SATCOM Engineering Internship
🔍 Netherlands
For more than 75 years, NATO’s mission has been to preserve peace and security in the Alliance for nearly one billion citizens. The NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) is NATO’s technology and cyber hub. We are a team of 3000 civilian and military staff, working together to connect all corners of NATO and maintain its Edge from 30 locations across the Alliance.
We are a key partner in NATO's Digital Transformation, working hand in hand with industry to provide technical solutions and expertise, facilitating political consultations and decision-making, and enabling multi-domain operations.
Our experts provide secure static and deployable communications infrastructure, satellite communications and information technology services, connected the Alliance’s forces, and strengthening NATO’s defence and deterrence posture. Fulfilling NCIA’s missions is possible because of our greatest force, our people. In order to reinforce NATO’s edge, we aim to hire, train and retain the very best staff.
Our staff members represent both the diversity and unity of our Alliance. When you join NCIA, you will be part of an organization where you can contribute authentically to the mission and purpose of NATO and help us ensure seamless connectivity among Allied partner nations.
About the Program
The NCIA internship is a 6-month program based at one of our key hubs in The Netherlands, Belgium or Portugal. Our internship opportunities start from either 1 March or 1 September with the start date being dependent on the timeline to secure the required security clearance to work within the NATO community. During an internship, you will join and support a diverse international team and simultaneously learn from our experts via on-the-job training, working independently on purposeful projects or initiatives during your tenure.
About the Internship
Internship duration: 6 months
Location: The Hague, Netherlands
The Chief Technology Office (CTO) is the key enabler of NATO’s digital transformation. This office is a cornerstone for the NCI Agency’s work to advance NATO’s information communications technologies (ICT) that are critical to maintain NATO’s technological edge. With NCI Agency's scientists, architects and engineers, CTO is the hub for architecting and designing NATO’s ICT technical landscape while considering innovation, standardization, and coherence across the Alliance.
The SATCOM Engineering intern with a background on electrical-electronics or telecommunications engineering will combine hands-on technical work with industry technology analysis, which will give a broad understanding of both the operational and business sides of SATCOM.
The selected intern will contribute to the following duties:
· Help the team in researching emerging SATCOM technologies and industry trends (e.g., Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites, 5G NTN, AI-driven SATCOM network management);
· Based on research, propose applicable ones for Programme of Work experiment activities;
· Work closely with senior SATCOM engineers for the test of these new technologies;
· Represent SATCOM branch head in meetings where required;
· Prepare technical analysis reports with the support from senior engineers.
About you:
The valuable knowledge and experience that you bring to this role is:
Radio Frequency Engineering
Assists with setting up, tuning and functional checks of radio frequency devices and software. Resolves faults down to the line replaceable unit level or estcalates occording to given procedures. Carries out user condidence checks and escalates faults according to given procedures.
Integrates RF devices with software applications given static configurations.
Testing
Executes given manual test scripts under supervision.
Uses basic automated testing tools.
Records results and reports issues.
Develops an understanding of the role of testing as a tool for design improvement and a validation process.
Research:
Within given research goals, assists in selection and review of credible and reliable resources.
Searches for relevant material using specialised websites and sources, reads relevant articles to update knowledge of the relevant field.
Reports on work carried out and may contribute sections of publication-quality material.
Curates, under guidance, a personal collection of relevant material.
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible to apply for our internship program, you will need to meet the following criteria:
· You are a national of a NATO member country
· You are currently studying towards a university-level degree or have recently graduated in the past 12 months
· A thorough knowledge of one of the two NATO languages, both written and spoken, is essential and some knowledge of the other is desirable. Most of the work of the NCI Agency is conducted in the English language.
We also request that you please attach the following documents to your application form:
· Copy of the university degree you have completed and/or
· Proof of ongoing studies with the dates clearly mentioned if you are still studying
Application Process:
The application process for an internship at NCIA is:
Ø Apply via the NCIA Careers site by 23:59 CET 16th March 2025
Ø If selected to progress to the first stage evaluation this will consist of a logic, numeracy and behavioral gamification exercises in addition to on-demand video questions aligned to the requirements of the internship
Ø Virtual interviews will take place in the month of April
Ø Tentative offer to be presented to successful candidates in early May
Compensation
Netherlands
You will be compensated at a fixed taxable rate of 1,424.59 EUR per month, based on 38 hours of work per week and for reasonable travel expenses to start on day 1 and to return to your home location once the internship is complete.
Thank you for your patience while we consider your application. To learn more about NCIA and our work, please visit our website.
NCIA prides itself on being an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to fostering an inclusive environment of mutual respect and value uniqueness and differences in gender, gender identity, race, ethnic or cultural origin, age, religion, sexual orientation and physical or neurocognitive ability.
Additional details on the conditions of application can be found via the NCIA career site.