Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Written Translator

🎯 Role Definition

The Written Translator is responsible for producing high-quality, target-language content from source-language materials across documents, websites, software strings, marketing collateral, legal and technical manuals, and multimedia assets. This role requires native-level target language skills, mastery of CAT tools and file formats, experience with machine translation post-editing, terminology and glossary management, and strong collaboration with project managers, localization engineers, and subject-matter experts. The Written Translator ensures linguistic accuracy, cultural relevance, brand voice consistency, and timely delivery while maintaining confidentiality and complying with localization standards (e.g., ISO 17100).

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Junior Translator or Translation Trainee
Bilingual Content Editor / Proofreader
Language Specialist or Localization Intern

Advancement To:

Senior Translator / Lead Translator
Localization Project Manager
Localization Engineer or Terminology Manager
Language Lead for a product or region

Lateral Moves:

Transcreation Specialist
MT Post-Editing Lead
Localization QA / Linguistic QA Specialist

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Translate a wide range of written materials (technical manuals, legal contracts, marketing copy, software UI strings, website content, blog posts, product documentation, user guides, and help center articles) from the source language into the target language while preserving meaning, tone, intent, and register for the target audience.
Perform copy adaptation and transcreation of marketing and advertising content to maintain brand voice, emotional impact, idiomaticity, and cultural appropriateness while optimizing for conversion and engagement in the target market.
Use CAT tools (SDL Trados, memoQ, Wordfast, Memsource/Phrase, MateCat) to perform translation leveraging translation memories (TMs), glossaries, and termbases for consistency and efficiency, including segmentation and tag preservation.
Conduct MT post-editing of machine translation outputs to industry standards, performing light or full post-editing depending on project requirements and agreed quality levels.
Create, maintain and update project-specific and global glossaries, style guides, and terminology databases to ensure consistent use of domain-specific terminology and brand language across projects and teams.
Prepare and maintain translation memories (TMs), merge or clean TM files, and perform concordance searches to ensure consistency with previously translated content and company-specific terminology.
Review and proofread translations (self-review and peer review) for grammar, syntax, punctuation, spelling, and formatting errors, and verify adherence to client style guides and linguistic quality assurance (LQA) criteria.
Perform bilingual review and in-country review coordination by engaging native reviewers, subject matter experts, or legal teams to validate specialized or regulated content (e.g., medical, pharmaceutical, legal, financial).
Localize software strings, UI/UX text, and app content including handling variables, placeholders, and context notes while collaborating with localization engineers to resolve technical issues and ensure functional and contextual integrity.
Work with multiple file formats (XLIFF, XML, HTML, JSON, YAML, InDesign, MS Office, PDF, Adobe FrameMaker) while safely preserving tags, markup, and layout; perform cleanups and conversions as needed for smooth localization workflows.
Execute linguistic QA using automated QA tools (Xbench, Verifika, QA Distiller, built-in CAT QA checks) and manual checks to detect inconsistencies, untranslated segments, tag errors, incorrect numbers/dates, and formatting issues before delivery.
Conduct SEO localization by optimizing translated content for search intent, target-language keywords, meta descriptions, titles, and H1s while maintaining natural readability and adhering to search-engine friendly practices for the target market.
Provide accurate and timely project estimates and time-to-complete assessments for translation and localization tasks, including word counts, complexity analysis, and capacity planning for fast turnaround requests.
Collaborate proactively with project managers, localization engineers, developers, product managers, and authors to clarify ambiguous source content, request context, and ensure correct interpretation of industry-specific or ambiguous terminology.
Ensure confidentiality and data protection by following NDAs, data-handling procedures, secure file transfer protocols, and client-specific privacy requirements when handling sensitive legal, financial, or medical documents.
Perform bilingual terminology extraction and compile term lists from source materials, creating and validating entries with context, definitions, usage examples, and preferred translations to populate TMs and termbases.
Participate in localization scoping and kickoff meetings to assess technical constraints, discuss character limits, context, string length, and text expansion/contraction considerations for UI localization projects.
Localize and adapt multimedia content such as subtitles, captions, and transcriptions for video assets, ensuring synchronization, readability, and cultural sensitivity; collaborate with multimedia teams or use subtitling tools when required.
Conduct layout and DTP fixes for final deliverables using InDesign, Illustrator, or Photoshop as needed to ensure translated documents maintain original layout, pagination, and visual integrity.
Track, document, and escalate recurring source-of-truth issues, ambiguous source-language phrasing, or terminology conflicts to product teams or content owners to reduce rework and improve future source texts.
Apply quality frameworks (ISO 17100, LISA QA, company QA checklists) to translate and review content consistently, and participate in continuous improvement activities and root-cause analysis of linguistic errors.
Localize training materials, e–learning content, and compliance documentation, including adapting examples, date/time formats, measurement units, and culturally sensitive references.
Maintain professional development by keeping up with changes in industry terminology, evolving product lines, and updates in CAT and localization tools to improve productivity and translation quality.
Prepare bilingual glossaries and reference materials for client handover and support the onboarding of new translators to ensure knowledge transfer and consistent translations across teams.
Manage multiple concurrent projects and prioritize workloads to meet tight deadlines while maintaining high linguistic quality and compliance with client SLAs and KPIs.
Provide constructive feedback to junior translators and reviewers, and conduct spot checks to ensure that outsourced or freelance translations meet contractual quality requirements and brand standards.
Perform back-translation and linguistic validation where required for clinical, regulatory, or legal content to support audits, approvals, and compliance processes.
Ensure accessibility and plain-language best practices are applied when localizing public-facing content, working with accessibility teams to meet WCAG requirements where applicable.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc localization requests from cross-functional teams including product, marketing, legal, and customer support by delivering fast, accurate translations and clarifying context where necessary.
Assist in preparing localized versions of marketing campaigns, email templates, and social media posts while aligning with channel-specific character limits and tone requirements.
Contribute to continuous improvement of localization processes by documenting common linguistic issues, proposing TM/terminology cleaning tasks, and suggesting workflow automations.
Participate in post-release linguistic reviews and bug triage sessions with QA and engineering teams to correct translation-related defects discovered during testing.
Help maintain vendor and freelancer rosters by evaluating language samples, recommending preferred vendors, and providing onboarding documentation for new translators.
Provide guidance on multilingual SEO strategies and help local content teams select target-language keywords and optimize metadata for improved organic visibility.
Support cross-functional training by running short workshops on CAT tool best practices, terminology usage, and client-specific style rules for product and content teams.
Compile linguistic metrics and reporting for PMs (quality scores, productivity, TM leverage, turnaround time) to support decision-making and vendor selection.
Assist in localization resource planning by estimating translation effort for upcoming releases and coordinating availability of reviewers and in-country stakeholders.
Contribute to format conversion and pre-processing of source files (tag stripping, text extraction, encoding normalization) to reduce manual rework and ensure smooth CAT-tool ingestion.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Native-level proficiency in the target language and professional proficiency in the source language(s), with demonstrated writing skills in both languages.
Expert use of CAT and localization platforms: SDL Trados Studio, memoQ, Phrase (Memsource), Wordfast, MateCat, and ability to manage TMs and CBDs.
Practical experience with XLIFF, XML, HTML, JSON, YAML and other localization-ready file formats and the ability to preserve tags and markup during translation.
Machine translation post-editing (MTPE) skills with knowledge of MT engines (Google Translate, DeepL, Microsoft MT) and relevant quality standards for light/full post-editing.
Terminology management and glossary creation experience, including building and maintaining termbases in tools like SDL MultiTerm or memoQ termbases.
Proven experience with linguistic QA tools (Xbench, Verifika, QA Distiller) and in-tool QA features to automate checks for consistency, numbers, tags, and untranslated segments.
Familiarity with localization engineering concepts and string management (placeholders, context, plurals, pseudo-localization), and collaboration with devs on string extraction/ingestion.
DTP and layout adjustment skills for final deliverables using Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, or Photoshop; ability to handle text expansion and font issues.
SEO localization capabilities: keyword research for the target language, optimizing titles and meta tags, and adapting content for search intent in the target market.
File preparation, conversion and basic scripting knowledge (regular expressions, simple XSLT or Python scripts) to handle batch file processing and cleanups when needed.
Subtitling and captioning experience (SRT, VTT, Aegisub, Subtitle Edit) for adapting multimedia content and ensuring accurate time-coded translations.
Knowledge of industry standards and processes (ISO 17100, translation SLA/KPI frameworks) and experience applying LQA scorecards and acceptance criteria.

Soft Skills

Exceptional attention to detail and a strong commitment to linguistic quality and consistency across projects.
Excellent time management, organizational skills, and the ability to manage competing priorities and tight deadlines.
Strong communication and collaboration skills to work effectively with project managers, product teams, in-country reviewers, and external clients.
Cultural empathy and sensitivity to adapt content for cultural appropriateness and to avoid localization pitfalls.
Problem-solving mindset to identify source-text issues, propose clarifications, and suggest permanent fixes to reduce recurring errors.
Customer-focused attitude and responsiveness when handling client feedback, revisions, and escalations.
Adaptability to changing tools, workflows, and evolving product or market requirements.
Coaching and mentoring skills for guiding junior translators and onboarding external vendors.
Analytical mindset to leverage TM statistics, QA reports, and productivity metrics for continuous improvement.
Confidentiality and professional integrity when working with sensitive, regulated, or proprietary content.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor’s degree in Translation, Linguistics, Modern Languages, Communication, Technical Writing, or a related field; OR equivalent professional translation experience and credentials.

Preferred Education:

Master’s degree in Translation Studies, Applied Linguistics, Localization Management, or related advanced language qualification.
Certification from recognized translation associations (e.g., ATA, ITI) or professional localization training certificates.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Translation and Interpreting
Applied Linguistics
Modern Languages (with specialization)
Technical Communication
Localization Management
Computer Science or Information Technology (for localization engineering contexts)

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

2–5 years for mid-level Written Translator roles; 5+ years for senior or subject-matter-specialist positions.

Preferred:

3+ years of hands-on experience translating within specified domains (legal, medical, technical, marketing, software localization).
Demonstrable experience with major CAT tools, TM/terminology management, and MT post-editing workflows.
Experience working in agile localization teams or with continuous localization pipelines, contributing to CI/CD localization workflows.