Manager for Language Services

About the role

The Agency You’ll Join

The New York City Mayor’s Office is responsible for overseeing city services throughout the five boroughs, coordinating public agencies and departments, and managing public property. The administration is leading the fight in making the city more affordable, reducing inequality, improving public safety, ensuring delivery of efficient and effective services, and working to make New York City’s economy stronger. We value leadership, transparency, fairness, and efficiency as we actively seek diverse talents from various sectors to join our team. For current job opportunities, visit our careers page.

The Team You’ll Work With

The Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) was established in 1984 and incorporated into the New York City Charter in 2001 to promote the economic, civic, and social integration of immigrant New Yorkers, expand access to justice, and advance policies that strengthen immigrant communities across the city.

MOIA serves as a bridge between city government and immigrant communities by advising on and supporting the development and implementation of policies and programs that improve access to services for immigrant New Yorkers and speakers of other languages. The office partners with City agencies and community organizations to strengthen language access, expand equitable access to services, and advance initiatives that support immigrant communities citywide.

The Problems You’ll Solve

The Manager, Language Services plays a critical role on MOIA's Language Services team, ensuring that City agencies, Mayoral Offices, and the public have reliable access to high-quality translation and interpretation services. MOIA provides document translation and in-person interpretation to all Mayoral Offices and supports City agencies as needed, while ensuring that events and materials remain accessible to limited English speakers and that telephonic interpretation is readily available to agency staff.

The Manager manages the full lifecycle of incoming translation and interpretation requests assigning work to Language Access Specialists, tracking progress, and ensuring requests are completed accurately and on time. The role requires close coordination with internal staff, external vendors, and City partners in a fast-paced environment where priorities can shift quickly.

Specifically, the Manager will

• Serve as the primary point of contact for City clients, partners, and linguistic resources, including vendors and internal staff.
• Manage end-to-end translation projects from intake through delivery.
• Lead translation of MOIA's website content and other public-facing materials.
• Coordinate interpretation requests and provide technical support for virtual interpretation events.
• Serve as backup for urgent and after-hours language access requests.

Key Responsibilities

Translation Project Management

• Manage end-to-end translation projects, following internal guidelines to set up new requests and communicate relevant details to all stakeholders.
• Lead the translation process for MOIA's website content using Smartling.
• Respond to translation requests, gather additional project information as needed, and deliver final translations in line with project instructions.
• Process, track, and troubleshoot projects, communicating status updates to requesters and supervisors.

Interpretation Coordination

• Serve as backup for coordination of interpretation requests.
• Provide assistance for events requiring interpretation, including coordinating interpreters and setting up and distributing equipment.
• Assist with technical support for virtual interpretation events through Zoom, WebEx, Teams, and similar platforms.

Client and Vendor Coordination

• Liaise with City clients, partners, and linguistic resources, including vendors and internal staff.
• Coordinate with internal Language Access Specialists and external vendors to ensure smooth project execution.
• Provide technical assistance on language services to MOIA, Mayoral Offices, City Hall, and City agencies.

Flexibility and Additional Duties

• Serve as backup for urgent and rapid response requests that may occur after hours and during weekends.
• Perform other related assignments and special projects, as directed.

About You

The ideal candidate is a self-starter who takes initiative and works effectively both independently and as part of a team. They are adaptable, think on their feet, and manage challenging interactions with professionalism and composure, even under tight deadlines.

They should bring strong organizational and time management skills, sound judgment, and a positive, growth-oriented mindset. They are comfortable engaging with colleagues at all organizational levels and are motivated by MOIA's mission of serving immigrant communities.

Specific Skills

• You have hands-on experience in project management.
• You have native fluency in one of the top 10 City-designated languages (Arabic, Bangla, Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, Korean, Polish, Russian, Spanish, or Urdu).
• You are proficient in computer skills (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook).
• You are familiar with CAT tools and translation management platforms such as Smartling.
• You have experience using WebEx, Zoom, and/or Microsoft Teams.

Minimum Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required.
• Hands-on experience in project management, preferably in a language services or fast-paced coordination role.

Additional Information

• In addition to the resume, a cover letter is required to apply.

Qualifications & Requirements

• A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college and two years of experience in community work or community centered activities in an area related to the duties described above; or
• High school graduation or equivalent and six years of experience in community work or community centered activities in an area related to the duties as described above; or
• Education and/or experience which is equivalent to "1" or "2" above. However, all candidates must have at least one year of experience as described in "1" above.