It is crucial for the World Bank in Indonesia to communicate with clarity and purpose in both English and Bahasa Indonesia. Each year, the World Bank Office in Jakarta (WBOJ) produces a countless number of publications, media releases, opinion articles, project materials, presentations and other types of knowledge products which are of interest to a wide audience of stakeholders and beneficiaries. The purpose of such publications and materials range from communicating about a specific World Bank project, to much broader efforts to play a positive role in broader development discourse in Indonesia. To ensure high quality Bahasa Indonesia versions of the aforementioned documents, as well as materials for the country office website, into Bahasa Indonesia is a large and complex process requiring:
- Superb bilingual skills; ability to speak and write effectively and with ease in both Indonesian and English.
- Ability to work collegially and effectively as part of the core External Relations team, as well as with all Bank sector and unit teams.
- an understanding of development issues and appropriate terminologies;
- sound managerial skills to supervise outsourced translation work (most work will be outsourced);
- sound internal communication skills to advise and liaise with a diverse range of colleagues on language issues, translation work, and effective communication and dissemination strategies;
- an understanding of communications theory and practice to ensure that the work produced contributes to the World Bank’s communications strategy and key messages, as well as the overall discourse on Indonesian development.
Note: If the selected candidate is a current Bank Group staff member with a Regular or Open-Ended appointment, s/he will retain his/her Regular or Open-Ended appointment. All others will be offered a 1 year renewable term appointment.
Goal & Objectives
As the World Bank endeavors to become a preferred development partner – not just to the government of Indonesia, but to Indonesia as a whole – the need to communicate clearly, effectively and cohesively in Bahasa Indonesia is imperative.
To help us communicate beyond the World Bank’s traditional audience of stakeholders and beneficiaries and ensure consistency in the language and style of all World Bank communications materials, we are looking for a dynamic linguist and communications specialist to become an integral part of the central communications team for the World Bank in Indonesia who is capable of:
a) ensuring that all World Bank documents and publications are reproduced in readable and accessible Bahasa Indonesia;
b) managing the reproduction process across his/her own network of competent sworn translators;
c) from time to time, providing consecutive oral translation in various fora with great precision, clarity and confidence, or providing outsourced high quality translators for such purposes; and
d) contributing to the full spectrum of tasks and functions performed by the WBOJ Communications Team, beyond the scope of translation.
This position requires superb bilingual skills and the ability to provide highly accurate translations from English into Bahasa Indonesia and vice versa (either through the network of contract translators, or personally). The successful candidate will interact intensively with the communications/web team, including the web editor as well as other translators on hire by WBOJ, and more broadly with all sector and project teams Bank-wide
Duties and Responsibilities
- Through direct preparation, or supervision of consultant/contractor products, translation of World Bank Group documents for posting on the web or for print with an eye towards producing Indonesian versions which convey the facts and nuances of the original documents, but in a style of Bahasa Indonesia that is readable and accessible to a wider public. This requires conducting necessary research for each document being translated to ensure that meanings are interpreted correctly and in full, and that appropriate specialized terminology is employed.
- Seeking competent sworn translators capable of producing readable and accessible Bahasa Indonesia documents in the event of high internal demand for translation work. The successful candidate will ensure that the Bank has an on-call network of approved translation consultants and firms, for work across all sectors and projects
- Managing the translation process across the Bank’s approved network of translators, maintaining quality, timely delivery and ensuring full compliance to all procurement requirements.
- Coordinating all aspects of the translation process of publications and documents (including any editorial changes, quality assurances, etc.) to ensure consistency of style and terminology in the final products.
- Acting, from time to time, as a consecutive translator in pre-determined engagements involving government officials, non-Bahasa Indonesia speaking senior World Bank staff and media.
- Undertaking, from time to time, translations, of sensitive or confidential nature and often on short notice, at high level WBOJ meetings or for key documents or articles
- Responding to client complaints on a timely basis and determining corrective action necessary to prevent recurrences.
- Coordinate and collaborate closely with EXT’s publications designer and web editor to ensure an overall high quality Bank communications, publications, and web postings.
Selection Criteria
- A minimum Bachelor’s degree in linguistics or relevant discipline (e.g. journalism, writing, communications, economics, development studies) with a minimum of three to five years experience.
- Experience or ability to ably manage complex processes, working simultaneously with multiple Bank unit teams, and managing a network of contract translators.
- Proven knowledge of source and target language.
- Mastery of text translation/revision and proofreading techniques, practices and theories.
- Ability to choose the most appropriate terminology to meet the needs of the subject matter.
- Proficient in the use of relevant standard software packages, e.g. Word, Excel, Lotus Notes, etc.
- Ability to express ideas clearly and efficiently in target language.
- Proficient in relevant specialized technology and relevant software, including translation software programs, voice recognition, machine referencing, machine editing and glossaries, machine memory tools, machine and computer translations.
- Ability to work within clearly defined WBOJ policies and procedures; guided by theories and generally accepted principles applicable to text translation and revision.
- Ability to translated documents under very tight deadlines and flexibility to switch from task to task.
- Ability to build effective working relations with clients and colleagues.
- Superb verbal and written communications skills.
- Knowledge of effective dissemination strategies and approaches to ensure maximum relevance of WB publications and knowledge products in Indonesia’s development discourse.
Closing Date: 05-Sep-2009