A title used to signify an independent (often self-employed) person working as if directly employed by the company of which they are an associate. Such a person may be an associate of more than one company.
是呀,associate, partner都是公司架构上涉及的概念。翻译经常会有类似的困境--中英文概念的涵盖范围不一致,或者是虽然能有重叠,但不能充分反应原来概念的含义。甚至有些情况下,因为文化、社会或经济发展程度不一等各种原因,翻译时在另一种语言存在相应概念的缺失。
associate 就楼主说的这一例句,如果我来译,那就译(商业)“伙伴”,这是最忠实原文的。但显然,“伙伴”的概念太宽泛,而且读起来也不象个正式的职位名称。所以,我看有些翻译的处置是用一个看起来正式,但也很宽泛的名词,用“专员”,前面加上这位所谓专员主管的业务。
Associate:
A title used to signify an independent (often self-employed) person working as if directly employed by the company of which they are an associate. Such a person may be an associate of more than one company.