Intern Governance and Programme Office

ECF - European Climate Foundation

Brussels, Belgium

The European Climate Foundation is seeking an intern to work on EU climate and energy governance and the EU’s 2030 climate and energy policy framework. The internship will be based in Brussels and will last for six months.

About the European Climate Foundation

The European Climate Foundation was established in 2008 as a major philanthropic initiative to promote climate and energy policies that greatly reduce Europe’s greenhouse gas emissions and to help Europe play a stronger international leadership role to mitigate climate change. The ECF is funded by major multi-year commitments from donors in Europe and the United States. The ECF is part of the international ClimateWorks Network that shares goals, strategies and resources to address the global challenge of climate change mitigation with a global network of aligned organizations. 

The ECF team is a highly dynamic group of individuals, combining ambition and passion with a rigorous, results-oriented and analytic approach to work. The ECF’s culture is one of intensity, enthusiasm and mutual support.

The Intern Governance & Programme Office will be reporting to the Senior Associate for Governance.

Governance cluster: The ECF governance cluster is focused on the governance of the EU’s 2030 policy framework and of the Energy Union.

Programme Office: The ECF Programme Office aims to provide coordination between the sectoral programmes and cross-cutting initiatives (“clusters”), to ensure development and execution of a coherent strategy, and to alert senior management to programmatic gaps in the coverage of the EU policy debate.

Duties and responsibilities

The intern would primarily support the activities of the Governance cluster and, as needed, the Programme Office. The role involves:

• Analysis and research on EU law and governance on a wide range of matters relating to climate and energy policy;
• Administrative work related to grant making and grant management (using Fluxx and PARL, the organisation’s internal grant management systems);
• Monitoring EU climate and energy policy, particularly relating to governance and law, and reporting on new developments;
• Monitoring, attending, and reporting on events in Brussels that are relevant to the work of the ECF and its grantees;
• Research tasks related to diverse topics on EU climate and energy policy, as needed;
• Helping with the organisation of meetings and events;
• Helping to manage a broad network of stakeholders in different countries following the 2030 debate;
• Drafting and circulating a monthly newsletter with campaign updates and an overview of recent climate and energy related publications;
• In a rotation scheme with other interns, providing Daily News updates to all staff.

Competencies and experience

The following qualifications and personal attitudes are required for this position:

• An academic background (to primary degree level at least) in one of the following fields: law, environmental science, public policy especially related to climate or energy policy;
• An understanding of and interest in EU climate and energy policies;
• A minimum of one professional experience (this could include paid or voluntary part-time work or university summer work placements) in an area relevant to the work of the European Climate Foundation;
• Demonstrated interest in the mission and values of the European Climate Foundation;
• Fluent written and spoken English;
• Excellent organisational and time-management skills;
• Demonstrated research skills;
• Proven ability to work well under pressure, take initiative and be a creative problem-solver;
• Strong administrative and computer skills including the Microsoft Office suite (Outlook, PowerPoint, Word, Excel).

The following attributes are desirable but not essential for this position:

• An interest in philanthropy;
• Language skills (particularly French and German);
• Experience working or studying in an international environment;
• Familiarity with Macintosh computers and operating system;
• Experience of drafting documents that communicate complex subjects to a general audience.

Start date: 4 January 2016, or as soon as possible
Compensation: Competitive

To apply

Please send your CV and cover letter in English to SMO-InternPOG@Europeanclimate.org. Please indicate “Recruitment – PO and governance internship” in the Subject line. Candidates must be in the possession of a valid work permit for Belgium, in case applicable.

Telephone calls will not be forwarded to the recruitment team. Due to the high number of applications, only short listed candidates will be contacted.

Application deadline: 29 November 2015

For more information on the ECF, please visit www.europeanclimate.org.