Editor – P02

In accordance with paragraph f. of Article 44 of the General Standards, the official languages of the Organization are English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish.  No candidate for a position in the General Secretariat subject to the competition requirement shall be contracted until he/she has been administered language proficiency exams by the DHR in at least two of the official languages. Nevertheless:

(i) Any candidate, including a staff member, whose native language is one of those four languages shall only be required to demonstrate proficiency on an exam in one of the others; and

(ii) Persons applying for G-1 and G-2 positions at Headquarters and G-3 driver/clerk positions in those Offices of the General Secretariat in the Member States where the language requirement unduly restricts the recruitment of otherwise qualified staff shall be exempt from this language proficiency requirement for as long as they occupy those positions. Subsequently, in order to be eligible to compete for a higher-level position, any staff member who has benefited from this exemption must demonstrate proficiency in a second official language of the Organization; and

(iii) A person selected as the best candidate may receive a fixed-term contract, which will be considered to have lapsed in case the person does not pass the required language examination in a second official language within the 36 months following the appointment.
(iv) During all steps of the recruitment and selection process, a candidate for a position in the General Secretariat shall demonstrate proficiency in at least one official language of the Organization.

(v) During all steps of the recruitment and selection process, the application of language requirements shall be guided by the principles of merit, equitable geographic representation, proportionality, and non-discrimination. The lack of proficiency in a second language should not be grounds for elimination during the recruitment and selection process.

(vi) Persons applying for positions in the Offices of the General Secretariat in the Member States shall demonstrate proficiency in the official language(s) of the Member State.

(vii) When the native language of the candidate is not one of the four official languages of the Organization, the candidate shall be required to sit a proficiency examination administered by the DHR in at least two of the official languages.

The salary for this position corresponds to Grade P02, Step 1, in accordance with Staff Rule 103.3 Initial Salary:
(a) A staff member on initial appointment shall be placed in the first step of the grade of post, without exemption.
(b) This rule does not apply to a staff member who is already employed by the General Secretariat and is selected, promoted, demoted, reassigned, or otherwise transferred to a different post. In such cases, salary shall be determined in accordance with the applicable provisions of these Staff Rules.
            
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
The Officer/Editor is located in the Editorial Services Unit of the Secretariat to the General Assembly, the Meeting of Consultation and the Permanent Council. The incumbent reports to the Chief of Staff, Office of the Assistant Secretary General, via the Senior Editor of the Unit under whose immediate guidance s/he works.

The objective of the Unit is to edit the OAS documents and publications and produce the Minutes of the meetings of the General Assembly, Permanent Council, the Preparatory Committee of the General Assembly and the Meetings of Ministers of Foreign Affairs. The Editor is responsible for editing the Minutes of the meetings of the above-mentioned bodies and other documents and publications of the Organization.

1.    Edit the verbatim Minutes of the meetings of the General Assembly, the Permanent Council, the Preparatory Committee of the General Assembly and the Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs as well as the summary minutes of the committees of the General Assembly, if needed, to produce a clear and accurate permanent record of the meeting, within prescribed deadlines.

The editing is done by:

•    Listening the audio of the meetings and checking the audio against the transcribes texts;
•    Revising the text, making grammatical and stylistic corrections required;
•    Analyzing the text, clarifying the ideas being expressed, if need be, or maintaining intentional ambiguities on the part of the speakers;
•    Verifying the accuracy of facts, dates, statistics, quotations, and citations;
•     Revising text format, accuracy, and consistency of content;
•    Restructuring text for clarity and better logical sequence, if necessary;

2.    Edit other OAS documents and publications as necessary.

3.    Review the work of other/freelance editors for content, format and style, as needed; provide training and guidance to new English editors and transcribers on OAS editorial style, and respond to internal queries on grammar and editorial-related matters.

4.    Assist in carrying out administrative tasks as necessary for the production of minutes and to expedite the Unit’s work.

5.    Participate in the implementation of the ongoing technological modernization of the Editorial Services Unit.

QUALIFICATIONS:

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE:  
Essential: First University Degree (Bachelor’s) in Communication, languages, journalism, humanities or a related area and 4 years of relevant experience in similar positions including professional experience in editorial and/or translation work at the national and/or international level OR Advanced University Degree (Master’s) in one of the fields listed above and 2 years of relevant experience.

Desirable: Experience or knowledge of the OAS mandate and priorities, OAS project management and oversight system as related to the area of work and/or the dynamics of the Inter-American agenda and system.

COMPUTER SKILLS: Ability to effectively work using Microsoft Office (e.g. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and other applications such as Oracle, Visio, Access, Share Point) and software applicable to the area of work.

LANGUAGES:
Essential – Proficient in at least two of the following languages: English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish (read, write and communicate). The selected candidate must satisfy the applicable language-proficiency examination requirements under Article 44(f) of the General Standards, including passing the required DHR-administered examination in a second official language within the applicable timeframe. The lack of proficiency in a second language should not be grounds for elimination during the recruitment and selection process.  

Desirable –  Working knowledge of other two OAS official languages.

PERSONAL COMPETENCIES: Client Orientation, Knowledge Sharing, Teamwork, Interpersonal Skills. Ability to clearly communicate in the languages required for the post.

The GS/OAS embraces equality, diversity and inclusion. Accordingly, in accordance with its rules and regulations, the GS/OAS is committed to providing equal employment opportunities and achieving a diverse staff. In selecting candidates, it will take into account equitable geographic representation, as well as gender equity and equality.

Please note that the mandatory retirement age for staff members at the General Secretariat of the OAS is 65 years.