UNHABITAT - United Nations Human Settlements Programme is hiring: Technical Edit

Technical Editor

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme is seeking a Technical Editor for a part-time, home-based consultancy to edit two Issue Briefs focused on municipal finance and international housing supply approaches. The role involves enhancing clarity, structure, and accessibility of the documents for a non-specialist Canadian audience. The editor will work closely with the project team to ensure the briefs effectively communicate research findings and lessons learned. The assignment is expected to begin in late November 2026 and conclude by the end of January 2027.
Candidate Requirements:
Advanced degree in Communications, Journalism, English, Public Policy, Urban Studies, Housing Policy, or related field
5 years of professional experience in substantive or technical editing
Experience editing issue briefs and analytical reports
Ability to translate complex research into accessible content
Familiarity with housing policy and urban development
Experience with multiple reviewers' comments and tight deadlines
Excellent written English; knowledge of French desirable
The assignment will result in two technically edited, coherent and accessible Issue Briefs. Deliverable 1: Issue Brief 1, edited Word file with tracked changes and editorial queries, followed by a clean version incorporating consolidated feedback round, due in December 2026. Deliverable 2: Issue Brief 2, equivalent tracked and clean edited versions, due by the end of January 2027. Both briefs should communicate the evidence, qualitative insights, lessons learned and research implications clearly for non-specialist Canadian audiences. Final factual verification, research judgments and publication approval remain with the project team.
Home based
2 months
The Technical Editor will undertake substantive and technical editing of two CMHC project Issue Briefs, strengthening their clarity, structure, narrative flow, analytical presentation and suitability for an educated but non-specialist public audience. The editor will work from existing drafts and written feedback, retaining the underlying research findings and ensuring that proposed changes are clearly identified for author review. The editor will help the team move from descriptive summaries toward clearly articulated lessons learned, highlight the contribution of qualitative interviews where supported by the source material, reduce repetition, and present trade-offs and strategic implications in plain language.
An advanced university degree in Communications, Journalism, English, Public Policy, Urban Studies, Housing Policy, or a related field is desirable. A first-level university degree with two additional years of qualifying professional editorial experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced degree. At least 5 years of professional experience in substantive editing, technical editing, policy communications or publication development, preferably involving research-based reports for public-sector or international audiences is required. Demonstrated experience editing issue briefs, analytical reports and other evidence-based publications for clarity, readability, logical structure, accuracy of presentation and consistent editorial style is required. Proven ability to translate complex technical research into accessible, engaging, plain-language content while preserving analytical nuance, source integrity and the author's intended meaning is required. Familiarity with housing policy, urban development, or comparative public policy, including the Canadian policy context, is desirable. Experience incorporating multiple reviewers' comments, working collaboratively with researchers, and delivering tracked-change and clean manuscripts to tight publication deadlines is required. Experience with UN agencies, international organizations, government institutions, research organizations is desirable.
English and French are the official working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this assignment, excellent written English and demonstrated professional editing proficiency are required. Knowledge of French is desirable.