While the account manager builds relationships with the client, the localization manager (a lock manager for short) develops them. Although in some projects a lock manager also acts as an account manager, the main difference between these roles is that most of the communication between the lock manager and the client takes place when working on specific tasks.
What a lock manager does
A lock manager organizes the localization of a particular project: he/she specifies the requirements, builds a team of translators, editors, localization testers for each language pair, controls the timing and quality of work, keeps in touch with the client on all matters. The lock manager also calculates the project budget and prepares closing documents as needed.
The goal of the lock manager’s job is to ensure that localization is of a high quality, in line with technical requirements, and that all deadlines are met.
What a lock manager should be.
Ideally, this is a person with a university degree in linguistics, with experience working with texts on a multilingual project.
A lock manager must have a good understanding of how the localization process is built and how it is controlled. Good prospects in this profession have a marketer who is responsible for multilingual content, a content manager working with a translation agency or directly with translators, and a linguist who likes working with texts. With these inputs, it takes three to six months to get the hang of the profession.
The more languages a lock manager knows, the better. Would not hurt to have game experience and interest in games in general: it will be easier to get into the source material from the client and work with the translators’ comments, and the process of getting acquainted with the game will be not only a duty, but also a pleasant experience.
But higher education at the time of entering the profession can be incomplete. So you can also try your hand at lock management with advanced students from language schools. They may not be able to work full-time right away, but the workload of a lock manager can be adjusted, which means that work and study can be combined.
When selecting a lock manager, they carefully read the cover letter and resume: these texts are a preliminary test. After all the lock manager will have to communicate a lot with customers and customers in correspondence. If the cover letter lacks logic, the resume is written illiterately, and the correspondence with the candidate is psychologically uncomfortable – the test is not passed. Seemingly obvious things, but in our experience – at this stage half of the candidates for the position are eliminated. So literacy and the ability to clearly articulate thoughts – the beginning of the beginning.
What a lock manager should be able to do
A lock manager should be comfortable in communication with both the client and the team working on the project. More than 80% of a lock manager’s work time is spent on communication, and a lock manager will send 8 out of 10 messages to his executives. His or her sociability, friendliness, ability to prevent conflicts and to smooth over what could not be prevented are important.
Another 20% of a lock manager’s working time is spent on planning and setting up projects in translation platforms (a bit about them below), working with comments and translators’ questions. You need to be attentive and have a good handle on information, be able to formulate tasks clearly, be realistic about deadlines, and have strict quality control.
A locksmith usually works with a pool of clients and projects that require attention with varying frequency and in varying amounts. For example, today you need to localize a site into 10 languages for a new client, tomorrow you need to do application localization testing for a loyal client, and the day after tomorrow you need to translate a major update of a game which we worked on last year. And sometimes these types of tasks come one after another during the day! So you have to be able to switch between projects and prioritize.
Given the density of events in a lock manager’s workday, self-organization is one of the key skills.
For some lock managers, organizing their time according to the “tomato principle” suits them. Like this: you choose a task, set a timer for 25 minutes, when the time expires you take a 5-minute break, and after 2 hours of work in this mode you take 15-30 minutes off. In our experience, immersing yourself in one project with your head will not work effectively in a multitasking environment.
To be a productive lock manager and a happy person, you need flexibility in the organization of your schedule and a combination of internal settings that allows you to achieve a balance between work and personal matters.