Chinese language workflow coordinator

Organizational Context

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) supports sustainable agrifood systems for better production, nutrition, environment, and life, aligning with the 2030 Agenda. The Governing Bodies Servicing Division (CSG) provides corporate language, protocol, and meeting services. Its Language Branch (CSGL) anchors multilingualism, offering interpretation, translation, and terminology services for all six FAO languages. CSGL ensures language quality assurance and supports local language product provision. This position is within the Interpretation team at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy.

Job Purpose

The Chinese Language Workflow Coordinator will leverage expert linguistic, terminological, and subject-matter knowledge to ensure the accuracy, consistency, and quality of Chinese-language resources within FAO's multilingual framework. The role involves providing coordination and guidance for effective multilingual service delivery, including advising on terminology management, language consistency, meeting preparation, and workflow coordination. The incumbent will liaise with FAO teams, linguists, subject-matter specialists, and external stakeholders to facilitate communication, resolve queries, and uphold quality standards. This position will also guide best practices for Chinese content development, align language outputs with institutional priorities, and contribute to the continuous improvement of translation and interpretation processes through knowledge sharing and quality assurance.

Responsibilities

Reporting to the Head of the Interpretation Group and collaborating with the Chinese Translation Group, the incumbent will oversee quality assurance for English-to-Chinese translations of official FAO documents, ensuring linguistic accuracy, clarity, consistency, and adherence to FAO terminology and style. Strategic support will be provided for planning, coordinating, and monitoring Chinese translation workflows, ensuring compliance with quality standards and document management procedures, including the management of external translation assignments. The role involves undertaking other language-related tasks to enhance Chinese translation services. Expert support will be provided for planning and coordinating interpretation services for FAO meetings, including sessions with non-FAO languages. High-quality simultaneous and consecutive interpretation from English to Chinese will be delivered for high-level meetings. Post-meeting reports will be prepared, and feedback provided to improve interpretation services. Professional linguistic and terminological guidance will be offered to linguists for terminology development and validation, ensuring consistency across multilingual outputs. Other related language and interpretation duties will be performed as required.

Work Experience

A minimum of five years of relevant experience in interpreting, translation, or terminology is required. This experience should align with the educational requirements, with an advanced university degree or a first-level degree plus two years of experience.

Skills

Key competencies include Results Focus, Teamwork, Communication, Building Effective Relationships, and Knowledge-Sharing and Continuous Improvement. These skills are essential for coordinating workflows, collaborating with diverse teams, and ensuring the quality and effectiveness of language services within the organization.

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