Head, French Section
Head, French Section
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Job Description
1. SUMMARY
Within NATOs International Staff (IS) the Executive Management (EM) Division has the lead role in the overall management of the NATO HQ. The EM Division includes the following directorates: HQ Support and Transformation (HQST) Human Resources (HR) and Information Communications and Technology Management (ICTM).
Within HQST the Translation Service provides translations for the Secretary General the North Atlantic Council NATO committees and all of the entities of the IS.
The Head of the French Section is responsible for the smooth functioning and the day-to-day management of the work of the Section and its staff. The incumbent shapes and implements the objectives of the Section ensuring high quality and timely delivery of texts translated into French. In this context the incumbent leads plans and controls the translation revision editing and the terminological work of the Section. The incumbent may also deputize for the Head of Translation Service as required.
2. QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE
ESSENTIAL
The incumbent must:
- have successfully completed recognized university-level training in translation or hold a degree in a relevant discipline awarded by an institution of acknowledged standing and complemented by proven translation capabilities;
- have 8 years experience and in-depth working knowledge of all aspects of professional translation;
- have broad general knowledge and be familiar with major topical issues;
- have managerial experience specifically in training and supervising linguistic staff and guaranteeing the quality of translations delivered to customers;
- have the excellent (oral and written) communication skills necessitated by contact with customers with those to be trained and with other stakeholders;
- have a perfect command of French (level VI Proficiency) as their mother tongue or the language of education and a very good knowledge of English (level V Advanced);
- be prepared to work outside normal office hours when workload or urgent work so requires.
DESIRABLE
The following would be considered assets:
- managerial training;
- expertise in general IT tools and Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) Quality Assurance (QA) and Machine Translation (MT) tools;
- knowledge of specialized fields related to the topics discussed at NATO;
- experience in translation management systems;
- working knowledge of other languages particularly those of NATO and partner countries.
People Management
Lead plan direct and supervise the work of the Sections staff while driving performance and encouraging teamwork and cooperation. Coach and mentor assigned staff and be available to offer guidance. Ensure that all staff under their responsibility are clear on the Sections objectives. Provide regular and fair feedback on performance informally as appropriate and via the HQ Performance Review and Development (PRD) system. Participate in people management activities across the Division as directed. Promote integrity professionalism and accountability through a sound and inclusive leadership culture. Determine resource needs and actively participate in the recruitment procedures.
Planning and Execution
Act as authority on language in the Section. Organize and direct the day-to-day operation of the French Section allocation and coordinating the work in light of the areas of competences of the French translators revisers and assistants. Provide input on short-term work plans and manage implementation to achieve Section objectives. Revise and approve complex and urgent texts. Interact with free-lance suppliers and manage accounts. Carry out quality checks and supplier vetting. Assist and deputize for the Head of Service in planning and managing the activities as required.
Organisational Efficiencies
Update working methods and processes in a continued effort to increase efficiency at French Section level. Liaise with other sections and relevant work units to achieve improved efficiencies knowledge management and information sharing. Evaluate the effectiveness of current language software systems. In collaboration with other Section Heads participate in the enhanced design and development of terminology databases and Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) tools. Assess future language-technology and training needs and formulate related strategies. Ensure that appropriate quality control measures are established and applied. Keep abreast of subjects and IT innovations that are relevant for the Translation Service.
Stakeholder Management
Establish and maintain continuous contact (with other institutions customers authors specialists or readers) in order to process demand effectively meeting as fully as possible the needs and expectations of customers and other addressees of the translations for which they are responsible. Represent the Section in working groups and internal and external meetings.
Perform any other related duty as necessary.
4. INTERRELATIONSHIPS
The incumbent reports to the Head Translation Service. They may also be called upon to collaborate with linguists (interpreters terminologists documentalists or translators) from other Services and must be prepared to work closely with other International Staff members as required.
Direct reports: 12
Indirect reports: 28
5. COMPETENCIES
The incumbent must demonstrate:
- Achievement: Creates own measures of excellence and improves performance;
- Change Leadership: Personally leads change;
- Clarity and accuracy: Monitors data or projects;
- Conceptual thinking: Applies learned concepts;
- Flexibility: Adapts own strategy;
- Impact and Influence: Takes multiple actions to persuade;
- Initiative: Plans and acts up to a year ahead;
- Leadership: Promotes team effectiveness;
- Organizational Awareness: Understands organizational climate and culture;
- Self-Control: Responds calmly.
In accordance with the NATO Civilian Personnel Regulations the successful candidate will receive a definite duration contract of three years which may be followed by an indefinite duration contract.
7. USEFUL INFORMATION REGARDING APPLICATION AND RECRUITMENT PROCESS
Please note that we can only accept applications from nationals of NATO member must be submitted using e-recruitment system as applicable:
- For NATO civilian staff members only: please apply via the internal recruitment portal (link);
- For all other applications: you apply to any position we encourage you to click here and watch our video providing 6 tips to prepare you for your application and recruitment process.
Do you have questions on the application process in the system and not sure how to proceed Click here for a video containing the information you need to successfully submit your application on time.
More information about the recruitment process and conditions of employment can be found at our website ( will be subject to receipt of asecurity clearance(provided by the national Authorities of the selected candidate) approval of the candidatesmedical fileby the NATO Medical Adviser verification of your study(ies) and work experience and the successful completion of theaccreditationand notification process by the relevant authorities.
NATO will not accept any phase of the recruitment and selection prepared in whole or in part by means of generative artificial-intelligence (AI) tools including and without limitation to chatbots such as Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer (Chat GPT) or other language generating tools. NATO reserves the right to screen applications to identify the use of such tools. All applications prepared in whole or in part by means of such generative or creative AI applications may be rejected without further consideration at NATOs sole discretion and NATO reserves the right to take further steps in such cases as appropriate.
8. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
NATO is committed to diversity and inclusion and strives to provide equal access to employment advancement and retention independent of gender age nationality ethnic origin religion or belief cultural background sexual orientation and disability. NATO welcomes applications of nationals from all member Nations and strongly encourages women to apply.
NATO is committed to fostering an inclusive and accessible working environment where all candidates living with disabilities can fully participate in the recruitment and selection process. If you require reasonable accommodation please inform us during your selection process.
Candidates will be required to provide documented medical evidence to support their request for accommodation.
Building Integrity is a key element of NATOs core tasks. As an employer NATO values commitment to the principles of integrity transparency and accountability in accordance with international norms and practices established for the defence and related security sector. Selected candidates are expected to be role models of integrity and to promote good governance through ongoing efforts in their work.
Due to the broad interest in NATO and the large number of potential candidates telephone or e-mail enquiries cannot be dealt with.
Applicants who are not successful in this competition may be offered an appointment to another post of a similar nature albeit at the same or a lower grade provided they meet the necessary requirements.
The nature of this position may require the staff member at times to be called upon to travel for work and/or to work outside normal office hours.
The organization offers several work-life policies including Teleworking and Flexible Working arrangements (Flexitime) subject to business requirements.
Please note that the International Staff at NATO Headquarters in Brussels Belgium is a non-smoking environment.
For information about the NATO Single Salary Scale (Grading Allowances etc.) please visit ourwebsite. Detailed data is available under the Salary and Benefits tab.
NATO does not charge any application processing training interviewing testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. For more info please click here.
Employment Type
Full-Time
