Japanese Translation Lead - Tokyo

The Opportunity

Postman has a strong and rapidly growing user base in Japan, with almost 500,000 Japanese developers using our platform to build world-leading APIs. With the launch of our Japan office in 2023, we are actively engaging with individual developers and corporate teams throughout Japan to help them collaborate around APIs and to use Postman to its fullest extent.

A big part of our commitment to the Japan market is providing the Postman API Platform in the Japanese language, along with our developer documentation and many other materials. Although AI provides us with a huge head-start in this effort, and our investment in translation management systems largely automates the process, there is still no substitute for human review and oversight. We pride ourselves on a product that is built by developers for developers, and our documentation lives up to the same promise.

We are seeking a self-motivated, passionate developer to lead our efforts to translate and maintain our products, documentation and marketing materials. You’ll lead our translation efforts, manage our translation process and work with our engineering and operations teams to deliver these translations to millions of Postman users.

As Japanese is our first language deliverable, you’ll be responsible for the full spectrum of the Japanese translation process, including glossary development, terminology management, translation, review and delivery. You’ll lead a small team of translators during peak periods, but will be responsible for performing English to Japanese translations yourself when necessary. 

Although this position is based in our office in Tokyo, you’ll work with our development teams worldwide in resolving translation-specific issues, string externalization and general technology internalization.

What You'll Do

• Manage the translation process, initially for English to Japanese
• Manage Postman’s Translation Management System which tracks and automates much of the translation process
• Source, onboard, train and manage contract translators as necessary during peak periods
• Be responsible for the quality of Postman’s translations, including consistency, accuracy, timeliness and relevance to our developer audience
• Build linguistic assets such as glossaries, terminology lists and language-specific style guides
• Perform English to Japanese translations of the Postman product and related components at a level where it is indistinguishable from native Japanese written developer-facing content
• Be the face of Postman’s Japanese translations at our developer events, soliciting feedback on our translations and working with our developer users to refine our terminology
• Work with Postman’s development teams in the USA, India and Europe to identify and resolve issues in the product that impact translations or translatability
• Work with the Postman Japan team on marketing assets and other Japanese language customer facing material
• The potential to manage other language pairs as Postman expands internationally

What You Bring

• 5+ years of experience in English to Japanese translation, either as a translator, a translation coordinator or manager
• 2+ years experience in software development and/or internationalization, preferably with a focus on APIs, integration technologies or web services
• Experience using and configuring a Translation Management System (TMS) such as Smartling, Lokalize or XTM
• Native level written and spoken Japanese, with a high level and interest in technical writing
• Ability to communicate in English (written and verbally) and to work within a primarily English speaking organization
• Ability to handle competing and/or tight deadlines, great organizational skills and attention to detail

Who Are We

Postman is the world’s leading API platform, used by more than 30 million developers and 500,000 organizations, including 98% of the Fortune 500. Postman is helping developers and professionals across the globe build the API-first world by simplifying each step of the API lifecycle and streamlining collaboration—enabling users to create better APIs, faster.

The company is headquartered in San Francisco and has offices in Tokyo and in Bangalore, where it was founded. Postman is privately held, with funding from Battery Ventures, BOND, Coatue, CRV, Insight Partners, and Nexus Venture Partners. Learn more at postman.com or connect with Postman on X (formerly Twitter) via @getpostman.

P.S: We highly recommend reading The "API-First World" graphic novel to understand the bigger picture and our vision at Postman. Yes, it’s available in Japanese!

Our Values

At Postman, we create with the same curiosity that we see in our users. We value transparency & honest communication about not only successes, but also failures. In our work, we focus on specific goals that add up to a larger vision. Our inclusive work culture ensures that everyone is valued equally as important pieces of our final product. We are dedicated to delivering the best products we can.

What Else?

Compensation is based on the candidate's skills, qualifications, and experience. In addition to our pay-on-performance philosophy, we offer a comprehensive set of benefits, including full medical coverage, flexible PTO, wellness reimbursement, and a monthly lunch stipend. 

Equal Opportunity

Postman is an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender perception or identity, national origin, age, marital status, protected veteran status, or disability status. Headhunters and recruitment agencies may not submit resumes/CVs through this website or directly to managers. Postman does not accept unsolicited headhunter and agency resumes. Postman will not pay fees to any third-party agency or company that does not have a signed agreement with Postman.