Localization Technical Program Manager

United States Digital Space LLC; United States; Hybrid; USD 115,000 - 149,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(K)

Paid Time Off

Job summary

United States Digital Space LLC is seeking a Localization Technical Program Manager to set technical direction across Product, Engineering, UX/UI, Localization, and Testing. You’ll ensure products are globally ready by linking localization tech, release delivery, and i18n engineering throughout the development lifecycle.

Lead the central TMS like Phrase, manage integrations, define standards, and drive automation of localization workflows with AI-enabled capabilities while partnering with

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering or related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• At least 5 years of internationalization or localization engineering experience.
• Deep knowledge of i18n fundamentals, including RTL support and locale-aware behavior.
• Hands-on experience configuring Phrase or similar TMS and related integrations.
• Experience designing AI-enabled localization workflows and APIs.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement i18n solutions across the software development lifecycle.
• Own TMS/configuration, translations memories, and workflow automation.
• Lead localization programs from planning through release with cross-functional teams.
• Partner with Localization Testing for validation and release readiness.
• Translate localization needs into technical requirements and user stories.

Skills

i18n engineering

Localization engineering

Technical program management

Agile methodologies

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering

Tools

Phrase/TMS

APIs & integrations

JSON/XML/XLIFF

CI/CD

Job description

the company is building the largest global community of hiring clients and suppliers that are Ready to Work. Its unified platform streamlines compliance, prequalification, safety and performance benchmarking in a single, integrated experience. Trusted by 360,000 businesses across more than 120 countries, the company blends AI-driven insights and human expertise to close risk gaps and strengthen supplier reliability so projects start on time, risks are managed proactively and operations scale with certainty.

SUMMARY

the company is seeking a highly skilled Localization Technical Program Manager to set technical direction and serve as an embedded partner across Product, Engineering, UX/UI, Localization, and Localization Testing. You will make the company’s products globally ready by connecting product engineering, localization technology, and release delivery. This hands‑on leadership role combines internationalization (i18n) engineering, localization‑systems ownership, and technical program leadership to ensure the company’s products are designed for global markets and its localization workflows are reliable, scalable, and integrated throughout the product development lifecycle.

You will lead technical delivery across product i18n and the localization technology ecosystem, from early design through release. This includes ownership of Phrase/TMS configuration, APIs and integrations, the company’s central platform for AI‑enabled translation, workflow automation, release readiness, and technical enablement for the localization team. You will establish standards, guide implementation, and help resolve complex technical and process issues. The role requires a highly specialized combination of deep i18n knowledge and hands‑on localization systems expertise. Targeted i18n and localization quality metrics may be used to identify issues and guide improvements, but analytics and reporting are not the primary focus of the role.

If residing within commutable distance to one of our offices, a hybrid schedule would be required (3 days in office, 2 days work from home). Candidates within commutable distance are preferred, but those outside of an office area may be considered on a remote basis.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Design and implement i18n solutions within the software development lifecycle, including string externalization, resource-file architecture, Unicode and encoding support, and scalable patterns for locale‑aware product behavior.
• Define and review locale behavior across products, including pluralization, grammatical variants, date, time, number, and currency formats, time zones, sorting, and other regional conventions.
• Ensure product readiness for right‑to‑left (RTL) languages and protect variables, placeholders, markups, and other non‑translatable elements throughout content and translation workflows.
• Partner with Localization Testing to support pseudo‑localization, functional validation, defect triage, and release readiness.
• Own and administer Phrase or a comparable Translation Management System (TMS), including project and workflow configuration, translation memories, termbases, quality settings, permissions, automation, and lifecycle governance.
• Design, maintain, and troubleshoot TMS/API workflows and integrations with product repositories, content systems, and delivery pipelines. Serve as the technical escalation point for localization systems and process issues.
• Serve as the technical product owner for the company's central platform for AI‑enabled translation, defining its roadmap, architecture, capabilities, and integration strategy across TMS and localization workflows. Translate localization needs into technical requirements, user stories, and scalable solutions in partnership with Product and Engineering.
• Identify and support opportunities to streamline and automate localization workflows, including translation, review, and delivery. Lead automation of the localization defect and bug‑triage process, applying AI where appropriate across these workflows.
• Lead localization technical programs from planning through release, managing scope, dependencies, risks, priorities, and regional requirements while coordinating Product, Engineering, UX/UI, Localization, and Localization Testing.
• Embed localization requirements and best practices early in product discovery, design, and development. Provide hands‑on guidance during implementation and respond quickly to release critical issues.
• Help localization team members resolve technical and process issues; create practical documentation and enablement. Pull and interpret targeted i18n, localization quality, or workflow‑health metrics when needed to diagnose trends and guide improvements.

IDEAL EDUCATION, TRAINING, AND EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
• A minimum of 5 years of experience in internationalization engineering, localization engineering, localization technology, or a closely related discipline.
• Fluency in a second language is preferred. In addition to English, preferred languages may include, but are not limited to, German, Japanese, Korean, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, or other languages that support global collaboration and cross‑cultural communication.
• Deep knowledge of i18n fundamentals, including string externalization, locale‑aware behavior, pluralization, date/number/currency formatting, RTL support, Unicode, and placeholder or markup protection.
• Hands‑on expertise configuring and administering Phrase or comparable TMS, including translation memories, termbases, workflow automation, quality controls, permissions, and troubleshooting.
• Experience building or supporting localization APIs and integrations; familiarity with formats and technologies such as JSON, XML, XLIFF, ICU MessageFormat, REST APIs, webhooks, source control, and CI/CD is strongly preferred.
• Experience designing AI‑enabled products and workflows, including LLM and Machine Translation integrations, prompt design, API‑based orchestration, evaluation methods, and human‑in‑the‑loop quality controls.
• Strong technical program management, problem‑solving, and communication skills, with experience working in Agile software development and release environments across Product, Engineering, UX/UI, and testing teams.
• Ability to provide timely support during releases and maintain substantial working hours overlap with the company's core Product and Engineering teams. Experience using i18n or localization quality metrics is helpful; dashboarding or data‑visualization expertise is not required.
• Hands‑on experience using AI‑assisted development tools to prototype solutions, develop workflow automations, document technical designs, or accelerate implementation is strongly preferred. Ability to contribute through APIs or scripting is beneficial; production software development is not required.

At the company, we are committed to salary transparency to ensure equitable hiring practices and promote trust. The salary range included in this job posting is based on internal and market data and the role's responsibilities. The final compensation offered to a candidate will be determined by several factors, including work location, job‑related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.

The salary range for this position is $115,000 - $149,000 USD per year.

Benefits included:

• Health, Dental, and Vision Insurance
• 401(K)
• Paid Time Off