China Supplier Liaison & Technical Interpreter (Mandarin)

SB eCommerce Solutions Pvt Ltd · Delhi, India

About the role

A large part of our supply chain runs through China — moulds and tooling, machinery, materials, coating systems and components. Those relationships currently move slowly, because every technical discussion has to cross a language gap and a business-culture gap at the same time.

We need someone who closes both.

You'll sit between our engineers and our Chinese suppliers: in mould trial discussions, coating line troubleshooting, quality disputes, quotations and negotiations. You'll be the person who understands what a supplier actually meant, not just what they said.

This is not a translation role

We want to be clear about this, because the difference decides whether the hire works.

A translator converts words. What we need is someone who conveys intent, technical meaning and commercial position across two languages and two business cultures.

Concretely, that means:

Technical Chinese is its own vocabulary. General fluency isn't enough. You need to be comfortable with 模具, 注塑, 试模, 喷涂, 良品率, 打样, 交期 and the rest of the working language of a tool room and a moulding floor — the terms an engineer uses, not the ones a dictionary offers. This vocabulary is acquired on a shop floor, not in a classroom, which is why we're asking for manufacturing experience alongside the language.

You need to read what isn't said. When a supplier says something is 有点难, that's usually a no. When a delivery date is agreed too readily, that's usually a problem arriving later. A literal interpreter passes these through unchanged; we need someone who flags them.

You'll hold positions, not just relay them. In a negotiation on tooling cost, MOQ, lead time or a quality claim, you're representing us — pushing back, holding a line, and knowing when a concession buys something worth having.

Relationships are the actual asset. Chinese supplier relationships are built over time and sustained through consistent personal contact, largely on WeChat and largely outside formal channels. Someone who is trusted by our suppliers will get us answers, priority and honesty that no amount of formal correspondence will produce.

What you'll own

Technical communication

• Live interpretation in technical discussions — mould design reviews, trial results, coating line parameters, defect analysis, process troubleshooting
• Translation of technical documentation both ways: drawings and annotations, mould data packages, process parameter sheets, inspection and test reports, material data sheets, machine manuals
• Building and maintaining a bilingual technical glossary so our engineers gradually become less dependent on you. We'd rather you multiply the team's capability than become a bottleneck in it

Supplier management and negotiation

• Day-to-day supplier communication, primarily on WeChat, across the 2.5-hour time difference
• RFQ issuance and quotation analysis; identifying where a quote is genuinely competitive versus where it's been padded
• Negotiation on price, tooling cost, MOQ, lead time, payment terms and warranty
• Chasing delivery, escalating delays, and getting a real answer rather than a reassuring one
• Quality claims and commercial disputes — presenting our case with evidence and pursuing resolution

Relationship building

• Developing durable working relationships with our existing suppliers and their key people
• Identifying and qualifying new suppliers; supporting factory audits and capability assessment
• Travelling to China for trials, audits, negotiations and exhibitions
• Hosting visiting Chinese suppliers and delegations in India

Internal bridging

• Making sure our engineers' technical requirements arrive intact, and that supplier constraints come back accurately rather than softened
• Briefing our team on what a supplier response actually signals
• Written correspondence in Chinese — formal documents, trial instructions, technical briefs — to a standard we can send without editing

What we're looking for

Must have

• Professional working Mandarin, read, written and spoken. HSK 5 minimum, HSK 6 preferred; HSKK Advanced or equivalent spoken capability
• Fluent Hindi and English — you'll be on our shop floor as much as on calls to China
• Direct experience inside the mobile handset or consumer electronics manufacturing ecosystem in India — Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi, Realme, Transsion, Foxconn, Dixon, Lava, or their tier-one suppliers
• Genuine technical grounding in injection moulding, tooling and coating processes. You don't need to be an engineer, but you must be able to follow a mould trial discussion and translate it accurately under time pressure
• Demonstrated negotiation experience with Chinese suppliers, on commercial terms, where you held a position rather than relaying one
• Real fluency in Chinese business communication norms — WeChat as primary channel, relationship-building, indirect refusal, how commitments are actually signalled
• Willingness to travel to China regularly
• Sound commercial judgement and transparency. You'll have significant supplier access, and we'll expect quotations, negotiations and commitments documented and visible to the team

Good to have

• Formal Chinese language qualification — BA/MA in Chinese, or study in China
• CATTI certification
• Experience in a tool room, moulding plant or coating line specifically
• Sourcing or procurement responsibility, not only interpretation
• Supplier audit or quality management exposure
• Korean, given some of our supply base
• Familiarity with the Shenzhen and Dongguan manufacturing ecosystem
• Import documentation and logistics awareness

What this role is not

• Not a document translation job. If you want desk-based translation work, this will not suit you — most of your value is created live, in conversations and negotiations.
• Not a junior support role. You'll be trusted with commercial positions and supplier relationships, and paid accordingly.
• Not purely office-based. Expect shop floor, supplier factories, and travel.

How we'll evaluate

Language claims are easy to make and easy to test, so we'll test them:

1. Live interpretation. We'll run a real technical discussion — a mould or coating issue — with our engineers, and you'll interpret in both directions. We're watching for whether the technical content survives the crossing.
2. Written translation. A short technical document each way, on a live matter of ours.