Senior Localization Manager – Product Operations, Global Expansion

• Define and execute the end-to-end localization strategy for the Japanese market
• Establish internationalization and localization best practices, guidelines, and quality standards across Engineering and Product teams
• Manage localization schedules, budgets, resource planning, and launch readiness across multiple geographic regions
• Oversee localization for hardware interfaces, including font, layout, screen constraint, and character set compatibility on POS devices and payment hardware
• Partner with Product and Engineering to integrate Localization Management Systems and Translation Management Systems into CI/CD pipelines for continuous, automated translation deployment
• Ensure accurate translation and adaptation of complex financial workflows, including multi-currency transactions, tax calculations, localized invoicing formats, and payment regulatory disclosures
• Oversee linguistic quality assurance and testing across physical hardware devices and digital platforms
• Work with Legal, Compliance, and Risk teams to ensure localized content complies with regional financial regulations, data privacy laws, and local payment industry standards
• Maintain style guides, terminology glossaries, and translation memories specific to financial technology, SaaS operations, and hardware user interfaces
• Select, onboard, and manage external Language Service Providers, freelance translators, and LQA testers
• Track LSP performance and establish KPIs around translation accuracy, turnaround time, and cost efficiency
• Collaborate with Marketing and regional go-to-market teams to deliver localized marketing materials, merchant support documentation, and onboarding flows

• Proven experience managing end-to-end localization programs for software and digital products across multiple markets
• Experience localizing products for the Japanese market
• Native or near-native Japanese fluency is a plus
• Experience in fintech, payments, financial services, or other regulated industries is strongly preferred
• Strong understanding of internationalization (i18n), localization (l10n), linguistic quality assurance (LQA), and localization best practices
• Hands-on experience with CAT tools or translation management systems, such as Smartling
• Experience with project-tracking tools such as Jira
• Practical experience using LLMs and AI-assisted translation workflows
• Experience working cross-functionally with Product, Design, Engineering, Legal, Compliance, and external localization vendors
• Strong vendor management skills, including overseeing language service providers, quality metrics, timelines, and budgets
• Ability to manage multiple projects, communicate technical requirements, and deliver high-quality localization within tight deadlines
• Experience localizing hardware interfaces, mobile applications, web dashboards, or payment-related workflows is highly desirable
• Availability to work full-time for an initial 3–6-month interim assignment, with the possibility of extension

• Full-time interim position for an initial period of 3–6 months, with the possibility of extension