Hire an offshore translator for your Australian business
An offshore translator handles your written and conversational translation needs across Asian languages — Mandarin, Cantonese, Tagalog, Vietnamese — between English and source language. Through Lite-Force, they're employed properly via an EOR structure with payroll, compliance, and HR support included. Most hires are live within 2–4 weeks.
Day in the life
A day in the life of an offshore translator.
Typical responsibilities:
- Document translation — contracts, marketing copy, technical docs, customer comms
- Localisation — adapting copy for regional and cultural context, not just language
- Subtitling and transcription — for video, audio, and meeting recordings
- Customer support translation — bridging language gaps for customer enquiries
- Marketing localisation — landing pages, ads, social, email for non-English markets
- Quality assurance — proofreading translations from other sources
- Terminology management — maintaining glossaries and translation memory
- Cultural review — flagging copy or campaign elements that may not land well in-market
Why offshore
Why translation works well offshore.
Translation is naturally distributed work.
Documents and audio come in; translations go out. Once your offshore translator knows your glossary and tone, they produce consistently.
Translation tools are fully cloud-based.
memoQ, SDL Trados, Smartcat, Crowdin, plus Google Workspace and translation memory tools — all designed for distributed teams.
Timezone overlap means same-day turnaround.
Philippines hours align with Australian business hours. Urgent translation requests come back same-day or same-week, not on an overseas vendor's timeline.
More affordable than agency rates.
Translation agencies charge per word with markups. A dedicated offshore translator costs less, builds institutional knowledge of your business, and is available for fast turnarounds.
Cost comparison
What does a translator cost — local vs offshore?
Indicative comparison based on typical Australian salary ranges for this role.
Local Australian hire
Lite-Force offshore
Indicative comparison based on typical Australian salary ranges for in-house translators (sources: SEEK, Talent.com, Indeed, PayScale Mandarin Interpreter). Range is genuinely wide — Mandarin and Cantonese (NAATI-certified, in-demand) sit at the premium end; Tagalog and Vietnamese sit lower. Lite-Force pricing confirmed on a per-role basis during your discovery call.
What's included
What you get with a Lite-Force translator.
Included in the service
- Full sourcing, screening, and shortlisting
- EOR employment contract structured for local compliance
- Monthly payroll and statutory contributions
- Leave tracking and management
- HR support and regular check-ins
- Replacement commitment within initial period
Typical candidate profile
- 3–7 years professional translation or localisation experience
- Native-level proficiency in source language; fluent professional English
- NAATI certification (Australia) or equivalent international credential a plus
- Hands-on with translation memory and CAT tools (memoQ, Trados, Smartcat)
- Filipino or Southeast Asian — timezone-aligned with Australia
Getting started
Three steps to your offshore translator.
Book a discovery call
Tell us about your target languages, content types, volume, and certification requirements.
We source and shortlist
You review candidates with relevant language pairs and content experience, interview your favourites — recommend a paid trial translation.
They start
Employment, payroll, and onboarding handled. You manage the work.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions.
Which languages can you source for?
Strongest pools: Mandarin, Cantonese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Indonesian (Bahasa), Thai. For other languages (Korean, Japanese, Hindi), discuss feasibility during scoping.
Do they need NAATI certification?
Depends on use case. For legal, medical, government, and immigration translations in Australia, NAATI is typically required. For marketing, customer support, or internal use, NAATI is a plus but not always required. Confirm during scoping.
Can they handle technical or specialist translation?
Yes for many domains — marketing, e-commerce, customer service, general business. For deeply technical fields (legal, medical, engineering), screen for domain-specific experience.
How is translation quality assured?
Standard practice: paid trial translation during shortlisting, ongoing QA via second-translator review on critical documents, plus glossary and translation memory discipline.
What if the hire doesn't work out?
Replacement commitment within the initial engagement period. If quality or language fit isn't right, we source again at no additional placement cost. Details confirmed in your service agreement.
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