About Us

The OPCW internship programme is aimed at motivated students with an interest in gaining experience in international organisations. The programme normally provides work placements in the Technical Secretariat for a three to six month period. The objective of the internship is to provide you with first-hand experience in the day-to-day working environment of an international organisation. You will work with our international experts towards the OPCW mission to achieve a world permanently free of chemical weapons.

As part of our team, working directly with outstanding and inspiring career professionals, you will be exposed to high-profile conferences, participate in meetings, and contribute to our analytical work as well as the organisational policy of the OPCW.

General Information

• Contract Type
  Intern
• Remuneration
  540 EUR
• Closing Date
  09/08/2024

Responsibilities

Job Summary

The Secretariat for the Policy-Making Organs facilitates meetings and wider consultations between States Parties and the Technical Secretariat, ensuring substantive and operative support to the policy-making organs and their subsidiary bodies in their decision making processes, including the follow-up and implementation of their decisions.

During this internship, the intern will assist the Secretariat for the Policy-Making Organs during logistical preparations and conduct of the 107th Session of the Executive Council (EC-107) and 29th session of the Conference of the States Parties (CSP-29). The intern will learn about the event management and its lifecycle, and database management. Gain in-depth knowledge of diplomacy and communication with States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).

Tentative starting date: 2 September 2024.

Main Responsibilities

During this internship, the intern will:

1. Assist the Conference Services Unit with EC- 107 registrations;
2. Assist in planning and conduct of the side-events and exhibitions at the CSP-29;
3. Help conduct end-year survey;
4. Draft email communications to the States Parties to the CWC;
5. Help digitise informal papers;
6. Update PMO web-content;
7. Upload content on the external server;
8. Validate migration of Audio/Video files to new server.

Qualifications and Experience

Education

Essential:

• Enrolled in and have completed at least one year of a degree programme in a university (or equivalent tertiary institution) or; in a graduate school programme (second university degree or higher) or;
• Have graduated from a university or a graduate school within a year prior to the commencement of the internship and;
• Be a citizen of an OPCW Member State and fluent in both written and spoken English.

Desirable:

Enrolled in and/or have completed a degree in public administration, political science, social sciences, international relations and similar fields.

Skills and Competencies

• Communication, event management, relationship building, drafting, data entry, multimedia, and related areas of competence;
• Excellent written and verbal English language communication skills;
• Intermediate literacy in Microsoft applications (Word, Excel, Power Point, Teams). Knowledge of SharePoint is considered an asset;
• Fluent English. Knowledge of one or more of the OPCW official languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish) is considered an advantage. Knowledge of other languages is considered an asset.

Languages

Fluency in English is essential and a good working knowledge of one of the other official languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish) is desirable.

Additional Information

Acceptance for the programme shall not carry with it any expectation of employment with the OPCW. Interns may not apply for, or be appointed to, any posts or positions at the OPCW within six months of the internship agreement end date. The internship programme is run in accordance with the applicable internal rules and where applicable the OPCW Staff Regulations and Interim Staff Rules.

1. Participants in the Internship Programme receive no financial remuneration from the OPCW for expenses that they incur in relation to the programme. Costs and arrangements for travel, visas, taxes, accommodation, living expenses and repatriation, etc. are the responsibility of the intern. The intern has to enter and exit the country in accordance with the applicable immigration procedures in The Netherlands.
2. Participants will be asked to provide proof that they have sufficient financial means for living expenses for the period of their internship.
3. Interns will work with the normal working pattern of the OPCW which will amount to no more than 40 hours a week.
4. Participants who are citizens of non-EU countries should agree not to undertake other work in the Netherlands during their internship other than as an intern at the OPCW, notwithstanding whether such other work is compatible with the discharge of their functions with the OPCW.

Only fully completed applications submitted before the closing date and through OPCW CandidateSpace will be considered.

Only applicants under serious consideration for a post will be contacted.

Applications from qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged.

OPCW General Terms and Conditions