Director of Localization Strategy

The Director of Localization Strategy is responsible for shaping and executing the global localization vision and strategy to support YouVersion objectives. This leader will direct the work of a team of staff, contractors, and thousands of volunteers to ensure that YouVersion's products and content meet the needs of diverse global audiences. They will oversee the effective integration of next-generation technologies to ensure growing capacity into the future. The Director is responsible for collaborating with their YTL to cast vision, provide direction, and lead ministry efforts within their area of influence to outcomes that further Life.Church’s mission and reach people for Christ.

YouVersion was created by the local church in 2007 and remains a ministry of Life.Church today. At Life.Church, our mission is to lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ. Our team is committed to reaching people worldwide through innovative technology. And YouVersion is one of the ways we get to do that. Life.Church is a multi-site Christian church meeting in the United States and globally at Life.Church Online. 

We wholeheartedly believe a daily rhythm of seeking intimacy with God has the power to transform lives. That’s why YouVersion creates biblically-based experiences that encourage and challenge people to seek God. We hope everyone in our community is on an active journey to become who God made them to be, abiding in Him, and drawing closer every day. 

What You’ll Do

• Lead the operational delivery of localization services through effective management of staff, contractors, and volunteer communities.
• Foster a culture of mission, collaboration, volunteer engagement, and innovation within multiple layers of a diverse, global volunteer workforce.
• Create clear roles and responsibilities within the team to optimize resource allocation and workflow efficiency.
• Develop and implement a comprehensive localization strategy to support YouVersion's global expansion vision and content-delivery needs.
• Drive initiatives to ensure localization operational goals are met, while enhancing efficiency and quality of localized content.
• Champion the adoption of AI and machine translation technologies while balancing human translation and quality assurance checking.
• Establish and deliver on metrics and KPIs to monitor localization performance, quality, and impact on global user engagement.
• Partner with product, content, marketing, engineering, and other departments to ensure seamless localization integration.
• Serve as the primary liaison between internal teams and external vendors, balancing internal capabilities with outsourced services.
• Advocate for global users’ language needs and priorities in organization-wide planning and strategic discussions.
• Evaluate and partner with cross-functional teams to ensure localization technologies, including Translation Management Systems(TMS), AI-driven translation tools, and workflow automation solutions are fit for purpose for a growing capacity.
• Stay ahead of emerging localization trends, tools, and methodologies to drive continuous innovation.
• Develop strategies to blend human and machine translations for efficiency and quality optimization.

Skills Needed to Succeed

• Ability to self-motivate, make independent decisions, and solve problems with innovation.
• Effective at multi-tasking and time management to meet strict deadlines while remaining flexible and open to change.
• Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills to clearly explain complicated processes and foster partnerships.
• Effective at process and organizational management to coordinate, structure, and provide vision to projects.
• Strong leadership skills and understanding of developing and guiding others.
• Technological savvy with a focus on innovation.
• Ability to make data-driven decisions, leveraging quantitative and qualitative data to inform and guide strategic actions.
• Bachelor’s degree in Linguistics, Translation, Business, or a related field.
• 8+ years of experience in localization, translation, or related fields, with at least 3 years in a senior leadership role.
• Proven track record in scaling global localization operations and integrating next-generation technologies.
• Experience working with global volunteer communities and a strong understanding of serving diverse cultures through localization work.
• Understanding of TMS platforms, AI/machine translation technologies, and localization workflow automation.

Benefits We Offer

- Paid parental leave, including maternity, paternity, and adoption leave.

- Generous employer-paid leave for the use of vacation, sick time, and other qualifying reasons. 

- Innovative and comprehensive Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance that provides team members with useful resources and savings to navigate their holistic health. 

- Life insurance policy provided for all staff members at 2x annual salary at no cost. Additional life insurance coverage is available to purchase. 

- Short-Term and Long-Term disability is covered at 100% for full-time qualified staff members.

- Comprehensive wellness and mental health benefits allow staff to proactively invest in their physical and emotional health.

- Generous 401(k) retirement plan allowing a team member to have up to 12.5% (including employee contribution, employer match, and employer discretionary contribution) contributed into their account in their first year. It doesn’t stop there—the more years on staff, the greater the investment! 

-$160 annually in development dollars for team members to invest in their professional growth. 

- Casual dress and work environment.

- And much more!

Our Beliefs, Culture, and Commitment to Diversity

All data collected in our application process, from resume collection to application questions, is used for recruitment purposes only.