Head of Global Language Services (LSE)

Vacancy Notice 1752

INTERPOL is the world’s largest international police organization, with 196 Member Countries. Created in 1923, it facilitates cross-border police co-operation, and supports and assists all organizations, authorities, and services whose mission is to prevent or combat international crime.

INTERPOL actively encourages applications from women and nationals of member countries that are currently unrepresented among our staff (please click on this link to access the list of countries). Candidates from these countries are particularly encouraged to apply.

INTERPOL’s recruitment process is merit-based hence all hiring decisions are made considering the applicant’s qualifications and the needs of the Organization.

Job Title: Head of Global Language Services (LSE)
Reporting To: Director, Finance and Corporate Services
Location: Lyon
Type of contract: Fixed-term Contract
Duration (in months): 36.00
Grade: 3
Number of post(s): 1
Level of Security screening: Basic
Deadline for application:26 July 2026

Conditions applying for all candidates

Only professional experience for which candidates can provide official proof of employment will be considered. Candidates could be requested to provide copies of such official documents prior to interviews/test.

* Subsequent extension to this post will be subject to the terms of the Organization’s Staff Manual, to satisfactory performance and to availability of funds.

Tests/interviews in connection to this selection procedure will take place approximately 3-4 weeks after the deadline for applications. Applicants are kindly requested to plan their availability during this period accordingly, in case they are short-listed.

​Selected candidates will be expected to report for duty approximately two to three months after receiving an offer of employment at the latest.

This selection exercise may be used to generate a reserve list of suitable candidates that may be used to address Organization's similar staffing needs in the future.

DEFINITION OF THE POST

The Executive Directorate Resource Management (EDRM) is responsible for the strategic and operational management of INTERPOL’s financial, human, and corporate resources to ensure the effective delivery of the Organization’s global mission.

The Directorate of Finance and Corporate Services (FCS) oversees all financial governance, budgeting, accounting, treasury, and control functions, ensuring compliance with International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS), financial regulations, and the decisions of INTERPOL’s governing bodies, and manages corporate services in the area of general services, procurement, contract, travel and events, and language services.

The Head of Global Language Services provides strategic leadership and operational oversight of all multilingual services and institutional document and archive management across INTERPOL, ensuring the timely, accurate, secure, and consistent delivery of linguistic support in the Organization’s four working languages (Arabic, English, French and Spanish), while also guaranteeing the integrity, accessibility, preservation, and digital governance of all institutional records and archives.

The incumbent is responsible for transforming Language Services into a digitally empowered, revision-centric, and automation-driven unit, leveraging INTERPOL’s vast repository of previously translated documents, standardized terminology, and institutional style guides, to be integrated into a unified enterprise document and knowledge management framework.

The Head of Global Language Services ensures that all linguistic outputs, including sensitive, classified, and legally binding documents, meet the highest standards of accuracy, cultural appropriateness, and institutional coherence. The incumbent leads the integration of machine translation as a pre-translation tool, with human experts acting as quality controllers and terminological arbiters, and that all translated and non-translated institutional documents are systematically managed, archived, and retrievable in compliance with INTERPOL’s recordkeeping policies.

The post also oversees the automation of minute-taking for statutory meetings, ensuring real-time multilingual summaries are generated using Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools validated for accuracy and neutrality, with human review reserved for high-stakes content.

PRINCIPAL DUTIES AND ACTIVITIES

1: Strategic leadership and digital transformation of Language Services and Document Services

• Lead and coordinate the Department ensuring alignment of objectives, workload distribution, and quality standards across all linguistic and document management functions.
• Lead the digital transformation of all Language Services, transitioning from full translation to AI-assisted revision as the primary workflow across all four official languages.
• Lead and collaborate with the four Heads of Language Services to evaluate and implement AI and machine translation tools suited to INTERPOL’s needs, define and enforce translation revision protocols, and establish quality metrics such as post-editing effort and terminology compliance.
• Develop and implement a mid-term and long term Global Language Services Strategy, with strategic KPIs .
• Ensure full integration of INTERPOL’s translation memory and terminology databases (via Trados) and document archives.
• Administer the terminology enforcement rules in Trados to prevent lexical drift, ensuring that key legal, operational, and institutional terms are used identically across all languages and documents.
• Drive automation of translation request intake, prioritization, and routing via an integrated workflow system with clear Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and limit redundant requests.
• Lead change management across all of Language Services, including training, communication, and stakeholder engagement on new workflows.
• Represent Language Services in cross-directorate digital transformation initiatives (Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Knowledge Management, Procurement) to ensure linguistic and archival requirements are embedded in all new systems.

2: Outsourcing, Administrative and Financial Management

• Prepare and manage the annual budget for Language Services, including staffing, technology subscriptions, external contracts, and training; conduct cost-benefit analyses for new tools and processes.
• Coordinate with Procurement teams for: language technology solutions ( Computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools, AI platforms, terminology databases), document digitization services and archival solutions, and quality assurance and metadata indexing software, in coordination with ICT.
• Ensure administrative compliance with INTERPOL regulations.
• Oversee the outsourcing strategy ensuring external use only when internal capacity is exceeded or when specialized domain expertise is unavailable internally.
• Establish strict performance benchmarks for external vendors.

3: Team Management, Performance Oversight and Resource Optimization

• Lead, manage, and develop the multidisciplinary team of language professionals, ensuring alignment with organizational goals, professional growth, and high-performance culture.
• Actively manage performance for all direct reports, with annual objectives directly tied to quality of outputs, effective use of technology, contribution to automation, compliance, efficient use of outsourcing and meeting deadlines.
• Align internal staffing capacity with operational demand.
• Manage the balance between internal and external resources with precision.
• Resolve complex linguistic and archival queries from internal units or external translators.
• Maintain and update the Organization’s linguistic style guides and document management policy reference materials in coordination with all language teams and the Information and Document Manager. Strengthen communication and staff awareness on the style guides.

4: Client Engagement and Institutional Representation

• Act as the primary liaison between Language Services and all client departments within the General Secretariat, ensuring understanding of the latter’s needs and expectations.
• Collect, analyze, and act upon client feedback to improve service delivery; prepare quarterly service reports for senior management.
• Represent INTERPOL together with relevant linguistic and/or technical experts at international forums, conferences, or working groups , promoting INTERPOL’s standards and best practices.
• Stay informed on global trends, and adapt INTERPOL’s approach accordingly ensuring innovation.

5: Document and Archive Management Oversight

• Oversee the implementation and enforcement of INTERPOL’s Archive and Document Management Policy, as operationalized by the Information and Document Manager.
• Lead the digital transformation of institutional documentation.
• Ensure proper recording and archive in the enterprise system.
• Ensure that document lifecycle policies are applied consistently to all linguistic outputs, whether original or translated.
• Coordinate with relevant units (Confidentiality Desk, Data Protection, Legal Affairs, ICT) on the archival value classification of key multilingual documents.
• Administer the access to translated historical records for internal and authorized external stakeholders.
• Integrate document management requirements into all new language technology procurements and workflows (e.g., AI summary tools must auto-archive outputs with metadata).
• Review and approve digitization priorities for legacy multilingual archives in coordination with the Information and Document Manager.

6: Other tasks

• Perform any other duty as required by the hierarchy.

QUALIFICATIONS, COMPETENCIES AND SKILLS

Education and qualification required

• Advanced university degree (Master’s or equivalent level of education) in Translation, Linguistics, International Relations, Information Management or a closely related field.

Experience required

• Minimum of eight (8) years of progressive experience in language services within an international organization or equivalent high-complexity multilingual environment.
• Minimum of three (3) years in a managerial or leadership role overseeing translation teams and/or language technology initiatives.
• Proven track record in:
  • Languages Abilities required Special aptitudes
    • Leading the implementation of AI/ machine translation and CAT tools (especially Trados) in a government or international organization context
    • Reducing outsourcing through internal capacity building and workflow automation
    • Managing terminology governance and translation memory standardization
    • Overseeing document management, archival systems, or records lifecycle processes in a regulated or high-compliance environment
    • Fluency in English is required.
    • Proficiency in a second official working language of the Organization (Arabic, French or Spanish) would be an additional asset.
    • Leadership and People Management: Ability to lead diverse, multicultural teams; motivate, coach, and develop staff; manage performance effectively.
    • Strategic Thinking and Change Management: Ability to envision, plan, and implement organizational transformation; manage possible resistance and drive adoption of new technologies.
    • Project and Budget Management: Proven ability to manage complex projects, timelines, budgets, and vendor relationships.
    • Technological Proficiency: Advanced user of CAT tools (e.g., Trados, MemoQ), terminology management systems, AI-assisted translation platforms, and MS Office suite and enterprise document management systems (e.g., SharePoint, SharePoint Online, OpenText, etc.). Familiarity with AI/machine translation evaluation frameworks is essential.
    • Communication and Diplomacy: Excellent written and verbal communication skills; ability to influence stakeholders at all levels; strong interpersonal and negotiation skills.
    • Subject Matter Flexibility: Ability to quickly grasp and accurately translate complex topics in law, security, finance, IT, and international relations.
    • Analytical and Problem-Solving Skills: Capacity to identify systemic issues in workflows and propose innovative, sustainable solutions.
    • Integrity and Discretion: Absolute commitment to confidentiality and institutional neutrality.
    • Personal and professional maturity in a high-pressure, multicultural environment.
    • Strong communication and persuasion skills to advocate for linguistic quality and technological modernization.
    • Ability to maintain objectivity and apply logical, inductive reasoning to complex linguistic and operational challenges.
    • Resilience and adaptability under tight deadlines and evolving priorities.
    • Initiative, creativity, and intellectual curiosity to drive innovation in Language Services.
    • Ability to build and sustain professional networks within and beyond INTERPOL.
    • Synthesis and strategic communication skills to translate technical language issues into actionable insights for senior management.
    • Commitment to equity, inclusion, and multilingualism as core values of INTERPOL’s institutional identity.