Trainee Aviation

EDA - European Defence Agency

Brussels, Belgium

THE TRAINEESHIP

The aim of this traineeship is to support the Head of Unit and the Project Officers in activities related to aviation, including Air Traffic Management, Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems, and Cyber Security.

TASKS AND DUTIES

Under the supervision of a traineeship advisor, the trainee will work with colleagues in the area of Aviation, particularly Air Traffic Management, and will contribute to the following activities:

support the Head of Unit regarding information management within the Unit, some administrative tasks and the organisation of EDA SES Military Aviation Board (ESMAB) meetings (Management and Policy level) as well as other meetings organised by SES Unit members;
support the Project officers of the Unit in the preparation of their respective meetings, working groups and committees;
manage documentation, efficient follow-up, drafting minutes, reports, coordinating interventions;
ensuring good information flow, updating content and documentation in databases;
in-house liaison and coordination with the other Units and Directorates of the Agency;
take on additional tasks as required in the interest of the service.

A typical day at work involves the following activities:

organise meetings, including booking meeting rooms, ensuring good Teams or Webex connections, monitoring the distribution of invitations and supporting documents, and coordinating the Unit’s weekly meetings;
coordinate the drafting and consolidation of minutes from the various meetings;
review document templates and formatting for materials to be sent to Member States and external stakeholders;
maintain up-to-date lists of participants for the different working groups;
maintain and regularly update the consolidated agenda covering all meetings in which the Unit participates;
maintain/update the Unit’s SharePoint space.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Project outputs & learning outcomes:

The selected trainee will be involved in many meetings at EU level with Member States representatives and aviation stakeholders. The selected trainee will become familiar with and will acquire practical experience and knowledge in:

aviation-related issues including Single European Sky & SESAR (SES ATM Research), Cyber, and Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems, both in civil and Military domain;
main aviation stakeholders at EU level, both in civil and Military domain;
European institutions’ processes as well as interactions between defence policies and some European economic policies;
aviation regulatory processes;
meeting/event organisation and multi-Stakeholder relations/management.

Technical/Soft skills to be acquired:

From this experience the trainee will gain:

ability to work effectively in a multicultural/EU and complex environment;
ability to work in a small team and independently in his/her/their area of responsibility;
accuracy and attention to detail;
database content management;
user access management;
affinity with security and defence;
report preparation and writing skills;
organisation of (international) meetings and events.

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.

Please note the following:

Age limit:

No age limit is imposed on the candidates for traineeships; however, as a matter of priority, traineeships are offered to recent university graduates.

UK nationality:

Due to the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union on 31/01/2020, candidates from the United Kingdom who do not hold the nationality of another participating EU Member State, are not eligible.

Languages:

For native English speakers, the ability to communicate in another EU language will be tested during the selection process.

Personnel Security Clearance (PSC):

This is a certificate issued by a competent authority establishing that an individual is security cleared and holds a valid national or EU PSC, and which shows the level of EUCI to which that individual may be granted access (CONFIDENTIEL UE/EU CONFIDENTIAL or above), the date of validity of the relevant PSC and the date of expiry of the certificate itself. Please note that the procedure for obtaining a PSCC can only be initiated by EDA on behalf of the selected candidate.

Non-EU diplomas:

Only diplomas that have been awarded in EU Member States or that are the subject of equivalence certificates issued by the authorities in the said Member States shall be taken into consideration. In the latter case, the authority authorised to conclude contracts of employment reserves the right to request proof of such equivalence. For diplomas awarded in non-EU countries, a NARIC recognition is required.

UK diplomas:

Qualifications/diplomas awarded until 31/12/2020 in the United Kingdom are accepted without further recognition. For diplomas awarded after this date (from 01/01/2021), a NARIC recognition is required.

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 Aeronautics, Aviation, Security and Defence, Communications, or similar domain;
advanced IT literacy, particularly in MS Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook);
a very good command of written and spoken English (level C1/C2).