Setting Up a Client Localization Team

When it comes to setting up a client-side localization team, there are several factors to consider. The size of the company, the type of content being localized, and the structure of the localization team are all important considerations.

Team Position

Based on the size of the company, there are three possible setups for a client-side localization team:

Small Companies

For small companies, it may be best to completely outsource localization projects. This allows the company to focus on its core business while still ensuring that its products or services are available in multiple languages.

Medium Companies

For medium-sized companies, it may be feasible to have one person responsible for a specific content type. For example, one person could be responsible for product localization, another for marketing content, and another for legal documents.

Large Companies

For large companies, there are two possible setups for a mature localization team:

Centralized Teams

In a centralized team setup, all localization team members work on the same team, report to the same team lead, and share the same resources, including language assets, language service providers, and workflows.

This setup ensures a more consistent message across products and platforms and gives the company more control on localization. It is also cost effective as the resources are shared.

On the other hand, the centralized approach may cause delays when passing decisions along the chain. Some language strategy or workflows may not work for some teams or products.

Decentralized Teams

In a decentralized team setup, localization teams are developed based on different product teams. These teams are disconnected from each other and report to different managers.

This approach can help the localization team quickly adapt specific products or target markets. It can also deepen their understanding on specific products or services.

On the other hand, this approach increases both internal and external costs and reduces consistency of brand voice. Multiple teams will also brings challenges for the overall localization strategy.

Team Structure

A Localization Team Normally Consists of the Following Roles:

• Localization Lead: The localization lead is responsible for managing the localization team, selecting and negotiating with vendors, coordinating with internal teams such as IT, legal, and purchase, and ensuring that the localization budget, timeline, and quality are met. The localization lead also makes final decisions and helps the team overcome any challenges or issues that arise during the localization process.

• Localization Program Manager: The localization program manager focuses on developing and implementing long-term strategies to ensure the success of multiple related projects, such as quality management program, vendor program, technology implementation program, etc. The localization program manager also defines the scope, objectives, metrics, and best practices for each program, and monitors and evaluates their progress and performance.

• Localization Project Manager: The localization project manager handles the day-to-day localization project management. They are responsible for planning, executing, controlling, and closing localization projects. They also communicate with stakeholders, assign tasks to team members and vendors, track the delivery and quality of localization projects, and resolve any problems or risks that may occur.

• Localization Engineer: The localization engineer is responsible for internalization works such as externalizing language resources, and resolving the issues that need to be fixed on the code level. They also help with automation such as building APIs between the content management system and the translation management system. They ensure that the product or service is technically ready for localization and can support multiple languages and locales.

• Other Roles: There are some other roles that may be involved in the localization process, such as language leads, quality managers, content creators, etc. Sometimes these roles are in-house, and sometimes these roles are outsourced to language service providers. These roles may vary depending on the type, size, and complexity of the localization project.

There are no clear lines among the localization lead, program manager, and project manager. Some companies may have different structures or names for their localization teams. For example, some companies may only have a localization lead and a localization engineer, and use localization account managers or project managers on the vendor side as their localization project managers. Some companies may combine the responsibilities of all three roles into one position. This may work when the volume or complexity of the localization project is low. However, this is not sustainable once the content grows or becomes more challenging.

The language service providers can provide some support. Language service providers (LSPs) are external partners that can provide various services related to localization, such as project management, vendor management, quality management and, etc. LSPs can help reduce the workload and cost of the internal localization team by providing specialized skills and resources. However, LSPs cannot fully replace the internal localization team in some cases.