Trainee Maritime Domain

EDA - European Defence Agency

Brussels, Belgium

THE TRAINEESHIP

The aim of this traineeship is to contribute to, and support, the daily activities of the Maritime Domain Unit (MDU).

This traineeship offers trainees a unique opportunity to experience working within the EDA Maritime Unit and immerse themselves in all areas related to the European maritime and defence landscape and the work of multinational project officers. The Maritime Unit is a small six-person unit tasked with a wide area of responsibilities spanning the maritime domain. The Project Officers’ responsibilities, with which the trainee will be assisting, can be broadly categorised within three main areas:

Underwater/Subsurface:

The underwater work of the Maritime Unit focuses on the identification and development of capability-related projects in the area of mine warfare, critical maritime infrastructure protection, and anti-submarine warfare working closely with experts from across participating Member States (pMS) in a project team setting.

Surface Warfare and Power Projection:

The Maritime Unit provides support to Member States in the domain of Naval Manoeuvrability through the identification and development of capabilities aimed at reducing the fragmentation and enhancing the coherence of the capacity landscape. The focus is on surface unmanned systems, patrol ship and corvette design, self-defence capabilities and smart logistics.

Maritime Surveillance:

Maritime surveillance is one of strategic importance for Europe which sees a high level of multinational cooperation. The work in this area involves interaction with almost all coastal states of Europe, as well as interinstitutional contacts with other actors dealing with the topic, such as EEAS, EUMS, EMSA, DG MARE, FRONTEX, and SATCEN.

TASKS AND DUTIES

Under the supervision of a trainee advisor, the trainee will work with all colleagues having the opportunity to explore the responsibilities and activities of each Project Officer in the Maritime Domain and will contribute to/be responsible for the following activities:

development of a European and international “events and conferences” watch, to build an interesting and recurrent annual planning;
prepare official communications to Member States;
organise and participate in international meetings;
support maritime related concept development activities (where necessary);
prepare Food-For-Thought Papers on maritime related topics;
scan open media for news of interest and support of the work of MDU;
development of media content for topics related to MDU work strands (in cooperation with the Media and Communication Unit for external use, such as conferences, networking, etc.);
maintenance of a Points of Contact (PoC) database for the areas of Underwater Control, Naval Manoeuvrability and Maritime Situational Awareness;
support the responsible Project Officer for Naval Combat Maritime Interdiction with the Ad-Hoc Working Groups on European Combat Vessel, Counter Uncrewed Maritime Vessels, and Uncrewed Maritime Vessels;
take on additional tasks as required in the interest of the service.

A typical day at work involves the following activities:

drafting internal and external communications;
supporting the organisation of international meetings/workshops and relevant communication with participating Member States;
participation in meetings/workshops and provision of minutes and requested documentation;
support in preparing internal and external presentations;
data and record management on EDA Collaboration Platform (ECP) and SharePoint;
updating EDA’s maritime domain website by collaborating with the Media & Communication Unit;
supporting Project Officers in conducting meetings on EDA premises;
supporting the Head of Unit in gathering the conclusions of these meetings;
conduct ad-hoc research on topics of interest for the MDU activities;
draft and circulate a weekly newsletter on key developments in the maritime domain to the EDA maritime community;
support the knowledge and document management of the Unit via different IT tools.

Daily tasks and activities vary significantly in a small team environment such as the Maritime Unit. Each day the trainee will work closely with a Project Officer, planning project meetings, engaging with Member States, and exploring capability development activities across the project areas. The trainee will need to be able to work autonomously and show initiative under the guidance of a trainee advisor. A creative or innovative mindset is always an asset.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Project outputs & learning outcomes:

The selected trainee will be involved in international project management and will become familiar with and will acquire practical experience in conducting international meetings. The trainee will gain:

knowledge about international project management;
knowledge about European defence policy and the decision making mechanisms within the EU security ecosystem;
knowledge of the European Maritime landscape and understanding of CARD, PESCO, EDIDP and EDF;
understanding of European collaborative opportunities in the defence domain;
experience in data and information management;
experience in multinational meetings;
research experience in maritime affairs and defence industry;
experience in data analysis;
broader knowledge/understanding of the maritime capabilities landscape.

Technical/Soft skills to be acquired:

From this experience the trainee will gain:

ability to work effectively in a multinational/multicultural and complex environment;
ability to work in a small team and independently in his/her/their area of responsibility;
accuracy and attention to detail;
user access management;
organisational and communication skills;
affinity with security and defence;
research and analytical skills;
increase versatility skills;
report preparation and writing skills;
web-tool/database management skills;
understanding of interproject management principles;
ability to work effectively in a multinational environment;
result-orientated planning and execution;
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: Political Science or International Affairs (with a focus on security and defence), Maritime Studies, Maritime Engineering, Economics, (Maritime) Law, Management, or similar;
advanced IT skills, particularly in MS Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook);
a very good command of written and spoken English (minimum level C1).