We are a strategic consultancy for a developing world.
We help UN agencies, NGOs, foundations and research institutions demonstrate impact, sustain investment and reach a global audience. We do this because good work does not speak for itself.
We bring three things to every engagement: insight — the strategic thinking that shapes the message; craft — the writing, design, video and translation that makes it land; and capability — the training and tools that equip our clients to sustain the work.
This role sits at the heart of these areas.
The role
We are looking for an English editor to join our in-house language team on a full-time basis. You will shape English-language content that is read the world over: reports, publications and campaigns on climate, gender, health, humanitarian financing and the rest of the development agenda — some of it may have been translated from French and Spanish, some of it may have been created using AI, all of it needing to read as though it never was.
Since 2011 we have delivered more than 12,700 translation and editing projects for UN and international development clients. We have in-house linguists in English, French, Spanish and Arabic, backed by a network of 260+ language and layout experts. Our translation runs through Robert, the computer-aided translation tool we built for this sector — and so you will also be working with technology that our own engineers improve on the basis of what you tell them.
Ideally you are a freelance English Editor tired of the feast-and-famine cycle, or an in-houser looking for more impactful work and a nicer company to work for.
What you will actually be doing
• Editing a wide variety of text to make it clear, ordered and readable for a global audience: editing structure, emphasis and proof-reading
• Checking references and citations
• Editing English reports on development issues for clarity, accuracy and nuance — clarity in complexity is what clients come to us for
• Post-editing machine-translated and AI-generated output up to publication standard
• Working to client style guides and terminology — the UN Editorial Manual, UNTERM, client term bases — and running final checks in PerfectIt
What we need from you
Please do not apply unless you meet all of these.
• A genuine love of the English language
• A university degree in a relevant field
• Native English, with excellent English editing and writing skills — you enjoy crafting compelling content
• At least two year’s experience as a freelance or in-house English editor
• Good skills in MS Office and Google Docs, and a genuine willingness to learn and adapt to new technology
• Reliability, flexibility and real attention to detail — we need to be able to trust you with client deadlines
Helpful, but not essential
• Experience of editing development-related texts
• A good working knowledge of a second language or experience of translation into English
• Curiosity about how AI is changing language work — we are building in this space rather than hiding from it
What we offer
• Worthwhile, impactful projects for organisations doing work that matters
• A relaxed working environment in our North Kensington office (will consider remote or hybrid options)
How to apply
Send your CV and a covering letter to [email protected].
Shortlisted candidates will be invited to take an English editing test.
Please note that because of the anticipated volume of candidates we unfortunately won’t be able to reply to everyone.
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