VP of Language Services Operations

Overview:

The overall responsibility of inWhatLanguage’s VP of Language Services Operations is to manage and optimize productivity related to the delivery and talent requirements for services. The executive team member oversees operational advancement and growth, including production and business process initiatives that improve cost, time and quality of services delivered by the company.

The person in this role owns operational excellence (OPEX). The VP of Language Services Operations must be able to operate effectively and efficiently, adapting strategies quickly, at low risk and cost to meet the demands for the company’s offerings while scaling operations for fast growth.

The operations executive must be results-oriented, developing and enforcing strategies related to talent management, resource procurement and capacity, process definition and standardization, service delivery, QA, industry compliance and customer satisfaction. Operations is metrics-driven and leadership is making decisions based on data and ROI. The executive’s success will be measured by performance and achievement of business goals.

The VP of Language Services Operations must be forward-thinking, experienced in developing and mentoring leaders. They need to understand the complexities of large enterprise language programs, as well as the intricacies related to fast-turning transactional project management.

The leader of operations must able to work with every functional area of the business in constructing the best solutions for our clients, including technology, finance, and sales. The role has complete oversight of operational strategy, supply, and delivery, including margin and cost management.

The person in this role must have the ability to represent our customer-centric brand experience and culture to our clients, providing executive-level consultation for enterprise business processes and globalization.

Primary Responsibilities

• Develop operational strategy with the company leaders to scale and meet company goals in exponential growth over the next five years.
• Manage daily operations in the delivery and supply of all services offered by the company, both FTE and freelancers, across all geographies and languages in demand.
• Provide leadership of supply chain and recruiting of linguistic resources across all content types and capabilities.
• Establish company’s operational best practices and processes to deliver the promise of customer success.
• Accountability for the defining, measuring, reporting and achievement on all performance metrics used in operations to support OPEX, including productivity, quality, revenue, growth and profitability.
• Prioritize departmental initiatives and activities.
• Daily Project Management Office (PMO) oversight, including definition, standardization and documentation of roles, processes, tools and know-how.
• Manage production and quality assurance programs including ISO certification programs and compliance management for regulatory-related services.
• Participate with direct client engagement to support complex accounts, including definitions in scope of work, pricing, capability assessments, RFPs and delivery.
• Define annual budget for operations.
• Manage margins and costs for optimal efficiency and effectiveness in delivery and supply chain management.
• Mature the capabilities and talent through development programs, process standardization and training.

Job Duties and Additional Responsibilities:

• Ensure on-time delivery for all clients.
• Oversee talent management and staffing for linguists, project managers, scoping and pricing teams and other operational team members.
• Set standards for client reporting and program management standards for customer success.
• Participate in key client engagements.
• Implement processes and quality programs, including QMS and CAPA programs with root-cause-analysis systems.
• Approve rates and pricing strategies, including scoping complex enterprise program delivery.
• Develop and support the company’s freelance community and vendor relationships.
• Support training and onboarding programs for language tools and technologies to clients and linguists.
• Manage customer escalation and urgent client delivery challenges, including interfacing directly with the customer.
• Support the company’s initiatives and represent the company brand experience and culture.
• All other duties and special projects as delegated by executive leadership.

Requirements:

• 10 years of operational management experience in the language services industry
• Creative, resourceful and results-oriented
• Ability to re-prioritize tasks, as needed, to meet the company’s needs and goals
• Financial management of program delivery supply chain costs
• Management of quality assurance programs
• Managed delivery of large, complex enterprise solutions for global organizations
• Staffing, linguist and vendor supply chain management for 100+ languages
• Exceptional negotiation, analytical and interpersonal communication skills
• Leadership development, mentoring and training experience for large teams
• 5 years oversight of language service technology and automation onboarding for clients, linguists and employees