English Translation Unit - Post A: Translation

The Directorate-General for Translation (DG TRAD) provides the European Parliament with translation services for its written or electronic communication in all official languages of the European Union.

Our mission is:

• To make available in all official and working languages all documents relating to Parliament’s role as co-legislator and one of the two arms of the budgetary authority, in order to ensure the legitimacy and transparency of the legislative and budgetary process of the European Union;
• To enable the European Parliament to meet its commitment to the policy of multilingualism, designed to ensure the equal treatment of languages and permitting all citizens of the European Union to communicate with the institutions and have access to the documents of those institutions in their own language;
• To support the Members of the European Parliament and its administration in their multilingual communication with citizens by providing high-quality, modern, multilingual services in text, audio and video and ensuring that content is clear and in all the official languages of the EU;
• To ensure that all these services are supplied as efficiently and effectively as possible.

As a translation trainee in the English Translation Unit of the European Parliament, you will have the opportunity to translate into English texts relating to Parliament’s legislative work and other core activities. The range of topics may therefore be very varied, including political, budgetary, technical and administrative texts.

You will translate under the supervision of a translator-mentor who will guide you, teach you the current translation workflows and procedures, and revise your translations as necessary. This will give you the opportunity to learn, hone your translation skills and benefit as much as possible from your traineeship.

Additionally, depending on the projects the Directorate-General is working on during your time at Parliament, you may also be asked to undertake terminology work, or adapt or modify texts in various formats, for example audio files, website content, etc.

As a prospective trainee in the English Translation Unit:

• You have a perfect (native-speaker equivalent) command of English;
• You have an in-depth knowledge of a further two official EU languages;
• You possess strong team-working and communication skills, which will enable you to work as part of a team of language professionals;
• You have experience with, or are keen to learn how to use, computer-assisted translation tools, in particular SDL Studio.

If you are interested in this offer, please submit a covering letter in English, summarising your educational background and your reasons for applying. The letter should be no longer than 600 words.

Please also submit relevant supporting documents as proof of your qualifications (scans of degree certificates, course transcripts, any relevant exam certificates, etc.) and a copy of your CV in English.

Your covering letter and supporting documents must be uploaded as a single PDF file.