Job Description
About translate plus, an award-winning Top 10 international Language Services Provider, including, Top 3 in the EU and Top 2 in the UK, is a Publicis Groupe company, one of the most well-established advertising corporations globally. translate plus sits within the network’s cross-media production platform, Publicis Production. This brings together production specialists who are experts in: video, digital media, and print, to produce award-winning content for leading global brands.
Recent recognition awards for translate plus include an award for “Great Employers”, and an award for “Women in Business”, more details can be found on our website regarding these two great achievements.
translate plus also promotes numerous employee well-being policies across all our offices, which align with Publicis Groupe guidelines. We offer WFH flexibility to all employees as well as relevant programmes to help promote mental and physical well-being.
translate plus is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all sections of society and do not discriminate on grounds of race, religion, or belief, ethnic or national origin, disability, age citizenship, marital, domestic, or civil partnership status, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
Overview of Role
As Language Services Director, you will be responsible for growing our business with both existing and new clients through proactive account management and the development of long-term strategic partnerships. This role requires extensive experience in stakeholder engagement, a strong background in creative industries, and deep expertise in global language and localization services.
As a key member of the Language Services leadership team, you will play an instrumental role in shaping and delivering a global, borderless service line that champions excellence, innovation, and scalability. The role is ideal for a growth-minded leader who is passionate about language services and fluent in localization technology and commercial strategy.
1. Client & Agency Engagement:
• Build and nurture trusted relationships with existing and prospective clients; a passion for exceeding client expectations is essential.
• Actively promote and sell localization services across Publicis Groupe partner agencies, driving strategic and organic growth in alignment with targets.
• Collaborate with clients to understand specific needs and deliver tailored, value-driven solutions.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for client inquiries, concerns, and escalations within your portfolio.
• Lead strategic account development, identifying new business opportunities and converting them into high-value relationships.
• Act as a senior-level business partner and trusted advisor for designated clients.
• Champion the development of scalable, efficient processes and structures to balance operational agility with delivery excellence.
2. Financial Management:
• Demonstrate strong commercial acumen with a deep understanding of client needs, business models, and project requirements.
• Own the P&L for your account portfolio; lead budgeting, forecasting, reconciliations, billing, and financial planning together with your finance business partner.
• Drive clear and proactive communication with clients around scopes of work, timelines, and deliverables, securing alignment at each stage.
• Deliver pragmatic and commercially viable solutions to balance expectations across delivery speed, quality, and cost.
• Ensure cost estimates, scopes, and budget controls are detailed and aligned with agency protocols.
• Collaborate with Language Service Leads on rate card development, scaling strategies, and pricing negotiations.
3. Strategic Account Leadership
• Serve as the main point of contact for a large, newly awarded account, dedicating approximately 50% of your focus to this strategic partnership.
• Allocate the remaining 50% of your time to managing and developing ad-hoc EMEA Groupe language service accounts, acting as a subject matter expert and strategic liaison.
• Partner with the New Business team to identify and grow “new-from-existing” opportunities within your portfolio and support seamless transitions for new wins.
• Devise and implement account growth plans that align with broader agency strategy.
• Maintain awareness of creative trends and emerging technologies across the Groupe.
• Demonstrate experience in cultivating deep, multi-tiered client relationships and scaling global brand partnerships.
• Understand and advocate for the embedded Language Services model within Publicis Production, positioning it as a compelling, integrated solution.
• Partner with operations to ensure delivery is on-time and on-budget, aligned with client brand goals and strategic direction.
4. People Leadership
• Mentor and inspire a diverse, high-performing, and globally distributed team of language and localization professionals.
• Champion a high-performance culture, leading the performance management lifecycle and supporting career development.
• Foster a collaborative, innovative, and accountable team culture aligned with Publicis Groupe values.
5. Process Improvement & Innovation
• Stay ahead of trends in language services, localization technology, and operational best practices.
• Drive a culture of continuous improvement across systems, workflows, and cost-efficiency.
• Regularly assess and optimize operational procedures to meet organizational goals.
7. Personal Development
• Proactively pursue professional growth and skills development.
• Maintain and execute an agreed personal development plan in collaboration with your line manager.
• Engage in relevant training programs to enhance expertise and leadership capability.
Additional Skills
• 10+ years of experience in language services, localization, or a related field, with a minimum of 5 years in a client-facing leadership role
• Proven ability to manage complex accounts and lead high-stakes client relationships
• Deep understanding of localization tools, workflows, and platforms
• Strong commercial acumen, with experience in P&L ownership and strategic financial planning
• Demonstrated ability to inspire teams, lead cross-functional collaboration, and scale operations globally
• Excellent communication, presentation, and stakeholder management skills
• Experience in agency or production environments preferred
Additional information
What we offer:
• Work in an Iconic office complex
• Career development and progression possibilities
• High quality trainings (via in-house and external trainers) and access to thousands of on-line/e-learning courses to develop essential, functional, and industry skills (via Publicis Marcel, LinkedIn Learning, etc.)
• Access to worldwide job/gigs opportunities within the Publicis Groupe
• Work your world – As part of the Publicis Groupe policy, up to 6 weeks of working from a different country after 1 year.
• Café Marcel - Networking opportunities with fellow colleagues in the Publicis Groupe all around the world
• Inhouse subsidized Publicis Groupe restaurant
• Access to subsidized wellness activities (acupuncture, manicures, and massages
• Staff discount at bars and restaurants in the local area around the office
• Staff discount at Westfield shopping centre
• Life assurance and Income protection (disability benefit)
• Paid leave days increase on a yearly basis.
We offer competitive compensation packages and a dynamic work environment that encourages growth and development. If you are a highly motivated individual with the required experience and skills, we invite you to apply for the position of Language Service Director at our Language Service Provider.