NATO Internship Office of Legal Affars (OLA) & Administrative Tribunal (AT)

Internship Call OLA & AT - Vacancy Notice

We are looking for motivated early career professionals to support our work on legal affairs. More specifically the selected interns will support either the work of the Administrative Tribunal or the Office of Legal Affairs.

The Administrative Tribunal is an independent NATO-wide body composed by five external judges and a Registrar office. It adjudicates cases brought to its attention by staff members or former staff members and legal successors against decisions not in compliance with the Civilian Personnel Regulations their contracts or terms of appointment. The Office of the Registrar is responsible for the administration and management of the Tribunal for providing the required legal support to the judges and to procedurally assist the parties in the proceedings.

The Office of Legal Affairs provides independent legal advice to the Secretary General the International Staff and as appropriate the North Atlantic Council and other NATO bodies in particular on legal issues arising in the application of defence and security policy the interpretation of NATO basic texts the development and application of internal rules and regulations and on other international legal matters of relevance to the Organization.

How the daily work will look like

The intern will participate in the daily activities and proceedings of the Tribunal including assisting to its sessions. Interns are likely to be asked to conduct legal research and to attend and write reports of meetings. They will be assigned specific projects to be conducted independently with only guiding supervision. The selected candidates will be able to refine their research and presenting skills acquire in-depth knowledge in the field of international administrative law and gain experience in the management of a small office.

In addition the selected intern for the Administrative Tribunal will acquire a solid knowledge of international administrative law and will also have the opportunity to participate in the Tribunals hearings.

The selected intern for the Office of Legal Affairs will draft legal memoranda either for internal use or for the Private Office of the Secretary General or other parts of the IS draft speaking points for the Director of the Office of Legal Affairs and contribute to articles drafted by the team. They will be asked to attend meetings of Allies including the North Atlantic Council and subordinate committees where matters of relevance to the Office are being discussed. They will assist in preparations for meetings of Allies legal advisers to discuss matters of legal importance to the Alliance.

What do we offer

• A 6-month traineeship at NATO Headquarters in Brussels starting in March / September 2027.
• A full-time traineeship (38 hours a week).
• A monthly grant of 1334.96 and a travel reimbursement upon joining and leaving the organisation.
• Teleworking subject to business requirements.
• A rich programme of activities attending regular events and participating in meetings with several stakeholders.
• NATO HQ Staff Centre which promotes employee well-being and foster a healthy work environment (click here for more info special membership price for NATO interns)

Selection Criteria

Please note that you can apply for up to three (3) different vacancies!

Apply until 30/04/2026 23.59 Brussels time

Essential:

The candidate must:

1. be a national of a NATO member State

2. be at least 21 years old

3. have at least a Bachelors degree in law

4. have proficiency in one of the two official NATO languages (English/French).

Desirable:

The following criteria will be considered an advantage:

1. have a Masters degree relevant to the requested area of expertise

2. demonstrated academic excellence in the field of law;

3. elementary knowledge of the second official NATO language (English/French)

4. be an advance user of IT tools including Microsoft Office and SharePoint;

5. previous experience with other international organizations national administration research or industry.

Competencies required:

The candidate must demonstrate the following competencies:

Achievement: Works to meet standards.

Analytical thinking: Breaks down problems and sees basic relationships.

Clarity and accuracy: Shows general concern for order and clarity and checks own work.

Customer service orientation: Responds appropriately maintains clear communication.

Empathy: Listens actively.

Flexibility: Acts with flexibility.

Initiative: Reacts to short-term opportunities or problems.

Teamwork: Cooperates shares information and knowledge freely offering support and cooperation.

Our Values:

NATO is committed to diversity and inclusion and strives to provide equal access to employment advancement and retention independent of gender age nationality ethnic origin religion or belief cultural background sexual orientation and disability. NATO welcomes applications of nationals from all member Nations and strongly encourages women as well as candidates living with disability to apply.

NATO is committed to fostering an inclusive and accessible working environment where all candidates living with disabilities can fully participate in the recruitment and selection process. If you require reasonable accommodation during the recruitment process please inform us. Candidates will be required to provide documented medical evidence to support their request for accommodation.

Building Integrity is a key element of NATOs core tasks. As an employer NATO values commitment to the principles of integrity transparency and accountability in accordance with international norms and practices established for the defence and related security sector. Selected candidates are expected to be role models of integrity and to promote good governance through ongoing efforts in their work.

Special Notice:

In order for the Internship Office to assess your eligibility for the Internship Programme please attach the following documents:

1. Copy of university qualifications you have completed and/or

2. Proof of ongoing studies with the dates clearly mentioned if you are still studying.

We prefer that these documents are in one of the NATO official language (English or French). If you dont have these documents in English or French please attach a self translation.

Please ensure that all information is complete and accurate before submitting your application.

Please note that the application cannot be updated after the relevant deadline.

The pool of candidates will be available to all NATO IS / IMS Divisions Offices and NATO Bodies in case there is a need for a similar profile.

Due to the broad interest in NATO and the large number of potential candidates telephone or e-mail enquiries cannot be dealt with.

Read more about the Internship Programme including terms and conditions and what we offer at our website.

Kindly note that NATO will not accept submissions at any phase of the recruitment and selection which are prepared in whole or in part by means of generative artificial-intelligence (AI) tools including and without limitation to chatbots such as Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer (Chat GPT) or other language generating tools. NATO reserves the right to screen applications to identify the use of such tools. All applications prepared in whole or in part by means of such generative or creative AI applications may be rejected without further consideration at NATOs sole discretion and NATO reserves the right to take further steps in such cases as appropriate.