Lionbridge
Translation, localization, games, and AI training services giant — 6,000+ staff across 50+ countries.
What is Lionbridge?
Lionbridge is one of the world's largest language services and AI training data companies, founded in 1996 by Rory Cowan and headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts. Today it operates across 50+ countries with ~6,000 employees plus a global network of vetted linguists, voice actors, and crowd raters. Services span translation (200+ languages), website and product localization, video-game localization and audio production, AI training data (annotation, ratings, evaluation), and content moderation. Lionbridge was publicly traded as NASDAQ:LIOX until being taken private by H.I.G. Capital in 2017 in a $360M go-private deal. In May 2020 the company sold its AI training data division to TELUS International for $1.2B — that business now operates as TELUS Digital / TELUS International AI. In 2026 Lionbridge announced a consensual ownership transition to KKR, with H.I.G. exiting; KKR is backing further investment in language, games, and AI solutions. John Fennelly has been CEO since 2017 and Rory Cowan transitioned to Chairman that same year.
Mission & values
Make the world a smaller place — break language and cultural barriers so businesses can reach every customer in their own language with the same quality of experience.
Qualifications
Lionbridge hires across two very different worker categories. (1) Corporate staff — engineering, product, sales, localization program managers, language solutions architects, account/customer-success — many of these are office-anchored in major hubs (Waltham, Boston, Warsaw, Dublin, Singapore, São Paulo) with some US- and EU-remote hiring. (2) Crowd / community raters and linguists — Lionbridge runs one of the longest-running rater communities in the industry, hiring per-language and per-country across Internet Assessor, Ads Quality Rater, Search Quality Rater, Map Quality Analyst, Social Media Evaluator, Voice Actor, and similar roles. Most rater roles require native fluency and physical residence in the target country, with structured hourly contracts (part-time, typically 10–20 hr/week). Apply via lionbridge.com/careers.
Leadership
John Fennelly
President & Chief Executive Officer
CEO since 2017; led the Lionbridge AI divestiture to TELUS ($1.2B, 2020), the H.I.G. → KKR ownership transition (2026), and the company's pivot toward AI-augmented language services.
Rory Cowan
Founder & Chairman
Founded Lionbridge in 1996 and served as CEO until 2017; remains Chairman of the Board through the KKR transition.
Hiring process
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1
Application
Apply via lionbridge.com/careers — corporate roles and crowd/rater roles each have dedicated workflows.
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2
Recruiter screen
Initial conversation to confirm fit, location, language, and (for raters) eligibility / residence requirements.
About 3 days
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3
Hiring manager interview OR language test
Corporate: hiring manager interview. Rater: structured language and judgment assessment.
About 5 days
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4
Skills loop OR background check
Corporate: multi-round technical / functional loop. Rater: identity verification + project-specific training.
About 7 days
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5
Offer + onboarding
Corporate: offer + comp discussion. Rater: independent contractor agreement + first project assignment.
About 3 days
Funding
Awards & recognition
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Sold AI division to TELUS International for $1.2B · 2020
Lionbridge
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KKR ownership transition completed · 2026
Lionbridge / KKR
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CSA Research Top 100 Language Services Provider (perennial leader) · 2025
CSA Research
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6,000+ employees across 50+ countries · 2026
Lionbridge
Company information
- Industry: Translation / Localization / Games / AI Training
- Location: Waltham, MA, USA
- Founded: 1996
- Employees: 6,000
- Website: www.lionbridge.com ↗
- LinkedIn: Company page ↗
- X / Twitter: Profile ↗