Legal Translators; Somali-English and vice versa

Overview & Responsibilities

Under the EU-funded Advancing Somalia’s Migration Governance with a Focus on Return and Reintegration Project (hereinafter “the project”), IDLO is supporting the Federal Government of Somalia to strengthen national migration governance by enhancing whole-of-government coordination structures, improving legal and policy frameworks, and laying the foundation for sustainable, rights-based return and reintegration processes. As part of this support, IDLO will provide accurate, reliable, and legally sound translations of key laws and law-related documents between Somali and English to assist the Government in delivering the project’s legislative reform work.

Reporting to the IDLO Programme Manager for the Project, the Legal Translator will:

• Translate laws, bills, legislative amendments, regulations, and legal instruments from Somali to English and English to Somali for the project.
• Review and edit translated legal texts for precision, accuracy, consistency, and internal coherence.
• Ensure consistent legal terminology across all translated documents produced under the project.

• Bachelor’s degree in law, Linguistics, Translation, or related field.
• Minimum 5 years of professional experience translating legal documents.

• Excellent bilingual legal writing skills.

• Proven experience translating laws, legislative drafts, statutory instruments, judicial texts, or similar formal legal materials.
• Exceptional command of legal terminology in both Somali and English.
• Experience working with government institutions, courts, UN agencies, or international organizations is an asset.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to handle complex legal language.
• Professional discretion and confidentiality.

This consultancy will be on an on-call basis, with assignments issued as required and deadlines and scope specified for each translation task. The start date is to be determined. Remuneration will be paid per translated page (one page = 270 words), with final fees negotiated based on previous rates for similar work and the consultant’s experience level.

Applications will be screened on a regular basis; a qualified applicant may be recruited before the deadline. In the interest of making the most effective use of resources, only short‑listed candidates will be contacted during the selection process.

IDLO is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We welcome applications from qualified candidates of all backgrounds. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for IDLO vacancies.

IDLO does not tolerate sexual exploitation or abuse, any kind of harassment, including harassment of a sexual nature, or discrimination. As such, IDLO will conduct careful reference and background checks of all selected candidates as part of its selection process.

Final date to receive applications: 6 March 2026 (23:59hrs Rome Time).