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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Written Translation Assistant

💰 $ - $

TranslationLocalizationLinguisticsContentMultilingual Support

🎯 Role Definition

The Written Translation Assistant supports professional translators and localization teams by delivering high-quality written translations, performing linguistic quality assurance, maintaining translation memories and glossaries, and ensuring consistent use of style and terminology across multilingual content. This role requires strong linguistic ability in one or more target languages, hands-on experience with CAT tools and localization platforms, excellent attention to detail, and the capacity to manage multiple small-to-medium translation tasks under tight deadlines.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Translation intern or trainee translator supporting agency or in-house teams.
  • Bilingual customer support or content moderator with proven writing proficiency.
  • Junior copy editor or editorial assistant working on multilingual content.

Advancement To:

  • Translator / Senior Translator (specialized in technical, legal, marketing, or medical domains).
  • Localization Specialist / Localization Engineer responsible for build, QA and automation.
  • Translation Project Manager overseeing vendor relationships and delivery.

Lateral Moves:

  • Linguistic Quality Assurance (LQA) Analyst.
  • Content Editor or Transcreation Specialist focusing on marketing copy.
  • Terminology Manager or Glossary Specialist.

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Manage end-to-end translation tasks for written content, including receiving source files, preparing translation memory (TM) contexts, performing the translation in the target language, and delivering final files on time and to specification.
  • Translate a wide variety of content types (marketing copy, product descriptions, UI strings, documentation, legal and regulatory text) while preserving tone, messaging, and brand voice appropriate to each locale.
  • Perform detailed proofreading and bilingual editing of translated texts to catch language errors, idiomatic inconsistencies, and formatting issues prior to final delivery.
  • Post-edit machine translation output, applying linguistically informed corrections and style adjustments to meet client quality standards and reduce time-to-delivery.
  • Maintain and update translation memories and termbases (glossaries) to improve reuse, consistency, and translation efficiency across projects and quarterly releases.
  • Apply and enforce client-specific style guides, glossaries, and localization frameworks to ensure cultural appropriateness and regulatory compliance across markets.
  • Run linguistic quality assurance (LQA) checks using automated QA tools and manual review to identify and resolve segmentation errors, inconsistencies, untranslated segments, and numeric or tag discrepancies.
  • Prepare bilingual translation packages (TMX, TBX, XLIFF, PO) and ensure correct segmentation, encoding (UTF-8), and file integrity before and after translation.
  • Handle in-context reviews (e.g., QA in web or app preview modes), verify truncated strings, and coordinate with UI/UX teams to resolve display and layout issues.
  • Support SEO localization efforts by optimizing translated titles, meta descriptions, and H1/H2 copy for target-market search behavior and keyword intent.
  • Tag and format localized content for CMS import, ensure correct metadata mapping, and perform post-publish verification to catch rendering or encoding problems.
  • Collaborate with project managers and external vendors to scope tasks, assign work, and monitor progress on tight timelines across multiple languages.
  • Create and maintain reusable translation assets such as style guides, voice-and-tone documents, and client-specific translation playbooks that drive consistent output.
  • Conduct terminology research using corpora, client references, and subject-matter sources to ensure accurate, domain-appropriate translations for specialized content (legal, medical, technical).
  • Assist in onboarding and training freelance translators and reviewers on tools, processes, and quality expectations to maintain high throughput during peak workloads.
  • Localize marketing content with transcreation where literal translation is insufficient, adapting copy to resonate with local audiences and achieve campaign KPIs.
  • Manage bilingual queries and queries resolution logs (translation query management), escalating complex linguistic or legal issues to senior linguists or clients and documenting decisions.
  • Format and finalize localized deliverables (PDF, InDesign, HTML, Markdown, SRT) ensuring layout, tags, and metadata remain intact and consistent across languages.
  • Participate in post-project reviews and continuous improvement initiatives to refine localization workflows, reduce cycle times, and improve LQA scores.
  • Support confidentiality, data protection, and IP procedures for sensitive client materials, following NDA and GDPR-compliant handling and storage practices.
  • Monitor machine translation metrics and provide feedback to MT engineers to improve output quality and update post-editing guidelines for specific domains.
  • Prepare status reports, ticket updates and translation metrics dashboards (through CAT or localization platforms) for PMs and stakeholders to support decision-making.

Secondary Functions

  • Assist with vendor coordination: solicit bids, compile vendor scorecards, track performance, and help on-boarding new linguists to the platform.
  • Support cross-functional teams (marketing, product, legal, engineering) by clarifying translation requirements, confirming terminology use, and participating in sprint grooming as needed.
  • Help maintain and audit translation assets (TM, TBX, style guides) and contribute to regular clean-up and segmentation improvement projects.
  • Provide ad hoc multilanguage proofreading for internal communications or social media posts that require rapid turnaround.
  • Contribute to small-scale localization engineering tasks such as preparing JSON/CSV extraction files, validating placeholders, and performing basic tag/regex fixes.
  • Create sample translations and test cases for user acceptance testing (UAT) and localization QA cycles.
  • Assist with basic DTP tasks or coordinate with design teams to ensure correct typographic and layout adjustments for right-to-left (RTL) and non-Latin script languages.
  • Gather post-launch feedback from regional stakeholders and compile issues for future translation memory or glossary updates.
  • Support reporting needs by tracking translation KPIs (e.g., TAT, TM leverage, LQA score, post-edit effort) and highlighting risks for PM review.
  • Contribute editorial support for localized copy, including headline testing, A/B content alternatives, and formatting for international newsletters.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Professional-level proficiency in at least one target language and strong working proficiency in the source language; demonstrable written translation samples or portfolio.
  • Hands-on experience with industry CAT tools: SDL Trados Studio, memoQ, Wordfast, Across or similar, including segment editing, TM maintenance, and XLIFF handling.
  • Familiarity with localization platforms and TMS solutions: Lokalise, Crowdin, Transifex, Smartling, Memsource (Phrase) — uploading/downloading packages and managing workflows.
  • Post-editing experience for neural or statistical machine translation (NMT/SMT), with an understanding of PET (post-editing guidelines) and productivity vs. quality trade-offs.
  • Terminology management experience using TermBase, SDL MultiTerm, or TBX workflows and ability to create and maintain client glossaries.
  • Practical knowledge of file formats and extraction: XLIFF, XML, HTML, JSON, PO, CSV, SRT, and familiarity with encoding issues (UTF-8, BOM).
  • Experience with QA and validation tools: Xbench, QA Distiller, Verifika, or native CAT QA functions to detect tag mismatches, punctuation errors, and terminology inconsistencies.
  • Basic SEO knowledge and keyword localization techniques for on-page content, titles, meta descriptions and structured data localization.
  • CMS and content publishing familiarity (WordPress, Drupal, proprietary CMS) including content import/export and metadata mapping.
  • Basic DTP and formatting skills with Microsoft Office and Adobe InDesign or Illustrator for preparing localized assets and liaising with designers.
  • Competence in using collaboration tools (Jira, Asana, Slack, Confluence) and ability to update tickets, attach deliverables, and document decisions.
  • Knowledge of localization engineering fundamentals, placeholders, regex replacements, and basic scripting for batch fixes is a plus.
  • Understanding of data protection principles (GDPR) and secure handling of client confidential content.

Soft Skills

  • Exceptional attention to detail and a commitment to linguistic quality and consistency across deliverables.
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills for liaising with clients, vendors, and internal stakeholders.
  • Excellent time management and organizational skills; proven ability to prioritize multiple concurrent translation tasks and meet tight deadlines.
  • Problem-solving mindset with the ability to research terminology and escalate issues effectively when specialized expertise is required.
  • Cultural sensitivity and solid cross-cultural communication skills to adapt tone and register for diverse target audiences.
  • Team-oriented collaborator who contributes to knowledge sharing, onboarding, and process improvement initiatives.
  • Flexibility and adaptability to work with rapidly evolving localization tools, new content types, and changing project scopes.
  • Proactive attitude toward continuous learning and staying current with CAT tool updates, MT developments, and localization best practices.
  • Client-focus and service orientation, able to manage expectations, respond to queries promptly, and maintain positive vendor relationships.
  • Analytical mindset for interpreting quality metrics and using data to recommend efficiency improvements.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in Translation, Linguistics, Modern Languages, Applied Linguistics, Communication, or equivalent professional experience with verified translation work.

Preferred Education:

  • Master's degree in Translation Studies, Localization, Applied Linguistics, or industry certifications (ATA certification, CIOL Diploma in Translation, or university translation diplomas).
  • Formal training or certificate programs in CAT tools and localization management.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Translation Studies
  • Applied Linguistics
  • Modern Languages (e.g., Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Arabic)
  • Technical Communication / Localization Engineering
  • Communication or Marketing (for transcreation roles)

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 1–3 years as a translator, localization assistant, or in a linguistic support role for in-house or agency teams.

Preferred:

  • 2–5+ years of direct experience with CAT tools, TMS platforms, LQA processes, and handling multiple language projects; demonstrated experience in post-editing machine translation and managing TM/TB upkeep.
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