Language Industry Hires at SeproTec, Wordbee, Global textware, and Andovar

Álvaro Álvarez Elena had to move to Krakow to lead the newly established office of SeproTec Multilingual Solutions in the Polish city.

As Executive Director of SeproTec in Poland, he said manages the operations of the Krakow production center and oversees and executes SeproTec’s global sales strategy in the country.

“[So] I have moved to Krakow; we understand this role cannot be done remotely,” he told Slator. “The Krakow office set up is part of our international expansion plan.” He reports directly to  Juan Julián León, CEO of the Madrid-based language service provider (LSP). 

Álvarez, who studied at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and holds a Degree in Labor Relations, joins SeproTec from L’Oréal Luxe, where he was area retail manager from 2015 to 2018. He also worked at Musgrave, Ireland’s food retail and wholesale company.

He is, however, not a complete stranger to SeproTec as he had worked at SeproTec for four years as a sales manager 12 years ago.

“I have always kept in contact with SeproTec, and somehow I have witnessed the changes in the language services industry,” he said.

He added, “The growth and development of Poland, the opportunities for recruiting talent, as well as its location in the heart of Central and Eastern Europe, make Krakow an important strategic center for the future of SeproTec and leading the team is an exciting challenge for me.”

Aline Müller —  Wordbee

Wordbee has appointed Aline Müller as its new Business Developer for the Games Localization Industry in June 2018.

Müller, whose task is to support Wordbee users in selecting the right language technology support for their operations, was a former customer of the Luxembourg-based translation technology company. 

The localization executive was the former general manager of the San Francisco-based mobile game developer Kabam Games. During her stint with the company, she built the European Product Management Team – a hybrid between marketing, PR, product management and localization. In this capacity, she said she had the chance to partner with Wordbee.

Joining Wordbee was an easy choice, according to Müller, as she was “already convinced about the product and the company.”

At Wordbee, she said she would be using her experience with Wordbee to guide customers through their decision-making process. She explained, “I believe that the decision for the right tool can make or break successful localization and it is vital to have a strong partner from the first contact until implementation and beyond.”

Before joining Kabam Games in 2011, Müller had spent several years working in the online marketing and online entertainment industry in Spain, Germany, and the UK.

“As a language geek, I was in the right spot and together with a great team. I was able to impact worldwide game success through the high localization quality we were able to provide due to streamlined processes, the right technology, and a lot of passion for great games and localization,” she said.

While video games require translation of thousands of words from the beginning of the project to the end, these are also multimedia products. Hence,  translators face challenges, including “reproducing the oral quality of dialogue in writing for subtitling and pop-up dialogue windows, and lip-synching,” according to Müller.

Svetlana Been-Kolosova — Global textware

Svetlana Been-Kolosova joined Global textware as Vendor Manager in April 2018.

“The role of a vendor manager is pretty much versatile,” she told Slator. “I am responsible for recruitment and selection of freelance translators and translating agencies for a partnership; conducting the process of signing the contracts; implementation of quality controls of our suppliers working on our translation projects, contacting the translators for participation in different projects.” 

“You never know what a day will bring you and it makes my work so interesting,” she added.

Global textware is based in Groningen, a northern region of the Netherlands. Been-Kolosova reports to Gisela Staal-Kooistra, commercial director.

While she has been living in the Netherlands for the past 13 years, she said she is originally from Ukraine. While studying at the Ukrainian University for Foreign Languages and Pedagogics, she said she participated in the International Student’s Exchange Programme.

“It brought me to the Netherlands where I obtained later a degree of Bachelor of Commerce and where I started my career,” she said

Before joining Global textware, Been-Kolosova had worked in the retail business as a store manager at C&A. “I felt that I needed some new challenges and development in my career,” she said about joining the Dutch LSP.

“Everyone can feel that the translation industry is changing in a rapid tempo due to new technologies. But I believe that not a single smart machine can substitute a professional linguist who can bring a lot of feeling into text and make it sound even better than an original one,” she concluded.

Paulina Gallego — Andovar

Paulina Gallego joined Andovar as Business Development Manager in June 2018.

“My role is to engage with business partners to develop new relationships and help both companies to expand,” she said. 

A veteran sales manager in the flower industry, Gallego has also worked with Canadian and international humanitarian entities that helped the most vulnerable. “I promoted and coordinated volunteer missions,” she said.

She is now based in Andovar’s Latin American office in Medellin, Colombia. She reports to Santiago Lopez, General Manager – Colombia, and to Russell Winterbotham, Vice President of Global Sales.

“I decided to join Andovar because it is a fast-moving and exciting industry. I had the opportunity to live abroad for many years and to be able to communicate clearly in any language it is a must in a globalized world. I am glad that I can aid business to linguistically and culturally introduce a product or service to a target locale,” she told Slator.

Hence, she said she believes that for business to expand and reach new markets, being multilingual will become a necessity. “Our goal, and the goal of the industry as a whole, is to inform and educate our prospects and increase their localization maturity,” she said.