RWS team spotlight

Poppy Smith Poppy Smith Talent Management Specialist 17 Apr 2025

1. How long have you been working with RWS?

I celebrated my 10-year anniversary with RWS this February!

2. How long have you been working as a Talent Management Specialist?

I’ve been working as a Talent Management Specialist for about eight years now.

3. Can you tell us more about your role and what does a day in the life of a Talent Management Specialist at RWS look like?

It’s very varied. I work with lots of different stakeholders within RWS ensuring we have suitable vendors for all our clients’ work. Of course, I also work closely with our vendors – ensuring their profiles on our vendor database are updated, talking to them about new tasks or types of work, or producing reports on the work we are outsourcing. Every day is different!

4. What was your path into Talent Management?

I studied Modern Languages at university and knew I wanted to work in the translation industry in some capacity. I then applied for the role of Translation Administrative Coordinator in the Language Delivery England Team. From there it was an easy transition over to the Supply Chain team and the role of Talent Management Specialist.

5. What do you like the most about your role?

I liken this role to completing a jigsaw puzzle! I find RWS the right linguists to complete the work we do for our clients, whether that be documentation related to clinical trials, a press release for a new car, or a company’s annual report. I like matching the skills of our freelancers to our localisation needs.

6. And what do you find the most challenging about it?

RWS is a big organisation with many different teams and services. I work closely with our vendors so they can understand more about how we work, but things change at a fast pace as we evolve to meet the demands of our clients and the translation industry, so keeping up with those changes can be tricky!

Peaks and troughs in work volumes can be unsettling for our vendors so I try and help them ride those waves, as much as any of us can!

7. Tell us a little bit more about your background. Where are you from, where are you located, any interesting facts you would like to share.

I’m from Yorkshire, which is an area in Northern England. I now live in Sheffield and work from our office in Sheffield once a week. 

I’m involved in various eco-friendly activities – I organise a bi-monthly Repair Café where we try and save things from going to landfill, and I run an app where you can find out where to recycle what in Sheffield.

I’m a big board game fan; my favourites are Spirit Island and Agricola. You can have a peek into our local board games café in my picture in this article. I love both competitive and co-operative games, depending on the day!

8. What changes in the industry are you observing?

Over the last years we are seeing an increase in small, quick turnaround projects as opposed to larger projects with longer deadlines. 

Of course, we’re also seeing the rise in AI (artificial intelligence) everything! Not just in the translation industry but in all aspects of our lives.

9. How do you see your role in the future?

As part of my role, I see importance in keeping our vendor community informed with new trends in the industry, which then convert to new tasks for us to learn and complete for our clients. I see Talent Management Specialists working as we’ve always done to match linguists’ skills with technology such as AI, to ensure a result of brilliant localisation.

10. What do you like the most about working at RWS?

I like talking to people all over the world – whether that be colleagues or our vendors. I like learning about their traditions and cultures, understanding what is important to them and how they work.

I like being part of something bigger. Knowing I’ve made a contribution to the people of the world by helping information get localised.

Poppy Smith
Author

Poppy Smith

Talent Management Specialist
Poppy is a Talent Management Specialist at RWS. She is responsible for vendors who translate into English, from a variety of source languages. She is responsible for recruiting new vendors as well as managing existing vendors – keeping their vendor profiles up to date and ensuring a successful collaboration. Coming to Supply Chain from the Language Delivery Team Poppy is well placed to understand what RWS needs from vendors and also what vendors need from RWS!
All from Poppy Smith