NATO Internship - Defence Policy & Planning Division (DPP)
🔍 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
The Defence Policy & Planning Division (DPP) develops and implements the defence policy and planning dimension of NATO’s fundamental security tasks. This includes the development of defence policies, defence planning, the Alliance's nuclear policy, enablement and resilience, and certain aspects of operational planning.
This Division has the lead role on the defence-related aspects of NATO’s fundamental security tasks at the political-military level and is at the core of the preparations and coordination of the three annual meetings of the NATO Ministers of Defence. It is organised in three directorates and two independent sections:
➤ The Divisional Support Section coordinates the work of the division and the committees it supports. DSS provides procedural advice and coordinates programmes for the committees, in particular the Defence Policy and Planning Committee (DPPC) and the Resilience Committee (RC). It also organises, monitors and manages the Division's flow of information, in particular with a view to optimising information knowledge management in the Division and the timely delivery of products.
➤ The Net Assessment Section is responsible for the preparation of NATO net assessments to support deliberations by the Defence Policy and Planning Committee and other NATO committees, ahead of formal advice, by addressing trends and patterns in strategic design and operational capacity between the Alliance and state and non-state competitors and potential adversaries. Such assessments help support consideration of asymmetries and relative vulnerabilities and opportunities, to inform policy formulation and capability development. It also supports strategic level discussions at Council, Military Committee and Ministerial levels
➤ The Defence Policy and Capabilities Directorate, including the Defence Policy Section, the Defence Capabilities Section, the Resilience Section and the Defence Enablement and Logistics Section, deals with the development of Alliance defence policies and strategies, including political-military aspects of defence capabilities, logistics capabilities. It maintains an awareness of major security and defence developments on the international scene, and has the lead on NATO-European Union cooperation in defence policy and capabilities. It is in charge of the overall preparation of the Defence Ministers’ meetings. It also contributes to NATO’s overarching strategy development and the preparation of initiatives for Summit meetings and maintains an awareness on major security and defence developments. It also develops, facilitates and supports advice to NATO and national authorities at the political level, through engagement with Allies and selected Partners, stakeholder groups and NATO decision making structures in order to support national resilience through civil preparedness and to help ensure the enabling resources and services required to support Alliance military forces.
➤ The Defence Planning Directorate is responsible for the conduct of the Alliance force planning and related policy. It assists the Allies’ efforts to improve the effectiveness of defence planning and capability delivery. The Directorate works in close cooperation with national delegations and staff in national capitals on all business related to defence planning. It is also the lead Directorate for burden sharing issues. It is instrumental in ensuring coherence between NATO and the EU in defence planning.
➤ The Nuclear Policy Directorate is in charge of developing and implementing NATO’s plans, policies and defence activities related to nuclear weapons and their means of delivery. It also supports the Nuclear Planning Group (NPG) Staff Group.
How the daily work will look like?
Interns will gain a comprehensive understanding of NATO’s defence planning issues at the strategic political-military level and of all aspects relating to NATO defence policy and capabilities. It will also gain full awareness of the NATO Defence Planning Process. They will have an opportunity to participate in both policy-making and operational components of the Alliance. They will have an opportunity to enhance research and writing skills and to participate in different defence planning-related missions, or courses.
Among the different tasks, the selected interns will have the opportunity to;
• Assist in monitoring progress in the realm of defence in NATO allied nations;
• Assist in monitoring NATO-EU coherence in defence planning;
• Assist DPP staff officers in developing and formulating policy and political military advice;
• Draft meeting minutes, decisions sheets, reports and agendas;
• Attend debates and negotiations of current defence policy and planning issues in the course of preparations of Defence Ministers’ meetings and/or Summits;
• Assist in the preparation of policy papers, checklists and speeches for the use of the Secretary General and other high-level NATO and speaking notes for meetings;
• Assist in the framing of NATO’s overall defence policy as it relates to the Alliance’s ability to undertake its commitments across the full spectrum of conflict;
• Support some aspects of the Nuclear Policy Directorate’s core business, including events and conferences, exercises, writing reports and research on emerging nuclear policy.
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,
- 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.
Building Integrity is a key element of NATO’s core tasks. As an employer, NATO values commitment to the principles of integrity, transparency and accountability in accordance with international norms and practices established for the defence and related security sector. Selected candidates are expected to be role models of integrity, and to promote good governance through ongoing efforts in their work.
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.