Portuguese Translator/Reviser

Join us and help strengthen multilingual excellence at PAHO

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization (WHO), is seeking a meticulous, highly skilled, and service-oriented Portuguese Translator/Reviser to ensure the highest linguistic quality across the Organization’s Portuguese-language documents. As a key member of the Languages Team, you will contribute directly to PAHO’s mission by ensuring accurate, consistent, and authoritative translations that support public health action throughout the Region of the Americas.

Working under the general supervision of the Deputy Director and the direct supervision of the Advisor, Language Services, the selected candidate will:

• Ensure quality control by revising translations into Portuguese, and edit original Portuguese texts in accordance with PAHO style and terminology.

• Translate and self‑revise complex technical and scientific documents—particularly in public health, medicine, governance, and related areas—primarily through post‑editing machine translation workflows.

• Coordinate and supervise translation requests, including managing external Portuguese translators and editors to ensure cost‑effective, timely, and high‑quality outputs.

• Provide specialized Portuguese language support during Governing Bodies meetings and in response to public health emergencies.

• Maintain and strengthen organizational terminology resources through linguistic research, glossary updates, and technical consultations.

• Recruit, test, mentor, and evaluate Portuguese translators; support the onboarding and development of temporary translators and interns.

• Participate in cross‑organizational collaboration, innovation, and knowledge‑sharing initiatives to enhance translation practices and tools, including AI‑assisted translation technologies.

For a complete list of functions, please see the post description.

What is required for this position?

Education

Essential: A bachelor’s degree in a health or social science, translation, linguistics, modern languages or public health, and a master´s degree in any field related to the functions of the position from a recognized university.

Experience

Essential: Nine years of combined national and international experience as a translator, including experience as a reviser.

Desirable: Experience with an international organization, preferably in public health, medicine, or international development would be an asset.

Languages

Excellent idiomatic and technical command of Portuguese as mother tongue and thorough knowledge of English and Spanish.

IT Skills

Demonstrated ability to effectively use current technology and software, as well as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). Other IT skills and knowledge of software programs such as Microsoft Excel, Outlook, OneDrive, PowerPoint, Teams, SharePoint, and Word are considered essential.

Competencies and Skills

For a complete list of competencies and skills, please refer to the post description.

The key skills required are:

• Full command of technical translation skills, including terminology databases, electronic dictionaries, online research, and post‑editing of machine‑translated output.

• High‑level expertise in Portuguese translation, revision, and editing.

• Ability to research specialized subject matter and stay current with advancements in relevant fields.

• Ability to acquire and synthesize information across diverse technical areas and produce high‑quality content tailored to the intended audience.

• Ability to work under pressure with tight deadlines.

• Familiarity with translation practices for governing bodies.

• Strong organizational, analytical, communication, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to present information clearly, tactfully, and diplomatically.

Duration of Contract

This is an initial 11-month assignment, with the possibility of extensions, subject to satisfactory performance and funding availability.