RWS

Senior Program Manager

RWS$100K — $150K *
Business Services
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 8+ years in localization, globalization, or content operations.
  • Experience managing complex enterprise localization programs.
  • Proven client-facing project management skills.
  • Experience with revenue, budget, and forecasting for large accounts.
  • Deep understanding of localization workflows and processes.
  • Comfortable managing global teams across time zones.
  • Ability to handle escalations and risk management confidently.

Responsibilities

  • Act as a primary program lead for client relationships and stakeholder groups.
  • Build and maintain strong relationships with client-side program owners.
  • Lead weekly status meetings and address client escalations effectively.
  • Manage complex localization workflows across various media.
  • Coordinate project planning and resource allocation with global teams.
  • Support continuous improvement of workflows and governance.
  • Serve as the first escalation point for operational issues.

Benefits

  • Generous paid time off package plus additional company holidays.
  • 401(k) plan with a company match.
  • Flexible work arrangements with a company-wide agile work policy.
  • Opportunities for training and professional development.
  • A diverse and innovative company culture.
Full Job Description
Job Purpose

We are looking for a senior, client-facing Program Manager with strong localization experience to support a strategic enterprise account. This role will serve as a key operational and client-facing lead, helping manage complex localization, multimedia, and AI-enabled workflow programs across multiple stakeholder groups.

The role requires someone who can operate comfortably at both the strategic and tactical levels: building trusted client relationships, managing budgets and forecasts, quoting, driving intake and prioritization, handling escalations, and partnering closely with global production, engineering, linguistic, and account teams to ensure delivery excellence.

This is a highly visible role for someone who brings structure to complex programs, can navigate ambiguity, and understands the commercial impact of operational decisions.

 

Job Overview

Key Responsibilities

 

  • Client and Stakeholder Management
    • Act as a primary client-facing program lead for assigned workstreams and stakeholder groups.
    • Build strong relationships with client-side program owners, content owners, and operational stakeholders.
    • Attend onsite client meetings in the Seattle / Redmond area as needed.
    • Lead or support weekly status meetings, triage sessions, business reviews, post-mortems, and escalation discussions.
    • Translate client needs into clear operational actions, priorities, timelines, and ownership.
    • Proactively identify risks, blockers, and misalignment before they impact delivery.
    Program and Operational Management
    • Own intake, prioritization, status tracking, meeting follow-up, and cross-functional coordination.
    • Manage complex localization workflows across translation, multimedia, DTP, engineering, linguistic QA, publishing, and content operations.
    • Coordinate with global delivery teams to ensure work is planned, resourced, delivered, and communicated effectively.
    • Support the stabilization and streamlining of new or evolving workflows.
    • Help define and improve operating models, governance routines, and process documentation.
    • Drive continuous improvement across workflow efficiency, quality, visibility, and stakeholder experience.
    Commercial and Financial Management
    • Support an account portfolio with a strong commercial and operational lens.
    • Own or support budget tracking, forecasting, pipeline visibility, and monthly financial coordination.
    • Partner with Account Leadership, Finance, and Delivery leadership to monitor revenue, margin, capacity, and risk.
    • Help evaluate the financial impact of scope changes, workflow decisions, resourcing needs, and client requests.
    • Prepare or support quotes, estimates, budget updates, and commercial recommendations.
    • Identify opportunities to protect margin while maintaining client confidence and delivery quality.
    Escalation, Risk, and Quality Management
    • Serve as a first-line escalation point for client-facing operational issues.
    • Lead issue triage, root cause discussions, corrective actions, and follow-through.
    • Partner with production, engineering, and linguistic teams to resolve delivery risks and quality concerns.
    • Ensure risks, dependencies, and client decisions are clearly documented and communicated.
    • Support governance requirements, SLA/KPI tracking, and continuous improvement reporting.
    Cross-Functional Leadership
    • Partner closely with Account Management, Project Management, Engineering, Linguistic, Multimedia, DTP, Quality, and Finance teams.
    • Provide leadership without necessarily having direct line management responsibility.
    • Help reduce operational pressure on production and technical leads by owning the client-facing coordination layer.
    • Mentor or guide project team members where needed.
    • Promote clear communication, accountability, and proactive problem solving across the team.

 

Skills & Experience

 

Required 
  • 8+ years of experience in localization, globalization, content operations, or language services.
  • Strong background managing complex enterprise localization programs.
  • Proven experience in client-facing project or program management.
  • Experience supporting large accounts or portfolios with revenue, budget, forecasting, and margin considerations.
  • Strong understanding of localization workflows, including translation, review, multimedia, DTP, engineering, QA, and publishing.
  • Experience working with global delivery teams across multiple time zones.
  • Ability to manage executive-level or senior stakeholder conversations with confidence.
  • Experience handling escalations, risk management, and corrective action planning.
  • Must be based in the Seattle / Redmond area and able to attend onsite client meetings as needed.
Preferred 
  • Experience with AI-enabled localization workflows, MT/LLM post-editing, automation, or content transformation programs.
  • Experience with multimedia localization, eLearning, SCORM/LMS publishing, or training content.
  • Familiarity with tools such as Trados, Phrase, GlobalLink, ADO, Jira, or similar localization and workflow platforms.
  • Experience supporting large enterprise technology clients.
  • PMP, localization certification, or equivalent program management training preferred.
Skills and Attributes
  • Highly client-focused and commercially aware.
  • Strong communicator who can simplify complex operational issues.
  • Calm under pressure and confident in escalation situations.
  • Proactive, organized, and comfortable creating structure in ambiguity.
  • Able to balance client expectations, delivery realities, and financial impact.
  • Strong sense of ownership and follow-through.
  • Collaborative leadership style with the ability to influence across matrixed teams.
  • Comfortable moving between strategic planning and day-to-day operational detail.
 

Success in this role will be measured by the ability to:

    • Strengthen client confidence and local account presence.
    • Improve visibility, intake, prioritization, and stakeholder alignment.
    • Reduce escalation cycles and operational friction.
    • Support accurate forecasting, budget tracking, and financial visibility.
    • Protect delivery quality, timelines, and margin.
    • Help stabilize and scale the operating model across the account.
    • Reduce dependency on account leadership and technical/production leads for day-to-day client-facing coordination.

 

 

 

Location

 

Seattle / Redmond area requiredHybrid / onsite as needed for client meetings

 

 

Benefits

  • Amazing benefits! (Seriously!)  
  • Generous paid time off package, plus company holidays, birthday day off, paid volunteer time, and 100% paid parental leave. 
  • 401(k) Retirement plan with company match. 
  • Company-wide agile work policy with flexible work arrangements. 
  • Opportunities for training, professional development, and personal growth. 
  • Smart, engaged co-workers and a global culture of diversity, innovation, and opportunity. 

 

 

Base Pay

 

$100,000 - $150,000 / year or up to $00. per hour (for hourly paid roles only) 

Actual rate of pay may vary based on factors including, but not limited to: position offered, location, education, training, and/or experience. Total compensation may also include variable incentives, bonuses, benefits, and/or other perks, as outlined in any formal offer made. 

 

 

About RWS

RWS Holdings plc is a British multinational translation and localization company. The company provides intellectual property support services, such as patent translations and technical translations, as well as life sciences translations, legal translations, and financial translations. The company operates through three segments: Patent Translation & Filing, Life Sciences, and Moravia. The Patent Translation & Filing segment provides patent translation and filing services to patent attorneys and agents, and intellectual property departments of large corporations and small and medium-sized enterprises. The Life Sciences segment provides translation services for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries. The Moravia segment provides translation and localization services for technology companies.
Learn more about RWS
Size
4,000 employees
Industry

Similar Jobs

More Jobs at RWS

More Business Services Jobs

Find similar Senior Program Manager jobs: