Org. Setting and Reporting

This post is located within the Language Support Unit (LSU), Conference Services Section (CSS), Administrative Services Division (ASD) of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). The Pre-Editing and Computational Linguistic Assistant reports directly to the LSU Supervisor and will be under the overall direction of the Chief of CSS.

Responsibilities

Within delegated authority, the Pre-Editing and Computational Linguistic Assistant is responsible for the following duties:

1 – Adjusts texts prior to running automatic translation in order to improve the raw quality of the machine translation output, by adapting the input text to be a closer match to the texts the engine is trained with and thereby helping the MT engine perform better;
2 – Ensures that the text is written with fixed rules, such as simplifying structures by using short sentences, avoiding complex or ambiguous syntactic structures and ensuring term consistency;
3 – Analyzes the content, sentence by sentence, to flag issues that will be problematic in translation; tags elements in the source text that are not to be translated;
4 – Screens documents and sales publications submitted for editing in order to ensure compliance with submission standards and regulations; provides author departments/divisions with specific instructions on correct format and submission procedures as necessary;
5 – Ensures queries conformity with United Nations editorial rules and style, and highlights to the attention of language staff complex or ambiguous syntactic structures and terms inconsistency;
6 – Runs automated tools for format checking and for terminology compliance of the source text against a project-specific glossary;
7 – Corrects and realigns the system misalignment of ESCWA indexed documents and publications in the portal that are automatically aligned, by: a) making the necessary changes to the bi-text segments in order to match the language source segment with the target language; b) removing unneeded information, such as punctuation marks, prepositions, numbers, and conjunctive words at the beginning of sentences to enable the system to extract the information properly; c) splitting long paragraphs and sentences into short neutral sentences; deleting empty cells to match the order of the sentences in both, source and target texts;
8 – Monitors ESCWA published material, selects relevant publications and extracts technical terms, titles and terminology lists;
9 – Identifies and continuously updates the terminology database with verified corporate names, other titles and subject terms for consideration by senior staff member;
10 – Assists in responding to terminology queries from ESCWA staff members, United Nations Secretariat and agencies, governmental and non-governmental bodies, and other outside bodies;
11 – Collaborates to the maintenance of the Section’s reference collection of UN documents, publications and other reference materials;
12 – Covers other support functions when colleagues are absent;
13 – Carries out other tasks as requested by the Chief.

Competencies

Professionalism – Knowledge of editorial policies, practices and research techniques. Solid writing and analytical abilities with sensitivity to nuance. Ability to spot errors and inconsistencies in a text. Shows pride in work and in achievements; Demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter, including knowledge of established practices in documentation, meetings, publishing and reproduction and, printing techniques and standards, quality assurance and control measures needed to provide appropriate technical solutions, advice, and alternatives to superiors and sound guidance to subordinates; Is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; Is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; Shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations. Takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work.

Teamwork – Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals; solicits input by genuinely valuing others’ ideas and expertise; is willing to learn from others; places team agenda before personal agenda; supports and acts in accordance with final group decision, even when such decisions may not entirely reflect own position; shares credit for team accomplishments and accepts joint responsibility for team shortcomings. 

Technological Awareness – Keeps abreast of available technology; understands applicability and limitation of technology to the work of the office; actively seeks to apply technology to appropriate tasks; shows willingness to learn new technology.

Education

High School diploma or equivalent. A first-level university degree in language, terminology, information management or language technology in combination with qualifying training in web writing and publishing is desirable.

Work Experience

A minimum of seven years of experience in language related functions and computer assisted translation: strong background in syntax and morphology; good understanding of programming and linguistics; ability to solve problems in areas related to machine translation, grammar and style checking, document processing and information retrieval, and Computer-Assisted Language Learning.

Languages

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the position advertised, fluency in oral and written English and Arabic is required. Knowledge of French is desirable.

Assessment

Passing the Global General Service Test (GGST) is a prerequisite for recruitment consideration in the General Services and related categories in the United Nations Secretariat. Applicants who have not passed the GGST at the time of application may be invited for the test when they are short-listed for a job opening. Having passed the Administrative Support Assessment Test (ASAT) in English at the United Nations Headquarters, Economic Commission for Africa, Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, United Nations Office at Geneva, United Nations Office at Vienna, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda or International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia may be accepted in lieu of the GGST per applicable eligibility guidelines. 

In addition to the above, the shortlisted candidates will undergo a substantive written assessment related to the functions of the post and a competency-based interview. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Special Notice

Appointment against this post is on a local basis; candidates shall be recruited in the country of the duty station, irrespective of nationality and length of time the candidate may have been in the country. If no suitable candidate is identified, overseas candidates will be considered subject to a passing grade on the relevant entry-level examinations at the duty station. 

Staff members are subject to the authority of the Secretary-General, who may assign them to any task or function in the organization. In this context, all staff are expected to move periodically to new functions during their careers in accordance with established rules and procedures. 

The candidate is responsible for any expenses incurred in order to take the examination and, in the event of an employment offer, any costs relating to travel and relocation to the duty station.

United Nations Considerations

According to article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. Candidates will not be considered for employment with the United Nations if they have committed violations of international human rights law, violations of international humanitarian law, sexual exploitation or sexual abuse, or crimes other than minor traffic offences, or if there are reasonable grounds to believe that they have been involved in the commission of any of these acts. The term “sexual exploitation” means any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power, or trust, for sexual purposes, including, but not limited to, profiting monetarily, socially or politically from the sexual exploitation of another. The term “sexual abuse” means the actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature, whether by force or under unequal or coercive conditions.

Due regard will be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible. The United Nations places no restrictions on the eligibility of men and women to participate in any capacity and under conditions of equality in its principal and subsidiary organs. The United Nations Secretariat is a non-smoking environment.

Applicants are urged to follow carefully all instructions available in the online recruitment platform, inspira. For more detailed guidance, applicants may refer to the Manual for the Applicant, which can be accessed by clicking on “Manuals” hyper-link on the upper right side of the inspira account-holder homepage.

The evaluation of applicants will be conducted on the basis of the information submitted in the application according to the evaluation criteria of the job opening and the applicable internal legislations of the United Nations including the Charter of the United Nations, resolutions of the General Assembly, the Staff Regulations and Rules, administrative issuances and guidelines. Applicants must provide complete and accurate information pertaining to their personal profile and qualifications according to the instructions provided in inspira to be considered for the current job opening. No amendment, addition, deletion, revision or modification shall be made to applications that have been submitted. Candidates under serious consideration for selection will be subject to reference checks to verify the information provided in the application.

Job openings advertised on the Careers Portal will be removed at 11:59 p.m. (New York time) on the deadline date.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.