Language Editor

Launched in September 2010, the purpose of the SUN Movement is to catalyse collective action and create an enabling environment to end malnutrition in all its forms. With 61 SUN Countries and four Indian States at the helm, the SUN Movement represents an unprecedented country-led effort to bring together stakeholders – from governments, national and global civil society organisations, businesses, the UN system, researchers and scientists across different sectors – and provide them with a collaborative space to convene, mobilise, share, learn, advocate, align and coordinate actions and approaches to improve nutrition.

SUN countries, supported by all stakeholders in the Movement, are committed to creating an enabling environment for scaling up nutrition by strengthening four strategic processes as set out in the SUN Movement Strategy and Roadmap 2016-2020: expanding and sustaining an enabling political environment; prioritising effective actions that contribute to good nutrition; implementing actions aligned with national common results frameworks; and effectively using, and significantly increasing, financial resources for nutrition. The SUN Movement Coordinator, UN Assistant Secretary General, oversees the day-to-day implementation of the Strategy and Roadmap, leads the SUN Movement Secretariat and represents the SUN Movement globally. 

Since 2012, the SUN Movement Secretariat has developed as a small coordinating mechanism. It has a catalytic role and seeks to link together countries and networks in the SUN Movement to ensure that support, requested in countries to intensify actions and achieve nutrition objectives, is received in a coordinated and coherent way.  It also ensures that the Movement’s progress is tracked efficiently and communicated clearly. The Secretariat is headed by the Director of the Secretariat who is responsible for ensuring that the Secretariat catalyses, facilitates and supports effective action across the overall SUN Movement.

The Secretariat is currently looking for a Professional Language Editor to support the translation and review of written documentation produced across the team in French (mandatory) and Spanish (highly desirable). The main aim for this position is to improve the quality of French and Spanish communications of the SUN Movement Secretariat. The person taking the role will be responsible for ensuring continuous improvement of processes to ensure the quality of translation is of a high standard, fitting for a global Movement which seeks to inspire and share knowledge across 61 different countries. The person taking the role will be the team’s focal point for ensuring a smooth work flow of written processes and liaising with professional translation services as needed.

Editing should be done in accordance with formal editing style and guidelines on documents such as newsletters, web content, manuals, reports, official letters, high-level emails and other documents related to the work of the SUN Movement Secretariat. It will consist of the following duties and responsibilities:

• Format and edit documents generated by the Secretariat in a consistent and easily understandable style that is suitable to a range of target audiences, including the SUN Networks–donors, business network, UN Agencies and Civil Society, as well as for the general public.
• Grammar, style, format and the content should be edited as well as the structure of content for a logical flow of ideas, and consistency in terminology, capitalization, spelling, abbreviations, repetition, data, acronyms, notes, and references.
• Beyond the grammar and style, restructure text where necessary to convey clear, succinct and convincing messages consistently with the purpose of communication and used terminology.
• Highlight, extract and simplify key messages (process, vision, strategic objectives, strategies, proposed management arrangements and key actions and recommendations) to ensure comprehension for a non-technical audience outside the SUN Movement Secretariat.
• Seek feedback for clarification to make sure the values and work of the SUN Movement are accurately reflected in its communications and that ideas are conveyed in a relevant and logical way.
• Submit the final version for publication in a word file and/or PDF file.
• Provide time sensitive in-house translation services (from English to French and Spanish and vice versa) for short texts to be used for SUN Movement Secretariat emails, reports, social media and ad-hoc communication materials.
• Manage relationship with the Secretariat translation suppliers, ensuring that translation of documents is done, checking quality, accuracy, timeframe and costs.
• Participate in the Review of the SUN Movement Secretariat communication guidelines regarding – latest news, social media, blogs, letterheads, PowerPoint, business cards, ensuring the consistency of branding use across the Secretariat;
• Liaise regularly with all staff members of the SUN Movement Secretariat to ensure that all interlocutors in the Movement are receiving language appropriate communications;
• Maintain the glossary of SUN words in three languages (English, Spanish, French);

Deliverables

The editor should deliver translated and edited documents (newsletters, web content, standard operating procedural manuals, emails, reports and other relevant documents) as assigned, upon demand, and within the agreed and required deadlines.

A bachelor's degree in Social Science, Journalism, Public Policy and Administration, public health, and development or other relevant field is required. A master’s degree in these areas will be an asset.

• At least seven years of professional editing experience in similar and related fields is required.
• Familiarity with languages and terminology of the United Nations is an advantage.
• Familiarity with the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement and/or prior working experience in nutritious and food security initiatives is an asset.
• Prior editing experience for donor reports, progress reports in the field of humanitarian assistance and health-related fields is an asset.
• Familiarity with electronic publishing software, graphic design and web design software is desirable.

• Fluency in written and spoken English and French (at the level of mother tongue) is mandatory. 
• Fluency in written and spoken in Spanish is highly desirable.
• Fluency in another UN language is an asset.

• Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time
• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
• Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified.
• Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• UNOPS seeks to reasonably accommodate candidates with special needs, upon request.
• Work life harmonization - UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands. We have a progressive policy on work-life harmonization and offer several flexible working options. This policy applies to UNOPS personnel on all contract types
• UNOPS seeks to reasonably accommodate candidates with special needs, upon request.
• The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.  

It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential recruits/interns. Recruitment/internship in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.

This position is based in Switzerland and the contract fee is not exempt from Swiss laws, including but not limited to laws regarding taxation, social security, accident and health insurance.

UNOPS is an operational arm of the United Nations, supporting the successful implementation of its partners’ peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world. Our mission is to help people build better lives and countries achieve sustainable development.

UNOPS areas of expertise cover infrastructure, procurement, project management, financial management and human resources.

Working with us

UNOPS offers short- and long-term work opportunities in diverse and challenging environments across the globe. We are looking for creative, results-focused professionals with skills in a range of disciplines.

Diversity

With over 4,000 UNOPS personnel and approximately 7,000 personnel recruited on behalf of UNOPS partners spread across 80 countries, our workforce represents a wide range of nationalities and cultures. We promote a balanced, diverse workforce — a strength that helps us better understand and address our partners’ needs, and continually strive to improve our gender balance through initiatives and policies that encourage recruitment of qualified female candidates.

Work life harmonization

UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands.