EDITOR, ENGLISH

Organizational Context

The Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) is part of the UN Secretariat, supervised by the UN Economic and Social Council. It serves 21 Arab countries, providing a framework for policy harmonization, coordination, and knowledge sharing. This English Editor role is situated within the Knowledge Management Services (KMS) of ESCWA, reporting to the Chief of KMS.

Job Purpose

The English Editor is responsible for ensuring the accuracy, clarity, and conformity of specialized and technical texts with United Nations standards. This involves extensive editing, including rewriting and restructuring content for improved readability and logical flow. The role requires consulting with author departments, conducting research to verify facts and resolve ambiguities, and ensuring the integrity of original drafts. Additionally, the editor will provide guidance on editorial policies, assist authors with manuscript preparation, and leverage language technologies to enhance editorial processes. The position contributes to the effective dissemination of information and knowledge management within ESCWA.

Responsibilities

The English Editor will edit specialized and technical texts for accuracy, clarity, cohesion, and adherence to UN standards. This includes performing extensive editing such as rewriting, abridging, and restructuring content for enhanced readability and logical sequence. The role involves consulting with author departments and conducting research to clarify ambiguities and rectify substantive errors, including verifying facts, figures, references, and quotations. The editor will check their version against the original draft, redrafting unclear passages and inserting omitted content. They will also provide authors with information on editorial policy and practice, assist in manuscript preparation, and effectively utilize language technologies, suggesting improvements as needed. Other related duties may be assigned.

Work Experience

A minimum of two years of experience in English editing is required. Additionally, two years of experience in a broad range of subjects relevant to the regional commission (social, economic, financial, administrative, scientific, technical) with a specialization is necessary. Two years of editing experience within the United Nations is desirable.

Skills

Professionalism, Communication, Teamwork, strong writing and analytical abilities, attention to detail, research techniques, knowledge of editorial policies and practices, ability to use language technologies.

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