Japanese Language Specialist

The role   We are looking to hire a remote-based Japanese Language Specialist in Japan to join our Localization team.   This is a remote role based out of Japan.     Working at WGSN Together, we create tomorrow    A career with WGSN is fast-paced, exciting and full of opportunities to grow and develop. We're a team of consumer and design trend forecasters, content creators, designers, data analysts, advisory consultants and much more, united by a common goal: to create tomorrow.    WGSN's trusted consumer and design forecasts power outstanding product design, enabling our customers to create a better future. Our services cover consumer insights, beauty, consumer tech, fashion, interiors, lifestyle, food and drink forecasting, data analytics and expert advisory. If you are an expert in your field, we want to hear from you.       Role overview    The role of Japanese Language Consultant is a full-time position. The primary duty of the role is to oversee WGSN's Japanese localised content and site updates, acting as a strategic arm of Content, and collaborating with Marketing, Design and Product departments to localise assets for digital publishing on WGSN product sites – Fashion, Interiors, Beauty, Food & Drink, and Consumer Tech – for the Japanese language market. This position will also work closely with the Tech team to incorporate machine translation systems for optimising localisation workflow. This is a hybrid role based in Hong Kong that requires working onsite 3 days a week.      The team   Our mission is to bridge markets through crafting intuitive, user-friendly localized content that drives engagement across every touchpoint. We empower WGSN to establish credible voices globally, ensuring content connects authentically, while maintaining brand integrity and honoring cultural nuances.   Enable Market Growth: By removing language and cultural barriers, we open doors to new markets and strengthen presence in existing ones  Build Trust: We safeguard and elevate brand equity that establish genuine connections with audiences, capture cultural subtleties, and creates distinctive product differentiation  Drive Engagement: We ensure consistent brand messaging while allowing for necessary cultural adaptation, calibrate content that reflects local realities, generating higher engagement and conversion rates   Key accountabilities

Manage translated Japanese content for various verticals and brand-related marketing materials, ensuring the tone of voice, ideas, and concepts are accurately and consistently conveyed in the target language using culturally appropriate terminology

Collaborate with internal Product and Tech teams to assist machine learning development and customise suitable workflows for Japanese language 

Manage linguistic resources: 6 glossaries and 2 style guides. Develop and maintain documentation and best practices, ensuring terminology consistency across localised content

Monitor content quality and implement necessary changes to improve the in-house machine translation system. Review WGSN content compatibility with MT to tailor editing approaches

Guide freelancers and part-time staff by offering instructions, constructive feedback, and keeping support materials up-to-date

Effectively communicate and collaborate across teams to ensure the smooth execution of Japanese localised multimedia content (video, marketing collateral, etc) 

Report regularly on project status to localisation managers, and support communication with the Japanese commercial team

This list is not exhaustive and there may be other activities you are required to deliver.

Skills, experience & qualifications required

Must be a native Japanese speaker with an exceptional command of Japanese and English research, reading and writing – skilled in transcreating and localisation editing from English to Japanese

Prior experience with machine translation API such as DeepL, Google, Amazon, Bing and post-editing Prioritise and organise tasks under tight deadlines while demonstrating attention to detail 

Comfortable with flexible work hours and working across regions and time zones, and collaborating virtually with teams and freelancers 

Self-starter and proactive communicator who is passionate about sharing knowledge and connecting with people and ideas 

Technical skills: usage proficiency in Apple computer and Google tools, including a basic understanding of data analytics, is desired

More about WGSN

WGSN is the global authority on consumer trend forecasting.

We help brands around the world create the right products at the right time for tomorrow’s consumer.

Our values 

We Are Everywhere

The future is everything, it happens everywhere. WGSN is the world-leading forecaster because we track and analyse consumer behaviours, product innovation, design and creativity, everywhere.

We Are Future Focused

We utilise our global resources and intelligence to research, source and analyse quantitative and qualitative data to produce our forecasts. Everything we do is focused on working with our customers to create a successful and positive tomorrow.

We Are Rigorous

We source, review and assess quantitative and qualitative data to produce robust, actionable forecasts. To provide credible insights and design solutions for our clients, it is essential that rigour runs through everything we do.

Our culture

An inclusive culture is one of our key priorities. We want our people to truly be themselves and thrive. We love having a diverse team of people who bring new ideas, different strengths and perspectives & reflect the global audience we work with.

Inclusive workforce

We are committed to supporting the environment and sustainability, including ensuring our pension plan defaults to sustainable options and striving to be net zero by 2030.

Recognising great performance is a key part of our culture. Our Awards schemes recognise and reward the brilliant achievements of our people.  

We have a truly flexible working environment with a wide range of flexible, hybrid and agile-working arrangements. Conversations about flexible working have always been - and will continue to be - actively encouraged here. 

We want to ensure everyone has the opportunity to perform their best when interviewing, so if you require any reasonable adjustments that would make you more comfortable during the process, please let us know so that we can do our best to support you.

A Note for Applicants

We use AI to help our team screen applications and identify candidates whose skills and experience match the role. This technology removes personal information to promote a fair and unbiased process. We believe this tool helps us find the best talent while maintaining transparency and fairness.

A Note for Recruiters Thank you for your interest in working with us at WGSN. Our internal Talent Acquisition team takes care of all our recruitment efforts. When we need some extra help, we partner with agencies on our Preferred Supplier List (PSL) that truly understand our business, culture and ways of working together.  Since we focus on these established partnerships, we’re unable to respond to unsolicited contacts or CVs from outside our PSL. But don’t worry! If we decide to explore new partnerships, we’ll be sure to reach out.