NATO Internship - Legal Affairs
🔍 Belgium
INFO-SESSION ON THE VACANCY AND RECRUITMENT PROCESS
NATO is organising an info-session webinar on the recruitment process for this programme which will take place on 11/06/2025 at 4pm CET (Brussels time).
This will be the opportunity for applicants and professionals to gain more insight into
the steps of the recruitment process and to have the opportunity to ask questions to
Talent Acquisition Service. Some interns and/or former interns will also share their experience of the programme with the audience.
Please register using the following link:
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_HdnqpN5hSDaM-t7JB8lAuQ
We are looking for motivated early career professionals to support our work on legal affairs. More specifically, the selected interns will support either the work of the Administrative Tribunal or the Office of Legal Affairs.
· The Administrative Tribunal is an independent body composed by five judges and a Registrar. It adjudicates on NATO-wide cases brought to its attention by staff members, or former staff members and legal successors, against decisions not in compliance with the Civilian Personnel Regulations or their term of appointment. The Office of the Registrar is responsible for the running of the Tribunal, for providing legal support to the judges and to procedurally assist parties to the proceedings.
· The Office of Legal Affairs provides independent legal advice to the Secretary General, the International Staff and, as appropriate, the North Atlantic Council and other NATO bodies, in particular on legal issues arising in the application of defence and security policy, the interpretation of NATO basic texts, the development and application of internal rules and regulations, and on other international legal matters of relevance to the Organization.
How the daily work will look like?
The intern will participate in the daily activities and proceedings of the team to which they are assigned. They are likely to be asked to conduct legal research and deliver their analysis in written and oral form. They will be asked to attend and write reports of meetings, and be assigned specific projects to be conducted independently, with only guiding supervision. The selected candidates will be able to refine their research capabilities and drafting skills and improve their presenting skills.
In addition, the selected intern for the Administrative Tribunal will acquire a solid knowledge of international administrative law and will also have the opportunity to participate in the Tribunal’s hearings.
The selected intern for the Office of Legal Affairs will draft legal memoranda, either for internal use or for the Private Office of the Secretary General of other parts of the IS, draft speaking points for the Director of the Office of Legal Affairs, and contribute to articles drafted by the team. They will be asked to attend meetings of Allies, including the North Atlantic Council and subordinate committees, where matters of relevance to the Office are being discussed. They will assist in preparations for meetings of Allies legal advisers to discuss matters of legal importance to the Alliance.
What do we offer?
- 6-month traineeship at NATO Headquarters, in Brussels, starting in March / September 2026.
- Full-time traineeship (38 hours a week).
- Monthly grant of €1,286.09 and a travel reimbursement upon joining and leaving the organisation.
- Teleworking subject to business requirements.
- Rich programme of activities, attending regular events and participating in meetings with several stakeholders.
- NATO HQ Staff Centre which promotes employee well-being and fosters a healthy work environment (click here for more info, special membership price for NATO interns)
Selection Criteria
Please note that you can apply for up to three (3) different NATO HQ Internship Programme vacancies!
Apply until 22 June 2025, at 23.59, Brussels time
Essential:
The candidate must:
- be a national of a NATO member state,
- be at least 21 years old,
- have at least two years of university level studies OR equivalent education OR be currently a student OR a recent graduate (degree obtained no longer than 12 months ago),
- have proficiency in one of the two official NATO languages (English/French).
Desirable:
The following criteria will be considered an advantage:
- Bachelor's degree or in the final stage of a Master’s degree relevant to the requested area of expertise,
- demonstrated academic excellence in the field of law,
- elementary knowledge of the second official NATO language (English/French),
- be an advanced user of IT tools including Microsoft Office, SharePoint;
- previous experience with other international organizations, national administration, research or industry.
Competencies required:
The candidate must demonstrate the following competencies:
- Achievement: Works to meet standards.
- Analytical thinking: Breaks down problems and sees basic relationships.
- Clarity and accuracy: Shows general concern for order and clarity, and checks own work.
- Customer service orientation: Responds appropriately, maintains clear communication.
- Empathy: Listens actively.
- Flexibility: Acts with flexibility.
- Initiative: Reacts to short-term opportunities or problems.
- Organizational awareness: Understands the organization’s structure.
- Teamwork: Cooperates, shares information and knowledge freely, offering support and cooperation.
Our Values:
NATO is committed to diversity and inclusion, and strives to provide equal access to employment, advancement and retention, independent of gender, age, nationality, ethnic origin, religion or belief, cultural background, sexual orientation, and disability. NATO welcomes applications of nationals from all member Nations, and strongly encourages women and those living with disability to apply (please click here for more information).
NATO is committed to fostering an inclusive and accessible working environment, where all candidates living with disabilities can fully participate in the recruitment and selection process. If you require reasonable accommodation, please inform us during your selection process. Candidates will be required to provide documented medical evidence to support their request for accommodation.
Special Notice:
In order for the Internship Office to assess your eligibility for the Internship Programme, please attach the following documents:
- Copy of university qualifications you have completed and/or
- Proof of ongoing studies with the dates clearly mentioned if you are still studying.
We prefer that these documents are in one of the NATO official language (English or French). If you don’t have these documents in English or French, please attach a self translation.
Please ensure that all information is complete and accurate before submitting your application.
Please note that the application cannot be updated after the relevant deadline.
The pool of candidates will be available to all NATO IS / IMS Divisions, Offices and NATO Bodies in case there is a need for a similar profile.
Due to the broad interest in NATO and the large number of potential candidates, telephone or e-mail enquiries cannot be dealt with.
Read more about the Internship Programme, including terms and conditions, and what we offer at our website (please click here).
Kindly note that NATO will not accept any phase of the recruitment and selection prepared, in whole or in part, by means of generative artificial-intelligence (AI) tools, including and without limitation to chatbots, such as Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer (Chat GPT), or other language generating tools. NATO reserves the right to screen applications to identify the use of such tools. All applications prepared, in whole or in part, by means of such generative or creative AI applications may be rejected without further consideration at NATO’s sole discretion, and NATO reserves the right to take further steps in such cases as appropriate.