Trainee for Economic Development

EUROCITIES

Brussels, Belgium

We are recruiting a trainee to work on topics linked to economic development, to become a member of the economic development team for 1 year (six months, renewable for another six months), ideally starting mid-April 2024.

Responsibilities

As trainee, you will play an important role in Eurocities’ daily work, with a focus on topics linked to economic development. You will work with the Policy and Forum Officer, covering topics such as the next EU Budget, local financing for the just transition, industrial policy, local innovation ecosystems, local regeneration strategies, sustainable tourism, skills, and more. In this role, you will:

assist in the organisation and follow-up of the Economic Development Forum (EDF) Working Groups meetings, such as (online) knowledge exchanges, workshops, webinars, and discussions;
draft articles and collect input for the EDF Forum newsletter as well as the Eurocities newsletter, update the Eurocities internal web pages on EDF issues, and perform other communications-related tasks;
monitor policy initiatives, developments, and events at the EU level on topics such as strategies of urban and regional development, innovation and entrepreneurship, financing and local investments, industrial policy, public procurement, and sustainable tourism;
carry out research, analyse policy documents, and draft briefing notes;
support the organisation of the EDF annual meeting;
support project development work in the area of economic development;
maintain the relevant member database;
give general support to the EDF team as needed.

Profile

You are proactive and enthusiastic about delivering positive results in a flexible manner.

Eurocities will support you in developing your skills for entering the workplace. We have set out below some skills that would help you get the most out of this traineeship.

You have:

a university degree, preferably linked to economic and regional development issues;
basic knowledge and interest in local and regional economic development trends in the EU;
basic knowledge about economic development policies in the EU, the EU institutions, and the role of local authorities;
a keen interest in economic policies;
excellent oral and written communications skills in English. Other languages are an asset;
excellent organisational skills;
problem-solving approach;
good interpersonal skills for an international environment;
experience with Microsoft Teams;
good knowledge of the Microsoft Office suite (incl. Teams, SharePoint).

(Please note that this position does not have a focus on urban planning/development, architecture, or spatial planning).