Ines Illarramendi

I am a localization and program management leader with over a decade of experience driving international product quality and user experience across global technology platforms, currently serving as Founder at Oyster, a role I have held since January 2026, where I am building the first circular, community-powered soft-landing system for international newcomers. Prior to this, I spent nearly five years at Meta in progressively responsible roles, including Global Experience Program Manager at WhatsApp, where I led WhatsApp's international experience quality program across sixty-plus markets, aligning teams, vendors, and data insights to scale consistent language quality and influence product decisions upstream, and Regional Program Manager for Localization across the US and Latin America, where I led the LATAM Spanish localization program across all Meta products including WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Meta AI, Threads, and Reality Labs, shaping Spanish voice and tone guidelines, improving product usability, and managing vendor performance across regions.

Before joining Meta, I served as Program Manager for Localization at WhatsApp Inc., where I led the global Spanish localization program for WhatsApp, developing regional strategies and scaling quality processes across LATAM, the US, and Spain, training over six hundred linguists, and significantly increasing localization quality and process efficiency. I also served as Program Manager for Localization at ISI Language Solutions, leading the Spanish localization quality program and managing over fifteen client accounts, and as Program Manager for Localization at the Inter-American Development Bank, managing the Multilateral Investment Fund's localization portfolio and ensuring translations met the highest standards of quality and accuracy.

I also served as an External Translator for the Inter-American Development Bank, providing translations for the Office of External Relations and other departments.

Across my career in localization, program management, and language services, my work has been driven by a commitment to ensuring that global products and services are culturally relevant, linguistically accurate, and accessible to diverse audiences. Whether I am leading localization programs at scale, building a startup, or managing vendor performance, I bring a strategic mindset, strong cross-functional collaboration skills, and a dedication to creating seamless, high-quality user experiences for international markets. I am proud of the work I have done throughout my career and excited to continue building innovative solutions that support global communities.