У меня мало свободного времени, потому что я работаю офисным переводчиком.

Russian normally doesn’t use the verb иметь (to have) for everyday possession.

Instead, it uses a special structure:

• у + Genitive (person) + есть / нет / мало / много + noun
• Literally: by/at me there is / is not / little / much X

So:

• У меня мало свободного времени.
  Literally: By me there is little free time.

Я имею… is grammatically possible but sounds very formal, bookish, or technical, and is rarely used in simple personal sentences about everyday things like time, money, friends, etc. Native speakers almost always say у меня есть… / у меня мало… / у меня нет… in such contexts.

In this sentence, мало is a quantity word meaning little, not much.

• мало свободного времени = little free time / not much free time (and it’s generally a problem, a negative situation).
• немного свободного времени = some free time, a bit of free time (neutral, not as negative as мало).
• маленький means small in size, not little in quantity.
  You would not say маленькое свободное время; that would sound wrong.

So:

• Use мало / много for little / much (quantity).
• Use немного for a bit / some.
• Use маленький only for physical size or metaphorical smallness (a small house, a small child, a small step, etc.), not for time, money amounts in this structure.

Because мало (as well as много, мало, немного, достаточно, etc.) normally requires the genitive case for the noun it quantifies.

• Nominative: свободное время – free time (as a simple subject or object)
• Genitive: свободного времени – used after мало

So the pattern is:

• мало + Genitive
  мало свободного времени
  мало денег
  мало людей

The adjective свободного is also in the genitive singular, agreeing with времени (genitive singular of время).

The base dictionary form is:

• время – time (nominative singular, neuter)

In the sentence you see:

• времени – genitive singular

Время is an irregular noun:

• Nom. sg.: время
• Gen. sg.: времени
• Nom. pl.: времена
• Gen. pl.: времён

After мало, Russian uses the genitive, so время → времени.

They are close but not identical.

• У меня мало свободного времени.
  I have little free time.
  This directly states that the amount is small. It’s a straightforward, neutral–negative statement.

• У меня нет много свободного времени.
  Literally: I don’t have a lot of free time.
  This sounds slightly softer: it denies that you have a lot, but doesn’t stress how little you have as strongly as мало.

In everyday speech, У меня мало свободного времени is the more natural choice to express I don’t have much free time as a clear complaint or explanation.

In Russian, потому что is a conjunction meaning because and it introduces a subordinate clause of reason.

The general rule: you put a comma before conjunctions like что, потому что, когда, если, etc., when they introduce a dependent clause.

So:

• У меня мало свободного времени, потому что я работаю офисным переводчиком.
  Main clause: У меня мало свободного времени
  Subordinate clause: потому что я работаю офисным переводчиком

You need the comma to separate the main clause from the clause of reason, just like in English: I have little free time, because I work as an office translator.

Because the verb работать (to work) when used with a profession or role takes the instrumental case:

• работать кем? – to work as what / as whom?

Examples:

• работать врачом – to work as a doctor
• работать учителем – to work as a teacher
• работать переводчиком – to work as a translator

In your sentence:

• офисным переводчиком is instrumental singular:
  • офисный → офисным
  • переводчик → переводчиком

So я работаю офисным переводчиком literally is I work as an office translator, with офисным переводчиком in the instrumental case as required.

переводчик by itself simply means translator (or interpreter, depending on context).

офисный переводчик adds the idea of office-based or in‑house:

• переводчик – a translator in general, freelance, staff, etc.
• офисный переводчик – typically:
  • works in an office,
  • is an in‑house / staff translator,
  • not working remotely or as a freelancer (by implication).

Other ways to express similar ideas:

• штатный переводчик – in-house / on staff translator
• переводчик в офисе – translator in an office (more descriptive, less of a fixed term)

In this sentence, офисным переводчиком tells us not just the job, but the kind of position (office/in‑house), which helps explain why the person has little free time.

Russian has no articles at all—no equivalent of English a/an or the.

The noun переводчиком (here in the instrumental case) by itself can mean:

• a translator
• the translator
• just translator (as a role)

Which English article you choose in translation depends entirely on context, not on any Russian word.

So:

• я работаю офисным переводчиком → I work as an office translator (or I’m an in-house translator)

Работать is imperfective and for this meaning (a permanent job, ongoing occupation) you must use the imperfective.

Imperfective is used for:

• ongoing, habitual, or repeated actions,
• states and occupations.

Your sentence describes a regular, ongoing job:

• я работаю офисным переводчиком – I work / I’m working as an office translator (in general, as my job).

Perfective forms like поработать talk about performing the work for a limited time (e.g., to work for a while), not about your general profession, so they would be wrong or change the meaning here.

Yes, Russian word order is relatively flexible, though there is a neutral “default” order.

Neutral, most common:

• … потому что я работаю офисным переводчиком.

Alternative for emphasis:

• … потому что я офисным переводчиком работаю.

This second version sounds a bit more expressive and can emphasize офисным переводчиком (the fact that it’s as an office translator that you work).

However, for a learner and in most neutral contexts, the original order я работаю офисным переводчиком is the safest and most natural.