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The papal theologian's main task is to vet the many thousands of words prepared by Vatican aides for the pope to speak or publish. He checks for statements of dubious theology and otherwise hazardous phrases that could come back to haunt the pope.
"People have to understand that nowadays the pope is obliged to make so many speeches and send so many messages that he needs a lot of collaborators to prepare them," Cardinal Cottier said. "The theologian of the papal household is charged with reading all these texts and give(s) a theological opinion on them."

....The papal theologian is not typically called upon to scrutinize texts that are penned directly by the pope, but he is often among the team of experts that studies drafts of papal encyclicals, sometimes giving advice on structure or phrasing.

But...but...but...the Pope is supposed to be infallible in matters of theology. Why does he need a court theologian to tell him when doctrinal information is in error, what the Holy See already can detect that for himself?

Alex,

Papal infallibility does not excuse the Pope from having what he's going to say examined by other people. First, the Pope is not infallible whenever he says anything, but only when he "speaks EX CATHEDRA, that is, when, in the exercise of his office as shepherd and teacher of all Christians, in virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, he defines a doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the whole Church" (from the definition of papal infallibility at the First Vatican Council). Second, one way that the Holy Spirit preserves him from error in such definitions could certainly by influencing him to have his words reviewed by others.

For example, Pope Bl. Pius IX, under whom the infallibility of the Pope was formally declared in 1870 as a doctrine of the Catholic Church, consulted with hundreds of bishops before defining in 1854 that the Blessed Virgin Mary was immaculately conceived. In the Bull Ineffabilis Deus declaring the dogma, he wrote: "We likewise inquired what the bishops themselves thought about defining this doctrine and what their wishes were in regard to making known with all possible solemnity our supreme judgment."

But...but...but...the Pope is supposed to be infallible in matters of theology.

Just to expand on what gbcdoj said, the Pope is only infallible when his teaching meets four conditions:

The Pope must be speaking as supreme pontiff, not as, e.g., a private doctor or as the Bishop of Rome
The teaching must be addressed to the whole church
It must concern a doctrine of faith or morals, not, e.g., a matter of church discipline or governance
It must definitively teach that doctrine as something that must be held by all Catholics

It's common that a Papal teaching will meet condition #3, but conditions #1 and #2 are rarer, and condition #4 is met very infrequently. A great deal of consultation and study would go into anything that met all 4 conditions before it was ever formally promulgated.

But...but...but...the Pope is supposed to be infallible in matters of theology.

that was my impression too

gbcdoj: one way that the Holy Spirit preserves him from error in such definitions could certainly by influencing him to have his words reviewed by others.

shouldnt he be so full of the HS that additional influence from spiritually weaker outside sources be a detriment ?

But...but...but...the Pope is supposed to be infallible in matters of theology. Why does he need a court theologian to tell him when doctrinal information is in error, what the Holy See already can detect that for himself?

Oy vey, you just don't get it. You think you've finally got it, but you don't.

The Pope speaks infallibily only very rarely, as final arbiter of the truth. The Pope speaks about a great many things, some of major doctrinal importance, some minor. The Pope has always relied on the help of his brother Bishops in doctrinal matters. When the Pope writes about something, it is important for him to express his points in a way that doesn't leave much room for interpretation.