Transcreation Specialist

🎯 Role Definition

As a Transcreation Specialist, you are the guardian of our brand's voice across different cultures and languages. You will do more than just translate; you will creatively adapt and reinvent our marketing content, from ad campaigns and website copy to social media and video scripts, ensuring the original message's intent, tone, and emotional impact are not just preserved but enhanced for each local market. This is a pivotal role that sits at the intersection of marketing, linguistics, and cultural strategy, directly influencing our global growth and brand perception. You will be our in-market expert, ensuring every word we publish feels authentic, relevant, and compelling to our customers.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Translator / Senior Translator
Bilingual Copywriter
Marketing or Communications Coordinator (with language skills)

Advancement To:

Senior Transcreation Specialist / Transcreation Lead
Localization Manager / Program Manager
Global Content Strategist

Lateral Moves:

Content Strategist (Regional)
SEO Specialist (International)
UX Writer

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Lead the end-to-end transcreation process for high-visibility marketing and brand content, including advertising campaigns, taglines, headlines, and product messaging, from English into the target language.
Go beyond literal translation to culturally adapt, rewrite, and reinvent content, ensuring it resonates with the target audience's specific nuances, humor, and values while maintaining global brand consistency.
Collaborate closely with global marketing, product, and design teams to deeply understand campaign objectives, messaging priorities, and creative intent before beginning the adaptation process.
Develop, evangelize, and maintain a comprehensive style guide and glossary for the target language to ensure consistency in terminology, tone of voice, and brand messaging across all channels.
Act as the ultimate quality gatekeeper by reviewing, editing, and providing constructive feedback on content produced by external freelance translators and localization agencies for your market.
Serve as a key cultural consultant for the global marketing team, providing deep insights into local market trends, consumer behavior, and linguistic sensitivities to inform and shape campaign strategy.
Independently craft compelling, original copy in the target language when a direct translation is not feasible, ensuring the final output feels natural and authentic to native speakers.
Expertly manage multiple transcreation projects simultaneously, from creative brief to final delivery, ensuring all deadlines are met without ever compromising on linguistic or creative quality.
Conduct in-depth linguistic and cultural quality assurance (LQA) on a wide range of localized assets, including websites, mobile apps, and marketing collateral, to identify and rectify any errors or inconsistencies.
Proactively identify and flag global content that may be problematic, ineffective, or culturally insensitive in the target market and propose creative, on-brand solutions.
Work proficiently within our Translation Management Systems (TMS) and utilize CAT tools to streamline workflows, manage linguistic assets, and maintain project efficiency.
Research and analyze competitor messaging and brand positioning in the local market to identify strategic opportunities for differentiation and content improvement.
Partner with regional SEO specialists to ensure that all transcreated web content is fully optimized with relevant local keywords to maximize organic traffic and search visibility.
Actively participate in creative brainstorming sessions, contributing a local market perspective during the initial stages of global campaign development to ensure global-readiness.
Create and present linguistic and cultural guidelines for your market to educate internal stakeholders and external partners on best practices for reaching your audience.

Secondary Functions

Support the localization of user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) copy, ensuring a seamless and intuitive product experience for users in the target language.
Assist in the subtitling and voice-over script adaptation process for video content, focusing on timing, natural dialogue, and cultural context.
Monitor social media channels and customer feedback in the target market to gauge content effectiveness and gather valuable insights for future campaigns.
Contribute to the vetting, selection, and onboarding process for new linguistic vendors and freelance translators for your specific language pair.
Prepare and deliver clear reports on project status, quality metrics, and emerging challenges to the Localization Manager or Head of Content.
Meticulously manage and update translation memories (TMs) and term bases (TBs) to leverage existing translations and maintain linguistic consistency at scale.
Provide occasional, high-quality translation support for internal communications, legal disclaimers, and customer support documentation as required.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Native-level fluency in [Target Language] and professional-level proficiency in English, with an exceptional command of grammar, syntax, and nuanced vocabulary in both.
Proven experience in creative copywriting and marketing content creation, supported by a strong portfolio showcasing your ability to write compelling and persuasive text.
High proficiency with Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) tools (e.g., SDL Trados Studio, MemoQ, Wordfast) and Translation Management Systems (TMS) (e.g., WorldServer, Smartling, Memsource).
Deep understanding of localization, internationalization, and transcreation principles, best practices, and complex workflows.
Solid knowledge of fundamental SEO principles and practical experience in applying them to localized content to drive performance in international markets.
Familiarity with common Content Management Systems (CMS) like WordPress, Contentful, or Adobe Experience Manager (AEM).

Soft Skills

Exceptional creativity and the ability to think conceptually to find the perfect cultural and linguistic equivalent for abstract or complex ideas.
Deep cultural intelligence and sensitivity, with an intimate, up-to-date understanding of trends, idioms, and social norms in the target market.
Impeccable attention to detail and a relentless commitment to delivering high-quality, error-free work on every project.
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the confidence to articulate creative choices and provide clear, constructive feedback to peers and vendors.
Strong project management and organizational abilities, capable of gracefully handling multiple projects with competing deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
A highly collaborative and proactive mindset, demonstrating a passion for working with cross-functional teams to achieve shared global objectives.
A problem-solving attitude with the resilience to adapt to changing priorities and feedback.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's Degree or equivalent practical experience in a relevant field.

Preferred Education:

Master's Degree in Translation, Marketing, or a related discipline.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Linguistics / Translation Studies
Marketing / Advertising
Communications / Journalism
Foreign Languages & Literature

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

3-7 years of professional experience in transcreation, creative translation, or multilingual copywriting.

Preferred:

Demonstrable experience working within a fast-paced marketing agency or an in-house localization team for a major global brand. A strong portfolio of transcreated marketing and advertising content is highly desirable and may be requested during the interview process.