City Jobs

Language and Communication Coordinator

Entrance Salary

COMPENSATION: This is a full-time, limited term position, not to exceed 12 months.

  • $65,000 - $75,000
  • Paid vacation and sick leave
  • Extremely competitive health insurance program
  • Wellness program
  • Life insurance program
  • Education and training reimbursement program
  • Generous retirement plan

Description

Intergovernmental Relations - Human Rights and Equity

 Language and Communication Access Coordinator

The Mayor’s Office of Human Rights and Equity is seeking to hire a self-motivated team player. The Language and Communication Access Coordinator maintains the day-to-day operations of the language and communication access program through the implementation and supervision of the city language access plan, policies, and procedures, in order to facilitate the inclusion of New Orleanians who have limited English proficiency and/or hearing and visually impaired. This is an exciting opportunity for a language industry professional who wants to help make local government more accessible and responsive to the needs of immigrant communities in New Orleans.  

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

  • Serve as point-person for the day-to-day coordination of language services requests, which includes responding to requests, prepping files, coordinating with internal and external linguistic resources, troubleshooting, communicating status of projects with stakeholders, and delivering translated or transcreated content.
  • Serve as point person in City Hall to coordinate the delivery of effective language and communication access services within city departments and city council.
  • Serve as primary point of contact with contracted language service providers (LSP), and coordinate interpretation, American Sign Language (ASL) and/or Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) requests.
  • Ensure and maintain the translation of nola.gov into target languages and accessibility.
  • Collaborate with City departments to ensure essential public documents (e.g applications, notices, complaint forms, legal contracts, and outreach materials that inform individuals about their rights or eligibility requirements for benefits and participation) are translated and displayed in City Hall and on nola.gov.
  • Track, compile and document translation and interpretation services rendered for evaluation and improvement.
  • Develop public awareness strategies and outreach activities for New Orleans’ limited English proficiency, hearing and visual impaired populations.
  • Maintain and update linguistic resources to improve quality, such as style guides, glossaries, term bases, and translation memories.
  • Provide backup support translating, editing, and assuring the quality of content (target language depends on the specialization of the candidate – see Essential Skills and Background).
  • Assist in researching and developing resources such as procedural documents, 1-pagers, and guides to advance internal workflows, concepts, and practices within the language access program.
  • Ensure and provide training of managers and front-line staff on language access policies, procedures, and resources available.
  • Maintain a regularly updated list of all trained and qualified multilingual employees.
  • Create and uphold multilingual staff qualifications standards.
  • Contract with appropriate agencies to train and test multilingual staff who perform language assistance services.
  • Address hiring and personnel practices to increase staff language capacity (e.g., creating financial or nonfinancial incentives for qualified multilingual employees who frequently provide language services).
  • Search for funding and other resources to support interpretation and translation, technological and other infrastructural support, and staffing.
  • Coordinate a sustained relationship with a working group of stakeholders to ensure continual community feedback on the language access program.
  • Finalize, review and modify the Language & Communications Access Plan as needed.
  • Collect and maintain data on relevant metrics, including but not limited to, the frequency of language service interactions, the languages encountered, and the types of service requested.
  • Prepare and submit an annual report on behalf of the Office of Human Rights and Equity to be provided to the Mayor and City Council.
  • Assist in the procurement of new language and communication services and equipment, as needed.
  • Provide support with other language and communication access projects and initiatives, as needed.
  • Other duties as assigned.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

  • Experience with translation technologies, including CAT Tools (i.e., Trados Team, Phrase, or MemoQ) and website localization management systems, (i.e., Smartling).
  • Experience with OneDrive, SharePoint, and Microsoft Teams.
  • Familiarity with basic data management.
  • Experience working with limited English speaking (LEP) immigrant communities in New Orleans.
  • Interest in and commitment to expanding accessibility and civic engagement for New Orleanians with limited English proficiency, demonstrated by past volunteer or professional experiences.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

  • A bachelor’s degree from an accredited college in linguistics, foreign languages, business, public administration, social work, personnel or human resources administration, or a related field; or
  • An equivalent combination of education and experience sufficient to demonstrate ability to perform the duties of the position may be considered.

REPORTS TO: Director of the Office of Human Rights and Equity

This is an at-will position appointed by the Mayor and is a full-time position. Candidates must live within Orleans Parish or request a waiver of domicile prior to employment. Compensation is competitive and commensurate with experience and qualifications. The City of New Orleans is committed to providing its employees with a full benefit package, which includes Medical, Vision, Dental, Life Insurance.

Interested individuals should submit resumes and cover letters via email to: kahlida.lloyd@nola.gov

THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER AND DOES NOT DISCRIMINATE ON THE BASIS OF RACE, COLOR, RELIGION, NATIONAL ORIGIN, GENDER, AGE, PHYSICAL OR MENTAL DISABILITY, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, CREED, CULTURE, OR ANCESTRY.