Localization Project Manager

6-12 month contract Must be fluent in Japanese About the Company TransPerfect provides managed localization services to global technology companies. This contractor role supports TransPerfect-led Japanese localization initiatives across multilingual digital products, ensuring linguistic quality and cultural accuracy within established localization workflows. Responsibilities Support the Localization Project Manager throughout all production phases of incoming translation requests, coordinating translation and localization for Japan and other established locales. Coordinate all localization activities, including translation, editing, proofreading, and quality assurance. Serve as the primary point of contact for all localization-related inquiries and issues, internally and externally. Collaborate with internal teams and external vendors to establish project timelines and deliverables. Manage localization resources, including translators, editors, and company engineers, to optimize efficiency and quality. Communicate regularly with stakeholders to provide updates on project status, address concerns, and gather feedback. Identify and mitigate potential risks and challenges that may impact the localization process or timeline. Monitor project progress and performance metrics to ensure adherence to established goals and standards. Implement continuous improvement initiatives to streamline processes and enhance localization efficiency and quality. Manage incoming translation requests in Jira, collect reference materials and visual context, and assign work to translators. Ensure strings maintain internationalization best practices and flag potential issues to the engineering team. Upload requests into the Smartling platform, set due dates for vendors, and deliver completed extracted translations to engineering teams. Research and answer translators’ queries about source content to ensure accuracy. Ensure adherence to established terminology and style guides. Required Experience and Qualifications Relevant university degree, certifications, or professional experience. Familiarity or past experience in payments, banking, POS systems, and merchant apps is a plus. Experience with terminology management and project management. Fluency in Japanese; knowledge of additional languages is a plus. Proven experience managing localization projects for software products, preferably for the Japanese locale. Strong knowledge of localization tools (Smartling) and technologies, translation management systems, version control systems, Jira, and Confluence. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively with cross‑functional teams and external partners. Exceptional organizational and time‑management abilities, with keen attention to detail, and the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously. Cultural sensitivity and awareness, with a deep understanding of the target market’s preferences, norms, and cultural nuances. Strong problem‑solving skills and the ability to think strategically to overcome challenges and drive project success. Project management certification (e.g., PMP) is a plus. Experience working in Agile or Scrum environments is desirable. Required Skills 3–5 years of related experience. Experience working with Android and macOS environments. Familiarity with Google shared documents and spreadsheets. Experience with PDFs. Familiarity with JIRA or other bug‑tracking systems. Understanding of software release cycles and Agile development. Attention to detail, flexible mindset, independent learner. Ability to work with multiple product teams around the globe to deliver overall language quality and consistency while maintaining a strong user experience. #J-18808-Ljbffr