American Literary Translators Association Ombuds

The American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) invites responses from qualified professionals to provide ombuds services to its annual conference attendees, and to ALTA program participants and members on an ongoing basis. The projected start date for this role is February 2025.

The American Literary Translators Association is the only organization in the United States dedicated exclusively to literary translators. A nonprofit arts membership association, ALTA provides resources, community, and professional affiliation to its members: individual translators, academic institutions, presses, and others who work in or appreciate literary translation. 

ALTA’s keystone offering is the annual ALTA conference. The largest gathering of literary translators in the United States, and the only one of its kind, the conference is structured around the creation of high-quality art. The conference brings together nearly 500 translators, writers, and editors for an intimate, intense, three-day conversation through panels, workshops, roundtables, and on- and off-site bilingual readings. In 2020, ALTA moved its conference programming online due to the COVID-19 pandemic and now continues to offer virtual programming as a way to reach broader audiences in addition to resuming an in-person conference format. 

ALTA also administers awards to recognize excellence in translation and provides fellowships and mentorships to support emerging translators. Six major prizes are awarded at the annual conference. Travel Fellowships, including the Peter K. Jansen Memorial Travel Fellowship for an emerging translator of color or a translator working from an underrepresented diaspora or stateless language, cover attendance at the conference. ALTA's Emerging Translator Mentorship Program allows an emerging translator to begin a career as a literary translator with a more seasoned translator by their side.

The American Literary Translators Association is looking to retain an ombuds to provide organizational ombuds services on a year-round basis. This includes ombuds support for its annual conference, held alternately between Tucson, AZ, and other cities around the US. Outside of conference periods, the ombuds will be retained for services around ALTA’s other programs and offerings.

The annual conference is generally held annually in late October or early November, and the ombuds would be expected to offer services on location during this period. For the rest of the year, services would be remote. We welcome submissions from candidates in the Tucson, AZ area, but will be considering proposals from across the US.

The ombuds selected must be able to address concerns for attendees, members, and other participants that might arise in the context of ALTA’s in-person or online activities, such as issues concerning safety, harassment or bullying, microaggressions, discrimination, free speech, integrity, privacy, conflicts of interest, accessibility and inclusion, logistics (including programming, lodging, and food), and alcohol consumption. Our goal is to have a community that is as inclusive as possible regardless of gender, sexual orientation/identity, race/ethnicity, religion, disability, employment status, or status in the field. Please see our code of conduct for more details about ALTA’s culture and community agreements.

An ombuds selected to serve as ALTA's ombuds will be expected to review the organization's policies and interview stakeholders by telephone or remote conferencing in advance of the conference to ensure that the ombuds is familiar with ALTA, the profile of its members, and the organization's procedures. ALTA’s board and executive director will assist the ombuds in identifying appropriate stakeholders to interview. The ombuds will be expected to work with staff, board members, and the organization’s various governing committees to adequately inform the attendees of the availability of ombuds services at the conference and throughout the year.

The ALTA ombuds:

• Listens and understands issues while remaining neutral with respect to the facts. The ombuds doesn’t listen to judge or to decide who is right or wrong. The ombuds listens to understand the issue from the perspective of the individual. 
• Assists in reframing issues and developing and helping individuals evaluate options. This helps individuals identify the interests of various parties to the issues and helps focus efforts on potential options to meet those interests.
• Guides or coaches individuals to deal directly with other parties, including the use of formal resolution resources of the organization. The ombuds often seeks to help individuals improve their skill and their confidence in giving voice to their concerns directly.
• Refers individuals to appropriate resolution resources. The ombuds may refer individuals to one or more formal organizational resources that can potentially resolve the issue.
• Assists in surfacing issues to formal resolution channels. When an individual is unable or unwilling to surface a concern directly, the ombuds can assist by helping give voice to the concern and /or creating an awareness of the issue among appropriate decision-makers in the organization.
• Facilitates informal resolution processes. The ombuds may help to resolve issues between parties through various types of informal mediation.
• Because ALTA and its executive director and board of directors seek to address and improve issues involving conduct and climate for the purpose of planning further conferences, programs, and opportunities for its community, the ombuds selected is expected to prepare an annual written report which will include aggregate data and insights and observations of the ombuds on the types of issues or concerns raised and any organizational recommendations. The ombuds is a source of detection and early warning of new issues and a source of suggestions of systemic change to improve existing processes.

Minimum requirements:

•  7 years of experience as an organizational ombuds or equivalent experience in mediation or conflict resolution 
• Certification as an Ombuds Practitioner (CO-OP)
• Experience in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
• Residence in the United States, with a willingness to travel domestically as needed.

Preferred qualifications:

• Masters or PhD
• At least 10 years of relevant experience
• Specialized training in:
• intercultural communication
• racial awareness
• interpersonal violence
• sexual trauma
• DEI
• Familiarity with the fields of translation and publishing