About Us
The OPCW internship programme is aimed at motivated students with an interest in gaining experience in international organisations. The programme normally provides work placements in the Technical Secretariat for a three to six month period. The objective of the internship is to provide you with first-hand experience in the day-to-day working environment of an international organisation. You will work with our international experts towards the OPCW mission to achieve a world permanently free of chemical weapons.
As part of our team, working directly with outstanding and inspiring career professionals, you will be exposed to high-profile conferences, participate in meetings, and contribute to our analytical work as well as the organisational policy of the OPCW.
General Information
Responsibilities
Job Summary
The Secretariat for the Policy-Making Organs facilitates meetings and wider consultations between States Parties and the Technical Secretariat, ensuring substantive and operative support to the policy-making organs and their subsidiary bodies in their decision-making processes, including the follow-up and implementation of their decisions.
In support of this, the Secretariat for the Policy-Making Organs is responsible for the setting of agendas, coordination and meeting support for all scheduled and unscheduled meetings, provision of internal guidance including language and document-processing support to ensure the timely circulation of official-series documents, and provision of reprographic services within the Organisation.
This Secretariat consists of the Languages Services Branch, the Conference Services Unit, and the Documentation and Reprographic Unit. This internship will be in PMO/DRU Office.
Purpose of Internship:
Learning objective for the intern:
Intern will be given an opportunity to learn in the following areas;
- Learn about the day-to-day work of an international organisation;
- Observe the political decision-making process of a treaty-based organisation;
- Gain experience in a diplomatic environment;
- Discover the challenges faced in maintaining the archives relating to the work of the policy-making organs.
Starting from 1 July – 31 December 2026
Main Responsibilities
Terms of Reference for the Internship:
PMO/DRU Office:
- Assisting with the verification of migrated audio/video files, identifying missing files, assigning categorisations and editing/adding metadata within the new-cloud based platform (Connected Views);
- Assisting with the asset management of publications retained in the PMO Archive and the related digital repository;
- Assisting with updating the content of PMO’s SharePoint repositories.
PMO/CSU:
- Assisting with the sessions of the policy-making organs, and any other unforeseen meetings as required.
Qualifications and Experience
Education
Essential:
- Enrolled in and have completed at least one year of a degree programme in a university (or equivalent tertiary institution) or;
- in a graduate school programme (second university degree or higher) or;
- Have graduated from a university or a graduate school within a year prior to the commencement of the internship and;
- Be a citizen of an OPCW Member State and fluent in both written and spoken English.
Desirable:
- Proficient in the use of MS Office software and knowledge of SharePoint desirable;
- Good communication skills (English), both oral and written;
Skills and Competencies
...
Languages
Fluency in English is essential and a good working knowledge of one of the other official languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish) is desirable.Additional Information
Please note that all vacancies will close at 22:00 The Netherlands local time on their respective closing day. Thereafter, the vacancy announcements will no longer appear in the Candidate Portal and you will no longer be able to submit your application. We recommend that you apply well in advance of the deadline.
Staff members in the General Services category are normally recruited and paid on a local basis.
Acceptance for the programme shall not carry with it any expectation of employment with the OPCW. Interns may not apply for, or be appointed to, any posts or positions at the OPCW within six months of the internship agreement end date. The internship programme is run in accordance with the applicable internal rules and where applicable the OPCW Staff Regulations and Interim Staff Rules.
- Participants in the Internship Programme receive no financial remuneration from the OPCW for expenses that they incur in relation to the programme. Costs and arrangements for travel, visas, taxes, accommodation, living expenses and repatriation, etc. are the responsibility of the intern. The intern has to enter and exit the country in accordance with the applicable immigration procedures in The Netherlands.
- Participants will be asked to provide proof that they have sufficient financial means for living expenses for the period of their internship.
- Interns will work with the normal working pattern of the OPCW which will amount to no more than 40 hours a week.
- Participants who are citizens of non-EU countries should agree not to undertake other work in the Netherlands during their internship other than as an intern at the OPCW, notwithstanding whether such other work is compatible with the discharge of their functions with the OPCW.
Only fully completed applications submitted before the closing date and through OPCW CandidateSpace will be considered.
Only applicants under serious consideration will be contacted.
According to article 8 paragraph 44 of the Chemical Weapons Convention the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. Due regard will be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible.
OPCW is committed to maintaining a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. OPCW recruits and employs staff regardless of disability status, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, language, race, marital status, religious, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic backgrounds, or any other personal characteristics.
OPCW General Terms and Conditions