View Vacancy - Diversity Traineeships-multiple positions within the Three Missions’ Traineeships- Programme (BEL24.131)

The British Government is an inclusive and diversity-friendly employer. We value difference, promote equality and challenge discrimination, because it’s the right thing to do, and it helps us all perform better. 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. 

We would like to recruit several trainees for 6-9 months to join the UK’s Missions in Brussels: our UK Mission to the European Union (UKMis), our British Embassy in Brussels, our Joint Delegation to NATO and our Corporate Services Benelux (CSB) team. We would like trainees to start in September 2024 but be prepared for this to vary as it is conditional on successful security clearance. As an trainee, you would be working in one of these Missions. We will take your preference and skill set into account to the best of our ability. We will support you throughout your time in the UK Missions with training, taking into account your future ambitions and aiming to provide relevant exposure to the areas that interest you. Unless specified below as an essential requirement, all training is possible on the job.

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 and/or are from a low socio-economic background, if you are a neurodiverse individual and/or if you are a person with disabilities. 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.  

These traineeships provide a professional immersion outside of any educational programme. Therefore, no paperwork with a university or school can be signed.

Please find below a short description of each of the Missions:

The British Embassy represents the UK’s political, economic and consular interests with Belgium.

The Political and Public Diplomacy Team sits at the heart of the British Embassy in Brussels. The team engages the Governments of Belgium and provides reporting, analysis and external communications to support a range of UK interests in Belgium, including foreign policy, diversity, climate change, economics, serious organised crime and security. 

You will support the work of the Political and Public Diplomacy Team. You will support the team through research and analysis of key foreign policy priorities, Belgian politics and provide administrative support for our communications work. For the security and serious organised crime policy areas, you will support with researching and monitoring developments in topics such as drugs, illegal migration, modern slavery, cybercrime, firearms trafficking and illicit finance. For the values agenda you will work on gender equality, social mobility and diversity. You will help run the Diplomat for a Day programme designed to encourage young Belgian women to consider a career in diplomacy and help co-ordinate our support for the UN 16 days of activism against gender based violence. You will participate in Embassy outreach, supporting events and meetings. You will also offer general administrative support including arranging meetings and maintaining databases. 

The job of an Embassy is to understand the country it operates in. We encourage our staff to share their expertise and insight on life in Belgium, particularly across the areas on which the Embassy focusses, in order to deepen our understanding and promote a learning culture.

We will offer you learning and development opportunities and a chance to contribute to our Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Sharing experiences with other trainees in the building is an extra bonus. Interest in media, event organisation and diversity in the workplace will be an asset, as will your willingness to be flexible to help with a wide variety of tasks.

Duration: 6-9 months. The starting date for the traineeship is currently listed as September, but this could be earlier if both parties agree.

The UK Mission to the European Union (UKMis) promotes and explains the UK’s interests to EU member states and the EU institutions. We work on the full range of UK government business, with staff drawn from a wide range of government departments and agencies as well as locally recruited staff.

We are recruiting several trainees to work in different teams across UKMis Brussels. You will support and lead on tasks that help the teams and the organisation function. Your role will likely include reporting on events run by EU institutions, think tanks or media organisations as well as attending, and assisting with meetings within the Mission and wider UK civil service. You may be influencing and reporting on a range of EU policy areas. Alongside this, you will likely work with our Business Management Team and Business Support Officers on administrative tasks such as data handling.

We will offer you learning and development and opportunities to contribute to our Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Sharing experiences with other trainees in the building is an extra bonus. Interest in media, event organisation and diversity in the workplace will be an asset, as will your willingness to be flexible to help with a wide variety of tasks.

Please indicate in your application if you have a specific interest in an EU policy area or speciality (such as media, events, research etc.).

Duration: 6 months

The UK Joint Delegation to 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 bedrock of Euro-Atlantic defence and security. 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.

We are looking for one trainee to support NATO work. The exact role will depend on evolving priorities but the roles is likely to focus on NATO’s 75th anniversary and a NATO Summit in 2024. It is a great opportunity to learn about how NATO works and you will be fully integrated into the work of the Delegation.

Duration: 6-9 months

The Corporate Services Benelux (CSB) delivers a wide range of quality corporate services in support of our missions in Brussels. We also support our missions in Luxembourg and The Hague, a large UK Border Force detachment and the representative offices of the UK’s three Devolved Governments (of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales). Our customer base, including staff dependants, is around 600 people.
As an trainee in CSB you could gain valuable experience across a range of work areas including accommodation services and arrangements for newly arrived officers taking up duties in our missions to Human Resources, transport, finance, IT, hospitality, estates and more, in support of business needs. 

Duration: 6-9 months. 

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

During your application, you will be asked to complete questions on ‘Communicating & Influencing’ and your experience of diversity and inclusion. You can read more about Civil Service Behaviours here.

• Excellent written and spoken English (minimum C1 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages*);
• Excellent written and spoken French or Dutch (minimum C1 level CEFR) is a requirement only for the British Embassy;
• Personal or professional experience of diversity and its challenges, and interest in furthering diversity and inclusion in the workplace;
• Interest in working in a public organisation;
• Good communications skills;
• Welcomes the opportunity to establish trusting relationships with people from diverse backgrounds and experiences;
• Ability to coordinate and organise activities such as internal and external events;
• Familiarity with MS Office tools.
• Flexibility – the willingness to work on a variety of administrative tasks, often working across teams.