Trainee Innovation Management

EDA - European Defence Agency

Brussels, Belgium

THE TRAINEESHIP

The traineeship will be within the RTI Coordination Team which is responsible for transversal and cross-directorate tasks. The traineeship will be focused around the newly established Hub for EU Defence Innovation (HEDI) and its portfolio of activities such as the Innovation prize, the European Defence Innovation Network, and the experimentation of innovative technologies.

TASKS AND DUTIES

Under the supervision of a trainee advisor, the trainee will contribute to/be responsible for the following activities:

support the secretarial tasks of meetings and workshops related to the Hub for EU Defence Innovation;
support the organisation of conferences and events under the auspices of the RTI Directorate;
perform desktop research on topics related to Defence Innovation and Capability Technology areas of the Agency or on any other emerging topics;
support the preparation of operational meetings with experts as well as political meetings with Member States;
take on additional tasks as required in the interest of the service.

A typical day at work includes:

participating in Unit/EDA meetings or project meetings;
performing desktop research on topics for which the candidate is comfortable with;
drafting minutes/operational conclusions from meetings;
drafting reports and other material related to EDA work strands;
involvement in research and innovation activities;
keeping databases and the EDA Collaboration Platform (ECP) up to date;
support the organisation of operational and political meetings.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Project outputs & learning outcomes:

The trainee will get familiar with and will acquire practical experience in:

defence innovation tools, methodologies, and best practices;
identification of dual-use technologies and policy implications;
creation of defence innovation ecosystems.

The trainee will become more familiar with the way of working of EU bodies and will gain knowledge in defence innovation and organisation as well as in project management.

These elements could form an excellent basis for future work in European bodies, in national administrations or in industry involved in defence innovation.

Technical/Soft skills to be acquired:

From this experience, the trainee will gain:

ability to work in a team in a multicultural environment;
accuracy and attention to detail;
very good organisational and communication skills;
affinity with security and defence;
research and analytical skills;
quantitative and qualitative data analysis;
report preparation and writing skills;
understanding of project management principles;
time management;
multi-stakeholder relations/management;
organisation of (international) meetings and events;
ability to work effectively in an EU environment;
organisation of defence research.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

To be considered eligible to take part in this selection procedure, on the closing date for the submission of applications candidates must satisfy all the eligibility criteria as specified below:

be a national of a Member State participating in the Agency;
be entitled to their full rights as citizens;
produce the appropriate character references as to their suitability for the performance of their duties (extract from the “judicial record” or certificate of good conduct will be requested prior to recruitment);
be physically fit to perform their duties;
have a thorough knowledge (minimum level C1 oral and written) of one of the languages of the participating Member States and a satisfactory knowledge (minimum level B2 oral and written) of another of these languages to the extent necessary to discharge their duties;
have no personal interest (financial, family relationship, or other) which could be in conflict with disinterested discharge of their duties within the Agency;
hold, or be in a position to obtain, a valid Personnel Security Clearance Certificate (national or EU PSC at SECRET UE/EU SECRET level);
have completed at least the first (minimum three-year) cycle of a higher education course (university education) and obtained a full degree or its equivalent by the closing date for applications;
have not previously undertaken for more than six weeks a paid or unpaid traineeship or any kind of employment in another EU institution, Agency, or body.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Only applications meeting all essential selection criteria will be assessed.

The pre-selection of candidates to be invited to an interview is based on a comparative assessment of all applications against the selection criteria and additional assets.

It should be highlighted that the selection criteria constitute a minimum threshold and that only candidates considered as most suitable are invited to an interview.

Essential:

On the closing date for the submission of applications candidates must satisfy all the essential criteria as specified below:

a University degree (or equivalent academic degree) in at least one of the following fields: Engineering, Science, International, European studies, or similar;
advanced IT skills, particularly in MS Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook), knowledge of Microsoft SharePoint and familiarity with database management;
a very good command of written and spoken English (minimum level C1).