View Vacancy - Internship with UK Joint Delegation to NATO (BEL23.046)

The British Government is an inclusive and diversity-friendly employer.  We value difference, promote equality and challenge discrimination, enhancing our organisational capability. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We do not discriminate on the basis of disability, race, colour, ethnicity, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, age, veteran status or other category protected by law. We promote family-friendly flexible working opportunities, where operational and security needs allow.
UK Mission
UKDEL (UK Delegation to NATO)

The British Government is an inclusive and diversity-friendly employer.  We value difference, promote equality and challenge discrimination, enhancing our organisational capability. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We do not discriminate on the basis of disability, race, colour, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, veteran status or other category protected by law. We promote family-friendly flexible working opportunities, where operational and security needs allow.

We are aiming to recruit an intern to join the UK's Joint Delegation to NATO for 6 months. We will support you throughout your time in the UK's Joint Delegation with training and mentoring, taking into account your future ambitions and aiming to provide relevant exposure to the areas that interest you. 

The United Kingdom’s Joint Delegation to NATO (UKDEL NATO) is the vital link between the UK Government and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. Its principal roles are to promote British interests in NATO and to keep UK Ministers and Government Departments informed about NATO discussions.

NATO is the world’s most successful military alliance. It is the bedrock of Euro-Atlantic defence and security, and has been at the heart of the UK’s defence for 70 years. The UK plays a highly respected leadership role in the Alliance. The growing threat to the international order, recent  events in Russia and Ukraine, and NATO’s increasing political weight and breadth of engagement, is also strengthening the Alliance’s importance to the UK’s foreign policy. Its work is valued highly by FCDO and MOD Ministers alike.

The successful candidate will help to represent the UK in NATO by delivering UK objectives as part of the UKDEL’s Operations team, who deal with policy on NATO’s operations and missions such as NATO Mission Iraq, and NATO operational planning. Operations team will lead UKDEL’s coordination of the annual NATO Summit this year. We are looking for an intern to be part of this effort to deliver a successful summit in line with the UK’s objectives.

Roles and responsibilities

  • UKDEL is looking for a Summit support Officer Intern for six months, with the possibility of extension. You will be attached to the Operations team throughout. The Head of Operations is leading on coordinating and delivering the 2023 Vilnius Summit (11-12 July) for UKDEL. You will be line-managed by an experienced Second Secretary within this team who will lead on coordination of the 2023 Summit Communique.
  • The successful candidate will quickly master a complex and rapidly changing international brief and work on a range of UK activities, supporting day-to-day negotiations at NATO Headquarters. This will involve you preparing for committee meetings, writing reports and advising officials in London and the UK’s global diplomatic network (20% of time), providing administrative assistance to track the development of Summit negotiations in senior NATO committees (40%), and providing administrative assistance to Delegation teams as required (20% of time)
  • You will also be involved in supporting the delivery of UKDEL’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee (D&I) programme of work for 2023 (20%), which will range from hosting panel discussions to organising social/learning events, and producing a regular newsletter to inform UKDEL staff of upcoming events relating to our four core themes – Race, Gender, LGBT, and Disability. This will also involve liaising with similar committees in our other two Brussels missions – the UK Mission to the EU, and the British Embassy in Brussels. Please note these plans may shift depending on resourcing in the coming months, and you may also be called to fill in for colleagues at short notice.  
  • The pace and range of work are increasing. The delegation is a busy team, a mixed community of UK diplomats, Ministry of Defence civilians, military officers and locally-hired employees, operating at a high tempo in a challenging multilateral environment. But it is also a supportive workplace, with a strong focus on learning and development and upholding values of respect, integrity, fairness and inclusivity.
  • As with all jobs in the Delegation, we promote an adaptable and responsive approach, which means the jobholder will need to be ready to adapt their focus to deal with changing circumstances and priorities. The jobholder will be a strong team player. Working in a large and diverse mission, there are plenty of opportunities to get involved in cross-team issues, and the job holder will be expected to make an active contribution to supporting the effectiveness and wellbeing of the UK delegation and its people, based on their particular interests and experience. We can ensure that it will be fast moving and enjoyable, with plenty of scope for policy development and delivery.
  • This internship will expose the successful candidate to a combination of multilateral policy work at the centre of a busy diplomatic mission, crisis response, and core office management tasks. The UK Delegation is joint – it reports directly to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD). The job-holder will therefore gain experience of working with civilian and military personnel and have the opportunity to build key Civil Service skills. The position also offers unique insight into the UK’s relationship with NATO – the cornerstone of our security.

The UK government is an equal opportunities employer. However, due to security requirements, electronic devices are not permitted in NATO workspaces and certain assistive technologies and IT therefore may not be suitable for this role. We will consider requests on a case-by-case basis and make every effort to accommodate reasonable adjustments.

Everyone has at least five days each year for development, and there is great scope to take up specific learning in different forms: there are team away days, opportunities for on-the-job learning, training courses, and longer-term development. French classes are organised regularly, and a range of other masterclasses and presentations are offered, e.g. on prioritisation, stress management and policy issues. Staff have access to the FCDO’s Diplomatic Academy, which provides in-depth learning and knowledge on a wealth of different subjects and skills up to diploma level.

This is an opportunity to find out what it is like to work in a diplomatic mission. We would particularly welcome applications from those with diverse backgrounds, for example, if you are a person of colour, have an ethnic minority background, are from a low socio-economic background or if you consider yourself disabled. Candidates from these backgrounds are too often under-represented in public institutions and in our missions.  As such, it is also an opportunity for you to influence and shape the future of our mission by sharing your ideas on how we can improve our diversity and inclusion efforts. We welcome fresh views and different perspectives. Experience in similar roles and/or completed university degree are not a requirement.

Duration: 6 months

The internship contract starting date can be discussed between the parties. Please note that despite the start date indicated above, the internship may start later due to the security clearance process. We recommend to delay any decisions regarding accommodation until said clearance comes through.

  • Excellent written and spoken English (minimum C1 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages*);
  • Keen interest in current affairs and international relations
  • Strong written and oral communication skills
  • Degree in Public policy, International Affairs or Law
  • Internship / some work experience in public policy and international affairs within local/national government, or international organisations
  • Strong focus on customer needs and stakeholder management
  • Have good communications skills and welcome the opportunity to establish trusting relationships with people from diverse backgrounds and experiences
  • Have an interest in furthering diversity in the workplace and in activism on diversity matters
  • Proficient user of Microsoft Office (Word, Excel and Outlook).
  • French language skills would be useful, but is not essential
  • Have personal or professional experience of diversity and its challenges
Managing a Quality Service, Delivering at Pace, Working Together
13 February 2023
Internship
Intern
36. 25
Europe, Eastern Europe & Central Asia
Belgium
Brussels
UK Delegation
1
EUR
€1.300
1 April 2023

These are full-time professional immersion traineeships with a duration of 6 months, 36.25 hours net for 5 working days a week.

The professional immersion indemnity for this position is €1.300. Additional benefits including allowances for public transport and daily subsistence costs of €7 per work day are also provided

Interns have access to 1 day of paid leave and 1 day of unpaid leave per month of internship.

Please note that Belgian nationals will be paid their salary gross and are expected to comply with their tax obligations through completion of a tax return to the Belgian authorities. Non-Belgian nationals will receive their salary net, minus the deduction of an equivalent level of Belgian tax retained at source. Further information on this will be given to candidates during the recruitment process.

Please be advised that the British Diplomatic Missions will not be able to meet the travel costs incurred when travelling to the interview, nor the costs connected with relocation if offered an internship offer.

Professional Immersion Traineeship Requirements:

  • Be a minimum of 18 years old;
  • Proof of valid medical coverage for the period of the internship (European Health Insurance Card);
  • The successful candidates will be subject to professional background checks and security clearance;

Staff recruited locally by the British Diplomatic Missions in Belgium are subject to Terms and Conditions of Service according to local Belgian employment law.

Visa/work permit requirements: Candidates must currently hold the independent right to live and work in Belgium and be prepared to ensure that right remains throughout the scope of the contract.

Please note that it is your responsibility to ensure you meet the legal requirements to live and work in this country.

Please note that the deadline for applications is 23:55 on the day mentioned in the above field “Application deadline”.

We advise you to allow enough time to complete and submit your full application, since only applications completed and submitted before the deadline will be considered.

Please be aware that the deadline for submitting applications is considered to be the time zone for the country where the vacancy has arisen.

Information due to COVID-19:

  • You may experience some delay in the progress of this recruitment campaign and we are working hard to minimise any disruption;
  • Interviews will be done remotely if the existing situation determines this to be the right course of action;
  • Starting date may be delayed depending on circumstances at the time and it will be agreed with the selected candidate.

*Please note for more information on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment  levels  please click on the following link CEFR. Please bear in mind in case you are invited for an interview your language skill is going to be assessed.

Please be aware that you will only be able to apply to vacancies for Country Based Staff roles with the British Government through this official tal.net site (operated by Oleeo). Jobs may be advertised on third party websites, however our adverts will always link back to the official tal.net site. If you complete and send an application through any other site, we will not receive it.

This opportunity is closed to applications.