PHAP Professional Development Program

Summary

The International Association of Professionals in Humanitarian Assistance and Protection (PHAP) is recruiting a Membership and Communications Intern to start on 6 January 2014 at its headquarters in Brussels, on a full-time basis, for a period of six months. As an integral part of a small and dynamic professional team, the Program Assistant will contribute significantly to the operations of the association, assisting with the management of the Professional Development Program, the preparation of course materials, the identification of new instructors, and communications with individuals taking part in courses and workshops.

About PHAP

The International Association of Professionals in Humanitarian Assistance and Protection (PHAP) is the world’s only sector-wide, member-governed association of professionals engaged in humanitarian assistance and protection. Its global member network encompasses the full spectrum of institutional affiliations and professional backgrounds in the humanitarian sector. Established in mid-2010, PHAP’s mission is to enhance the humanitarian sector’s ability to effectively and professionally respond to current and future crises. To this end, it pursues the following strategic objectives: build capacity of professionals to assist and protect affected populations; distill professional knowledge and disseminate good practices for humanitarian action; create a space for reflection and exchange on policy issues within the humanitarian sector; cultivate networks and provide services to further the professional, social, and personal development members of the worldwide professional humanitarian community.

Among other activities, under its Professional Development Program PHAP offers advanced practitioner-oriented series of onsite and online courses and workshops, including one track on Humanitarian Law and Policy and another on Leadership and Management of Humanitarian Action. The tasks of the Program Assistant will relate specifically to the management of the Professional Development Program.

For more information about PHAP and its activities, see our website (www.phap.org).

Conditions

• Starting date: 6 January 2014
• Based in Brussels (legally able to work in Belgium for the entire duration of the internship)
• Full-time schedule of five days (38 hours) per week
• Six months, consisting of an initial three-month period plus a three-month extension (to be decided at the latest one month before the end of the first three month period)

Employment will be under the Belgian “convention d’immersion professionnelle,” and the intern will thereby be covered by the Belgian social security. Compensation will be according to Belgian law for a maximum of 736,20 € per month (net, after tax). Please note that this type of internship cannot be given to students with an internship as obligatory requirement in their study program (bachelor or master).

Duties

• Assist with various aspects of the management of PHAP’s Professional Development Program:
• Communication with training participants
• Offsite logistics for the training events
• Analysis of evaluation forms and creation of reports
• Preparation, consolidation, and updating of course materials on humanitarian law and policy, and on the management and leadership of humanitarian action
• Production of written reports following the training events
• Support in the identification of new speakers and instructors and maintaining of speaker database
• Support to communication and marketing efforts related to the Professional Development Program, including drafting of announcements for specific events and outreach to relevant agencies and organisations
• General administrative support
• Contribute to other tasks and projects as assigned by the Executive Director

Qualifications

• At least one year of prior relevant work experience (including prior internships);
• Legal ability to work in Belgium;
• Excellent English language skills, including both written and verbal communication skills; 
• Demonstrated interest in and knowledge of the field of humanitarian affairs;
• French language skills highly desirable; other languages a plus;
• Demonstrated ability to draft clear and concise texts for external communication;
• Strong IT skills (Word, Excel, databases) together with a demonstrated aptitude and enthusiasm for learning how to use new IT tools and systems;
• Strong organizational skills, resourcefulness, flexibility and ability to efficiently handle multiple tasks;
• Ability to work independently, with limited supervision, and with attention to detail;
• Prior experience working with content management systems (in particular Drupal) and contact relationship management databases (in particular CiviCRM) is an advantage;
• Prior experience working in a membership organization/ professional association is an advantage;
• Entrepreneurial spirit.

Read more about the association at www.phap.org

How to apply:

DEADLINE: 12 November 2013, 5 p.m. GMT (applications are reviewed on a rolling basis; interested candidates are advised to apply as soon as possible)

• By Tuesday, 12 November 2013, 5 p.m. GMT, applicants should send their cover letter and CV (and, optionally, writing sample) by email to jobs@phap.org (applications sent by email will be acknowledged automatically upon receipt). Please note that all application materials must be written in English.
• In addition, in order to be considered for the internship, all applicants MUST register and complete an online skills assessment and brief questionnaire before close of business on Wednesday, 13 November 2013. (Instructions and the registration link for the online skills assessment will be sent to applicants after they submit their cover letter and CV to jobs@phap.org. The online skills assessment is not a timed test. Candidates are advised to schedule up to 2 hours to complete it.) 
• Interviews will take place the following week, either in person in Brussels or Geneva or via phone/Skype.