Cultural Liaison/Interpreter Lead

About the position

The Cultural Liaison for Afghan Services provides professional and expert cultural, interpretation, and translation support to our Afghan client base. This role involves serving as a Senior Linguist and Cultural Advisor, advising government personnel on the preparation of reports and documents, and maintaining communication with government officials and other key contacts to improve the influence and access of U.S. government officials. The position requires proficiency in Dari, Pashto, and English, and involves transcribing, translating, and interpreting oral and written communications.

Responsibilities

• Serves as a Senior Linguist and Cultural Advisor.
• Advises and assists appropriate government personnel regarding the preparation of reports, papers, and other documents for senior leadership including sensitive documents.
• Serves as a cultural liaison in interactions with government officials on policy issues, protocol matters, appropriate lines of communication, and historical context.
• Maintains communication with government officials and their staffs as well as other key religious, cultural, civil society, and non-governmental contacts.
• Listens to, transcribes, translates, and synopsizes content of real-time oral communication.
• Transcribes from media, including audiocassettes, videocassettes, or digital media, and types in Dari, Pashto, and English.
• Prepares typed English translations from all source media.
• Performs quality control reviews of completed translation and transcription work by others.
• Interprets oral conversations consecutively and simultaneously.
• Identifies areas of potential improvement in current office operations.
• Follows up to ensure that approved recommendations are successfully implemented.
• Performs other job-related duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree in a related field of study, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Level 4/5 in English is required.
• Ability to manage time-sensitive projects that require extensive coordination across program and organization lines.
• Ability to take decisive action and speak with authority to the Front Office in obtaining consensus on operational requirements.
• Ability to interact effectively with individuals in garnering cooperation and support for key planning, operations, and management initiatives.
• Advanced understanding of diplomatic, U.S. and Afghani protocol.
• Level 4/5 in Dari and Pashto is required.
• Must be able to transcribe by rendering the spoken word of a language into the written form of the same language.
• Must be able to translate the spoken or written word of one language into the written form of another language.
• Must be able to interpret spoken words orally and simultaneously or consecutively from the target languages into English.
• Must be able to review a translation or transcription conducted by someone else to attest to the accuracy of the final work.
• Must be able to prepare a comprehensive summary of oral or written communication.
• Ability to work effectively and cooperatively in a multi-disciplinary team environment under considerable stress and with minimal supervision.
• Advanced understanding of Afghani and American cultures.

Benefits

• Medical
• Dental
• Vision
• 401K
• Other possible benefits as provided.