Language Editor Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Hybrid Work Model

#LI-hybrid

Job Summary:
SEGA of America is seeking an Editor I to help deliver top-class, Japanese products to Western markets. 

Our editors are specialists in the English language and work closely with a team of fellow editors alongside a partnered translation team. The primary responsibility is to review raw Japanese-to-English translations and transform them into evocative, meaning-faithful English localizations. This includes dialogue, narrative text, system messages, and other in-game content, all of which should accurately reflect the intent, tone, and experience of the original Japanese source and while resonating with Western audiences.

We are seeking candidates for this position who are passionate about video games, language, cross-cultural storytelling, and who bring a friendly, professional, and collaborative approach to their work.

Editors who consistently demonstrate a sustained, high-quality performance for a prolonged period may be considered for future lateral growth opportunities.

This is a hybrid position, with employees expected to be in-office on specified days each week.
 

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Edit and rewrite localized game text and related documentation, including voiced and unvoiced dialogue, item descriptions, system text, and other in-game content.
• Collaborate with editors, translators, and project team members on assigned projects; communicate in person and via messaging tools to clarify game text and resolve issues.
• Coordinate with Project Leads to track progress and receive editorial guidance.
• Attend daily/weekly project-specific meetings as required.
• Attend voiceover recording sessions as needed, either for in-studio or remote sessions.
• Update and maintain style guides, glossaries, and story bibles for assigned projects.
• Stay current with video game trends, game terminology, first-party naming conventions, and relevant subcultures.
• Solve localization challenges by finding effective English equivalents for Japanese nuances such as jokes, idioms, etc.
• Perform other duties as assigned by Project Leads, Senior Editors, Lead Editors, or Localization Management.
• Other responsibilities are performed as assigned or needed. 

Qualifications and Skills:

• Working in-office is an essential function of this position. This requirement of face-to-face interaction is in place to ensure effective supervision, collaboration, and teamwork.  In-office attendance is required for the following reasons:
  • For effective supervision of employees and our work product, which includes ensuring all employees have necessary oversight of their work and access to supervisory assistance, which includes meetings to review work product, deadlines, and status.
  • To foster communication and collaboration among team members, which includes the following: allowing for spontaneous brainstorming sessions and exchanges of ideas, quick access to team members to enable collaborative problem-solving, and stronger cohesion among co-workers and within teams.
  • To enhance the sharing of information necessary to effective job performance and product creation. 
  • To enhance understanding of our stakeholders’ work and business needs, facilitate a more seamless and organic workflow, and ultimately increase efficiency and successful outcomes.
• Bachelor’s degree in English or equivalent experience.
• Typically has 2+ years of experience in writing, editing, or localization experience, preferably in the entertainment industry.

Bonus:

• Passionate and active video game players.
• Knowledge of SEGA’s IPs.
• Understanding of Japanese culture. (Basic Japanese language knowledge is a bonus, but not required.)

Career Progression & Leveling:

Editor roles are structured across three levels: Editor I, Editor II, and Editor III. Progression is based on demonstrated proficiency, competencies, and seniority.

Core Competencies (Required at All Levels)

• All Editors are expected to consistently demonstrate the following competencies:
  • Performance: Quality, proactiveness, meticulousness, knowledgeable
  • Timeliness: Regularly hits or surpasses average quotas, attendance punctuality, meeting punctuality, quick to follow up on tasks/requests
  • Communication: Highly communication, asks/answers questions, quick to inform/reply, raises attention to issues in a timely manger
  • Consistency: Reliability, self-management, strong and regular demonstration of all other competencies

Proficiencies

• QA Bridge:
  • Demonstrate continued and reliable support of QA during LQA period, for bug fixing, bug translations (J>E or E>J), etc.
• Marketing Bridge:
  • Demonstrate continued and reliable support of Marketing for promotional materials, interview translations/editing, collaboration requests, etc.
• VO Support:
  • Demonstrate continued and reliable support of PD, VO actors, and VO directors during recording and post-recording, such as pacing, line read accuracy, performance assistance, audio checks, etc.
• Project Archivist
  • Demonstrate continued and reliable support of our own Localization department during and after a project period by archiving project information, archiving post-mortems and other administrative information, updating story and character content, etc.