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Hi there!
My name is Mikhail, that’s an East Slavic equivalent for Michael. Feel free to call me Mike or Misha (yeah, Misha is strictly a male name in Russia, it also means 'bear' 🐻).
I've been in love with video games since 1994 when I got a(n) NES for my ninth birthday. I also love computers and translation.
2011 - Present
December 2017 - Present
Social Quantum Ltd
- Administering linguistic QA projects including creating, planning, and executing test plans and owning bug management;
- Creating and maintaining project plans, schedules and budgets; tracking performance progress against plans;
- Developing profound understanding of assigned games and attaining expertise in localization project management;
- Establishing and managing optimum relationships with industry colleagues by visiting respective sites frequently;
- Evaluating tools and technologies to enable department's strategic goals;
- Heading and directing department initiatives consisting of translation quality, vendor strategy, process improvements and tool improvements;
- Identifying imperative path issues and merging teams of people to solve same;
- Managing and overseeing localization projects lasting from a couple of hours to years;
- Managing every feature of product localization finances involving forecasting and budget analysis;
- Managing multiple, high complexity and technical marketing supporting commercialization for parallel launch with aggressive deadlines and multiple deliverables;
- Overseeing all project plan components, including risk, quality, communication, etc.;
- Partnering with Engineering, Product, Marketing, and Design to coordinate localization of new product/feature launches, marketing releases, and new language launches;
- Reporting project status for upper management;
- Selecting and directing project team members including project managers, engineers, translators and publishers etc;
- Sharing best practices and evangelizing localization efforts.
August 2014 - November 2017
Social Quantum Ltd
- Analyzing game scope and content from localization perspective and, together with the development teams, setting the linguistic guidelines of the projects;
- Continually expanding knowledge and education in localization trends and news;
- Defining the localization format, tools, process and communication flow;
- Developing project plans and workflows, managing time, budget, resources and quality control;
- Facilitating communication of localization requirements, sharing insights, resolving any issues;
- Identifying and solving localization issues or disagreements, whether system or product, identifying causes and performing corrective/preventative action;
- Managing localization projects from beginning to end;
- Managing team’s compliance with standards, practices and policies;
- Managing vendor relationships by answering linguistic queries, providing training, and general troubleshooting;
- Monitoring and measuring project team members’ work;
- Participating in trainings, webinars and demos of different technologies/applications related to localization and internationalization;
- Providing project specific education and coaching to Localization Tester staff;
- Social and mobile games localization to 12 languages with tens of millions of players;
- Working closely with a team of over 30 language specialists, also with the localization engineers, product managers and developers, other departments and external vendors.
June 2013 - July 2014
Social Quantum Ltd
- Continually expanding knowledge and education in localization trends and news;
- Creating/gathering game specific documentation to ease the translation processes of the games;
- Entering any linguistic related bugs, flaws and issues into the database in a clear and concise manner, providing solutions to any issues where required;
- Facilitating communication of localization requirements, sharing insights, resolving any issues;
- Identifying and addressing gaps in content localization processes to ensure high-quality output against process efficiency;
- Identifying and solving localization issues or disagreements, whether system or product, identifying causes and performing corrective/preventative action;
- Managing translated terminologies and style guides for designated language for digital content;
- Managing vendor relationships by answering linguistic queries, providing training, and general troubleshooting;
- Participating in trainings, webinars and demos of different technologies/applications related to localization and internationalization;
- Proactively completing assigned tasks accurately and thoroughly, and within a specified time-frame in order to detect (and subsequently report on a daily basis) localization bugs, software flaws and/or design issues;
- Tracking metrics and schedules, monitoring the workload of language specialists;
- Working closely with a team of over 20 language specialists, also with the localization engineers, product managers and developers, other departments and external vendors;
- Working with external localization vendors and monitoring their progress;
- Working with the quality control team and external partners to test content quality and integration.
December 2011 - May 2013
Social Quantum Ltd
- Adding new game content to game design documents;
- Assisting in writing all text including UI in games (menus, descriptions, etc.);
- Calculating balance of game content;
- Creating and maintaining design documentation, including feature specification and implementation guidelines;
- Creating titles and descriptions for game items and actions;
- Designing and describing simple game mechanics;
- Developing and implementing positive changes to the games based on feedback from QA, consumer insights, senior staff members, and others;
- Establishing initial mock-ups and scribbles for the graphics team;
- Generating content for the Marketing and Customer Support teams including social media scheduling/posting;
- Generating game scripts and storyboards;
- Performing competitor analysis;
- Performing effectively under pressure and meeting deadlines to ensure the game is completed on time;
- Working closely with team members to meet the needs of a project;
- Working directly with artists, programmers and other designers to contribute to the vision of the game;
- Working with game designers to author characters' dialogues that support game design goals.
All the games I have worked on in various roles at Social Quantum.
Games in development are not disclosed.
2004 - 2011
September 2008 - November 2011
Ivanovo State University
January 2008 - June 2011
Ivanovo State University
- Assessing students' coursework;
- Carrying out administrative tasks related to the department, such as student admissions, induction programmes and involvement in committees and boards;
- Delivering lectures, seminars and tutorials;
- Designing, preparing and developing teaching materials;
- Developing and implementing new methods of teaching to reflect changes in research;
- Establishing collaborative links outside the university with industrial, commercial and public organisations;
- Representing the institution at professional conferences and seminars, and contributing to these as necessary;
- Setting and marking examinations;
- Supervising students' research activities;
- Supporting students through a pastoral/advisory role;
- Undertaking personal research projects and actively contributing to the institution's research profile;
- Writing up research and preparing it for publication.
February 2006 - August 2011
Self-employment
- Consulting with experts in specialist areas;
- Following various translation-quality standards to ensure legal and ethical obligations to the customer;
- Liaising with clients to discuss any unclear points;
- Professional translation for a variety of file types: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, video subtitles;
- Proofreading and editing final translated versions;
- Providing quotations for translation services offered;
- Reading through original material and rewriting it in the target language, ensuring that the meaning of the source text is retained;
- Researching legal, technical and scientific phraseology to find the correct translation;
- Retaining and developing knowledge on specialist areas of translation;
- Using appropriate software for presentation and delivery;
- Using specialist dictionaries, thesauruses and reference books to find the closest equivalents for terminology and words used;
- Using translation memory software to ensure consistency of translation within documents and help efficiency.
October 2004 - December 2010
Self-employment
- Communicating closely with parents to follow up on each student's weekly progress;
- Conducting assessments to analyze students’ capabilities and limitations;
- Developing teaching materials such as quizzes or handouts;
- Elevating the language proficiency level of students and preparing them for college entry;
- Encouraging students to read books, including classics and contemporary novels in a bid to help them understand different points of view;
- Helping students in understanding language concepts and their application;
- Preparing children for school tests;
- Preparing classroom materials and assisting with homework assignments;
- Providing feedback to students to make sure that they are aware of the areas that they need to work on;
- Providing feedback to students using positive reinforcement techniques to encourage, motivate, and build confidence;
- Providing students with the communicational skills and cross-cultural differences they need to know for more effective life abroad;
- Teaching children and adults to read, write and speak English.
2008-2011
Postgraduate education
Doctoral degree in Philology: Speciality 10.02.04 - Germanic Languages
2003-2008
Tertiary education
Philologist, Teacher of English
1992-2003
Secondary education
School that provides profound courses in English language