interviews and follow up the selection process with the IMC Officer;

4. Quality assurance

• Ensure high-quality translation of all medical documents: consistency and a minimum risk of errors in all languages;
• Set up and coordinate quality assurance processes;
• Keep up with the latest developments in the medical translation field (the important terminology databases etc);
• Establish and maintain contact with translation professionals (agencies, translators, interpreters, etc.) to keep abreast of advances in the sector (technologies, rates) and for mutual advice, help and support when needed.

VI. PROFILE REQUIREMENTS

• Translation diploma (English (L1) with French (L2). Spanish and Arabic (L2) are an asset;
• Native English speaker, with excellent writing skills;
• Experience as a translation project coordinator or in a similar role in the (medical) language industry;
• Experience with project team management;
• Proven ability to multitask and prioritize;
• Experience in translation quality assurance and proofreading/editing;
• IT skills with an understanding of CAT software tools;
• Experience in creating and maintaining glossaries;
• Previous experience working with MSF or a similar organization is an advantage.

Specific skills:

• Linguistic skills with the ability to assess the quality of translations designed for use in the MSF work environment;
• Strong commitment to MSF values;
• Quality driven;
• Eye for detail;
• Problem-solving
• Strong interpersonal, communication and organisational skills;
• Ability to work collaboratively with different stakeholders (remotely);
• Ability to work and report independently

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
At MSF, we are committed to an inclusive culture that encourages and supports the diverse voices of our employees. We welcome applications from individuals of all genders, ages, sexual orientations, nationalities, races, religions, beliefs, ability status, and all other diversity characteristics.