Head, Translation and Terminology Section

Madrid Operations Support Service, Madrid Operations Division, Madrid Registry, Brands and Designs Sector

Grade - P4

Contract Duration - 2 years (maximum cumulative length of 5 years) *

Duty Station : CH-Geneva

Publication Date : 19-Dec-2025 Application Deadline : 19-Jan-2026, 4:59:00 PM


This post is a limited-term fixed-term post.

1.**Organizational Context**

a. **Organizational Setting**

b. **Purpose Statement**

As Head of the Translation and Terminology Section, the incumbent is responsible for leading the strategic transformation in translation services under the Madrid, Hague and Lisbon Systems. The role is responsible for advancing the adoption and further integration of technology and AI tools to ensure the delivery of timely, high-quality and future-ready translation services to customers.

The incumbent ensures the production, revision and validation of final-version translations of complex texts, including lists of goods and services, and their modifications; provides direction for the Section, including guiding, mentoring and building the capacity of the team through digital adoption and upskilling for continuous improvement to meet evolving organizational needs; and oversees external translation vendors, driving continuous process improvements to enhance the efficiency of the Section.

c. **Reporting Lines**

The incumbent works under the supervision of the Continuous Improvement Manager, Madrid Operations Support Service.

2.**Duties and Responsibilities**

The incumbent will perform the following principal duties:
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a.**Lead the digital transformation of the section by ensuring the effective utilization of available translation technologies, including artificial intelligence and machine translation tools, by all team members. In close collaboration with the Translation and Terminology Technology Section (TTTS), the Advanced Technology Applications Center (ATAC), and central IT, define requirements for future technological solutions and oversee their implementation within the Section.

b.**Drive continuous improvement of the Section’s efficiency by leading process optimization initiatives, implementing policy and practice changes, fostering innovation and promoting the effective use of advanced translation technologies.

c.**Manage and supervise the work and staff of the Translation and Terminology Section, including planning, prioritizing and allocating resources to ensure the timely delivery of high-quality translations in line with results-based management principles; analyze and report on workload and performance metrics; and foster effective collaboration with related business lines, such as examination, customer support and others.

d.**Oversee translation quality assurance, including outputs generated by technology, ensuring strict compliance with established standards, guidelines and procedures; review and revise complex translations as required to maintain the highest levels of linguistic accuracy and consistency.

e.**Manage external translation vendors by substantively contributing to the development and implementation of outsourcing policies, preparing tender documentation, evaluating bids, and monitoring vendor performance to ensure compliance with procurement rules and quality standards.

f.**Oversee the development and maintenance of translation resources, including term bases, translation memories and other related corpora and tools, ensuring their accuracy and usability.

g.**Coordinate and support staff development and professional growth by developing and implementing training initiatives, providing ongoing guidance and performance evaluation, and organizing capacity building activities for external translation providers as necessary, supporting a culture of excellence and adaptability within the team.

h.**Perform other related duties as required.

3.**Requirements**

Education (Essential)**

Experience (Essential)**

At least seven years of progressively responsible experience in translation, revision and terminology work, including technical texts, of which three managing translation teams.

Proven track record in leading the implementation of translation technologies, including artificial intelligence and machine translation, and in driving teams to improve quality and efficiency through process optimization and digital transformation initiatives.

Solid supervisory experience including mentoring and developing staff.

Experience in successfully managing external translation providers for quality and efficient services.

Experience (Desirable)**

Practical experience leading the rollout of new translation technologies within a team of translators, including training users, monitoring adoption, and optimizing workflows.

Experience in AI-driven transformation projects, such as piloting neural machine translation, integrating large language models, or deploying custom AI solutions for translation quality assurance.

Language (Essential)**

Excellent level of spo