In a world often divided, Search for Common Ground stands for the power of bringing diverse people together to find solutions. By meeting this moment with Search, you join a powerful global peace movement that believes in the profound impact of courageous multipartiality - that all voices should be heard and respected in shaping a better, more connected world and collaborative vision is essential for lasting peace. Search for Common Ground takes a dynamic approach by building solutions that are based on the needs of communities. We engage with leaders and elected officials to advance dialogue and collaboration. We are community leaders. We are youth activists. We are women. We are Peacebuilders. We have been doing this work for over 40 years, we have developed our understanding of what peace looks like, being able to quantify our impact and design more effective programming. Peace moves at the speed of trust, so we invest for the long haul. When we’re no longer needed, we leave, leaving behind people and institutions with the ability to manage future conflicts.

In this context, Search is implementing several policy and advocacy projects out of our Brussels office, funded by, amongst others, the Belgian development cooperation and the EU, that focus on highlighting the importance of peacebuilding and conflict-sensitivity. Through these projects, we promote some of our key organisational priorities around youth, peace and security; the HDP Triple Nexus; climate change and conflict; natural resource extraction; and conflict and digital peacebuilding. These projects are managed by the Cross-Regional Programmes Team, in close collaboration with Search’s Policy Team, technical teams, several country teams, and the Institutional Learning Team. The Cross-Regional Programmes Team is looking for a committed full-time intern who is passionate about gaining practical experience in programme management and the peacebuilding field. The intern will make concrete contributions to the day-to-day programme and grants management, support implementation, and monitoring and learning under these projects.

Key responsibilities

• Help prepare, attend and take notes of programme meetings, strategic reflection and planning sessions, and other meetings of our policy and advocacy projects;
• Assist in updating relevant grants and projects management tools and in tracking deliverables (costed work plans, budget meetings, report submissions) on the policy projects;
• Gather data from different sources (activities, colleagues, reports, websites, etc.) and enter into the relevant trackers and monitoring tools, assist in data validation and verification processes and support the development of M&E reports;
• Assist in preparation of events, logistical and procurement processes (hiring of consultants, preparation of tenders, reviewing of documents, booking of venues and hotels, etc.);
• Researches and collects materials for documentation, briefings and presentations;
• Support donor reporting, collection of success stories, and other written contributions;
• Perform general administrative tasks as needed.

Competences

• Works cooperatively and effectively with other employees, team members and managers;
• Uses logical thinking to structure, interpret and analyse data;
• Possesses excellent analytical, writing and editing skills;
• Ability to handle multiple tasks and deadlines and to prioritise essential tasks;
• Listens actively and is open to learning;
• Values multicultural teamwork;
• Has knowledge of and respect for the values and norms of the organisation;
• Is able to identify essential information for a task or project;
• Is able to organise information or materials for others;
• A self-starting, detail-oriented and flexible approach to tasks;
• Is resourceful and uses Search tools to support efficiency for self and team members.

Minimum required qualifications

• Bachelor or Master (completed) in international relations, conflict resolution, development studies, social sciences or related field;
• Demonstrated interest in programme/project management and conflict resolution / peacebuilding;
• Possesses excellent analytical, writing and editing skills;
• Proficiency in English (oral and written);
• Computer literate with practical experience in Microsoft Office applications.

Desired qualifications

• Practical experience with programme/grants management or monitoring & evaluation;
• Working knowledge of French is a very big advantage;
• Working knowledge of Dutch would be desirable;
• Experience with research and data collection;
• Experience working at a (non-)governmental organisation/non-profit or similar international environment.

The intern will be part of the Cross-Regional Programmes Team and will be supervised by a Programme Officer.

Working conditions

Usual office environment in Brussels. Search Belgium currently has a policy requiring at least 2 days per week presence in the office.

Salary and contract

The internship will fall under the Convention d’Immersion Professionnelle (CIP) or Beroepsinlevingsstage, a framework for internships in Belgium for recent graduates. Hence the candidate must have completed their studies and have the legal ability to live and work in Belgium (this includes citizens of the European Economic Area plus Switzerland). The internship will be compensated with 1,035.30 EUR/month (full time).

We are expecting this internship to be full-time and for a duration of 6 months, exceptions to this can be discussed during the recruitment process.

Desirable start date

November 2024.

Application process

The deadline for applications is October 27th, 2024. Please submit your CV and motivation letter through our online application portal Lever. Indicate clearly in your motivation letter if you are available full time for 6 months or would like to suggest an alternative arrangement. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, and Search reserves the right to identify a suitable candidate ahead of this deadline. The successful interviewee will be asked to provide the names and contact details of 3 references (if possible).

Only applicants invited for an interview will be contacted. No phone calls, please. Please see our website www.sfcg.org for full details of our work.