Japanese Language Lead

As the Japanese Language Lead, you will support localization delivery by providing linguistic and cultural facets for Japanese-language content. This role involves collaborating closely with cross-functional teams, driving linguistic quality assurance, terminology development, and influencing the overall linguistic strategy. Responsibilities Quality Assurance: - Conduct linguistic reviews of translated content – within the translation platform and on actual Clover devices and websites – to ensure terminology consistency, linguistic accuracy, cultural relevance, and natural flow across localized products (on-device apps, web dashboard, websites, email templates, and help articles). - Comfortable working with Machine Translation Post-Editing (MTPE) to review and refine MT output for accuracy, consistency, and natural flow. - Ensure translations are grammatically, technically, stylistically, and culturally correct. - Establish and maintain linguistic guidelines to uphold the highest quality standards - Provide linguistic quality feedback to the translation vendor and coordinate on linguistic changes. - Review and reconcile vendor translations with in-country stakeholder feedback, proposing the best quality and consistent version. - Implement ongoing improvements to the localized product. - Communicate with PMs, engineering and QE engineering as needed. - Provide input on internationalization or design issues and improvements. - Develop familiarity with supported apps and devices to ensure quality of terminology, tone, and style as a Language Quality Lead. Language Resource Development – Glossary of Terms: - Develop and maintain language resources, including a glossary and style guide, to provide consistent and agreed-upon terminology and stylistic guidelines for the Japanese market. - Communicate terminology changes to translation vendors and stakeholders. Cross-functional Collaboration: - Work closely with software developers, UX designers, and product managers to incorporate linguistic considerations into the product design and development process. - Communicate effectively with internal teams to address linguistic challenges and contribute to strategic decision-making. - Perform translations as needed for quick turnarounds, high-profile areas, or when not practical to send to an external vendor, including ongoing translation requests from localization stakeholders. Cultural Sensitivity: - Provide cultural insights and recommendations to ensure that localized content resonates with the Japanese-speaking audience. - Stay current with linguistic and cultural trends in Japan to contribute to a culturally aware, localized product experience. * * * Qualifications: - 3-5 years of related experience. - Advanced degree or certificate in Translation, Interpretation, or a related field. - Proven experience as a linguist or translation specialist, with a focus on Japanese – Native Japanese speaker required. - Familiarity or past experience in the fields of payments, banking, finance, POS systems, and merchant apps is preferred. - Strong understanding of software localization. - Excellent communication and collaboration skills. - Working knowledge of translation platforms and language technology tools. - Familiarity with Mac, Google Suite, JIRA, Adobe Acrobat, and other localization tools (e.g., TMS – Smartling, Atom text editor, screenshot annotation)