Language Access Hub Manager

[Job ID Number: 37292]

About the Office
The Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) promotes the well-being of immigrant communities by recommending policies and programs that facilitate successful integration of immigrant New Yorkers into the civic, economic, and cultural life of the City. MOIA is one of the lead agencies for IDNYC, New York City’s successful municipal ID program and spearheads a number of other initiatives to expand equity and empowerment for immigrant communities. The work of the Office cuts across a broad range of issues citywide—for example, workers’ rights, health equity, and language access—and MOIA works closely with sister cities around the country to promote immigrant inclusion.

The Adams’ Administration is committed to expanding language access and language justice and is launching an exciting new initiative to expand the City’s capacity to provide multilingual services to New Yorkers who speak languages other than English. One aspect of this initiative is to expand MOIA’s Language Services Team in order to nimbly provide high-quality translation and interpretation services to MOIA, Mayoral Offices, and City Hall and share best practices with city agencies. Established in 2016, MOIA’s Language Services Team has ensured that materials are translated, events are accessible to limited English speakers through the presence of in-person interpreters, and staff have access to telephonic interpretation 24/7.

About the Role
Under the direction of the Director of Language Services, the Language Access Hub Manager will coordinate and supervise a team of language access specialists, who will translate materials, review translated materials, and serve as liaisons to the communities that speak their language; provide project management and client-facing support; and provide operational support for the Director. The Manager will contribute to the growth and improvement of the Language Services Team and its capacity to deliver culturally aware translation and interpretation services for MOIA and Mayoral Office colleagues.

This is an exciting opportunity for language services professionals looking to make an impact improving language access within New York City government.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

Manage language access specialists

• Supervise a team of language access specialists who speak and write fluently in different languages; who will translate materials and engage with specific language communities to ensure translations are appropriate; and who will advise agencies on best practices for working with specific language groups
• Coordinate assignment of projects across language access specialists to ensure that the team meets goals for service delivery
• Troubleshoot issues
• Assist in recruiting, hiring, and training language access specialists
• Coordinate implementation of Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) tools and localization management tools (Trados, Smartling)
• Oversee team’s development of linguistic tools (glossaries, style sheets, etc.)

Project management

• Liaise with City clients, partners, and linguistic resources (vendors and internal staff)
• Manage end-to-end translation and localization projects
  • Respond to requests
  • Coordinate with internal linguists, typesetters, and external vendors
  • Process, track and troubleshoot projects
  • Communicate status of projects to requesters and supervisors
  • Deliver final translations following project instructions and guidelines
• Coordinate interpretation requests
• Attend events requiring interpretation to coordinate interpreters, set up and distribute equipment
• Assist with technical support for virtual interpretation events through Zoom, WebEx, Teams, etc.
• Build and maintain resources to improve language service delivery (style guides, glossaries, term bases, translation memories, etc.)
• Assist in translating, editing and typesetting materials (target language depends on the specialization of the candidate – see qualifications).
• Oversee the quality, consistency, and continuous improvement of language services.
• Give annual and on-demand trainings to MOIA and Mayoral Offices.
• Provide technical assistance on language access/services to MOIA, Mayoral Offices, City Hall, and city agencies.

Operations management

• Support Director to improve and institutionalize workflows
• Support Director in managing and procuring contracted language services
• Collect and maintain performance data on the team’s operations and produce reports
• Reconcile invoices from multiple language service providers
• Track and analyze demand for services and budget
• Assist in the provision of language services and trainings across other mayoral offices
• Assist with monthly and yearly reporting of translation and interpretation indicators
• Assist with other language access projects, as needed
• Provide recommendations for expansion of services and of the Language Services Team

Qualifications

• A bachelor’s degree with at least 2 years of professional experience in translation, interpretation, localization and/or language services project management or coordination
• Native fluency in another language required (Arabic, Bengali, Chinese or Spanish, preferred)
• Experience managing staff and ability to effectively supervise and delegate
• Experiencing serving immigrant communities
• Experience providing technical assistance to stakeholders on language services
• Excellent project management and organizations skills and ability to prioritize and work in fast-paced environment with firm deadlines
• Strong time management skills and experience working with multiple stakeholders to address problems
• Strong communication skills, diplomacy, tact, and excellent judgment
• Self-starter who can take initiative and work both individually and collaboratively as part of a team
• Ability to think creatively, embrace new approaches, and pioneer innovative solutions to intricate problems
• Able to occasionally work weekend and/or evening events
• Highly professional demeanor
• Experience with WebEx, Zoom and/or Microsoft Teams

Salary Range: Commensurate with experience.

To Apply: Please send a copy of your resume, a cover letter, and three (3) references to Candidate Application

New York City Residency Is Required Within 90 Days of Appointment

The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.

Full job description: https://a002-oom03.nyc.gov/IRM/Handlers/Campaign/Attachments.ashx?attachmentId=70808a3e-090c-4764-97ce-7b8a7a6adf8b