Under the direction and supervision of the Director of Language Access, the ASL and Translation Specialist will build community relationships to support the American Sign Language (ASL) community and ensure appropriate communications between clients, local partners, and the Agency. The ASL and Translation Specialist will work with Agency program areas to ensure that the documents produced by our translation services vendor are appropriately submitted and delivered and meet the needs of the community and the requirements of the Agency.

The Office of Advocacy is recruiting for a Community Coordinator to function as ASL and Translation Specialist within their Office of Refugee and Immigrant Affairs (ORIA) a part of the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Duties include but are not limited to:

- Liaise between Agency staff and the deaf and hard-of-hearing community, including community organizations, advocates, providers, members of the public and other City and Mayoral agencies to address barriers that deaf and hard-of-hearing clients and potential clients face; provide updates on Agency initiatives and respond to questions regarding access and Agency services.

- Conduct outreach to community-based organizations and advocates, including key leaders and elected officials.

- Ensure staff, clients, advocates and members of the public are aware of the Agency’s procedures for accessing interpretation services.

- Attend relevant community meetings or events to network with stakeholders, community members and advocates.

- Ensure that outreach is being conducted to an appropriate and representative group of community organizations and advocates. Ensure that a diverse group of deaf and hard-of-hearing community members are considered in Agency decision making.

- Establish community relationships to identify and address needs in the NYC deaf and hard-of-hearing community.

- Liaise between Agency staff and the translation services vendor, including submitting requests for translations and returning finalized documents.

- Ensure that community organizations and partners, along with members of the public and staff, are aware of the Agency’s translation procedures and the languages available.

- Respond to community complaints regarding individual translations and text edits.

- Respond to community and provider requests for additional translations.

- Manage the Agency’s translation tracking process, ensuring that all requests are completed in a timely manner.

- Support Agency staff in accessing translation services and respond to any complaints related to delivered translations.

- Process translation services invoices by comparing documents to internal tracking mechanisms.

- Manage and maintain data on ASL appointments, including noting clients, interpreters, programs and appointment outcomes.

- Respond to requests for ASL interpretation appointments.

- Troubleshoot any issues when scheduling and coordinating ASL related appointments.

1. A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college and two years of experience in community work or community centered activities in an area related to the duties described above; or
2. High school graduation or equivalent and six years of experience in community work or community centered activities in an area related to the duties as described above; or
3. Education and/or experience which is equivalent to "1" or "2" above. However, all candidates must have at least one year of experience as described in "1" above.

- Knowledge of American Sign Language (ASL) and familiarity with the deaf community appreciated, but not required. - Communication skills, including the ability to clearly relay instructions and information to a variety of audiences (community leaders, community members, Agency staff, vendors, etc.) - Detail oriented. Able to manage and track large quantities of data, including experience working with databases. - Technically proficient in Zoom, Teams and all Microsoft Office programs. - Time management and the ability to prioritize while working on multiple projects simultaneously

New York City residency is generally required within 90 days of appointment. However, City Employees in certain titles who have worked for the City for 2 continuous years may also be eligible to reside in Nassau, Suffolk, Putnam, Westchester, Rockland, or Orange County. To determine if the residency requirement applies to you, please discuss with the agency representative at the time of interview.

The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.