NATO Internship Council Secretariat (CONSEC)

Internship Call - CONSEC - Vacancy Notice

Within NATOs International Staff (IS) the Council Secretariat (CONSEC) bears overall responsibility for the end-to-end enablement of Alliance consultation and decision-making processes from planning and organization to their effective and efficient implementation. It thereby provides organizational support and advice to the NATO Secretary General and the North Atlantic Council as well as to individual Allies and Partners. CONSEC is structured in three sections: (i) Council Committee and Conference Services; (ii) Protocol and Events; and (iii) Linguistic Services. CONSEC also leads the NATO Summit and Ministerial Task Force. It is further responsible for all Protocol issues involving the Secretary General the Deputy Secretary General and the Council.

How the daily work will look like

Are you interested in gaining experience in high-level events organisation Are you willing to work in a dynamic environment with ever-changing requirements and many stakeholders Do you want to support our political consultation and decision making process Then you could be the intern we are looking for! NATO is currently looking for an intern who is willing to step up to the challenge of working in the Council Secretariat either supporting the Council and Committee Secretariats or Linguistics Services.

As an intern you will either be selected to help plan the work of our staff interpreters or to support logistical preparation of Council and committee meetings. For Linguistics Services this means preparing folders with official meeting documents engaging with Committee secretariats and managing the mailboxes for interpreters on both of NATOs official networks. For the Council and Committee Secretariats logistical preparation entails room bookings seating arrangements room preparation document management and planning support.

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 two years of university level studies OR equivalent education OR be currently a student OR a recent graduate (degree obtained no longer than 12 months ago)

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 Bachelors degree or in the final stage of a Masters degree relevant to the requested area of expertise

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

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

4. 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 see basic relationships.

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

Conceptual thinking: Sees patterns on life/work experience and applies learned concepts.

Customer service orientation: Responds appropriately maintains clear communication.

Empathy: Listens actively.

Flexibility: Acts with flexibility.

Initiative: Reacts to short-term opportunities or problems.

Organizational awareness: Understands the Organizations structure.

Organizational commitment: Adheres to NATOs standards policies and explicit values.

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 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 please inform us during your selection process. 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 any phase of the recruitment and selection 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.