BETTER FINANCE is offering a 6-month paid full-time internship as an Administration and Policy Assistant to join the team in Brussels. The successful candidate will support day-to-day office management and administration, knowledge management and grant reporting as well as supporting the BETTER FINANCE research and policy team with data gathering and the monitoring of financial services-related EU legislative files. The intern will report directly to the Executive Director.

The successful candidate will cooperate closely with the other BETTER FINANCE team members.

WHAT WE OFFER

  • A 6-month paid internship (Convention d’Immersion Professionnelle), with remuneration and other benefits of approx. 1400 EUR per month;
  • Opportunity to work for a mission-focussed NGO serving EU citizens and serving as a counterbalance to the lobby of the financial sector (big banks, insurance companies and asset managers);
  • Valuable and in-demand work experience in a Brussels-based NGO, including experience with grants, EU policy work and NGO administration;
  • We are a young, flexible and dynamic organisation offering an interesting work environment in the Brussels NGO sector;
  • The possibility to work remotely for 2-3 days per week;
  • Depending on the performance and the financial means of BETTER FINANCE at the time, the intern may be offered an employment contract at the end of the internship.

BETTER FINANCE values diversity and is committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We especially welcome applications from people from groups traditionally under-represented in finance.

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Support the management team in financial reporting (both external and internal), including liaising with the external accountant, landlord and suppliers, etc;
  • Assist the team in preparing grant applications, reports and/or contracts with the European Commission and other funding entities;
  • Feedback and help improving existing knowledge management tools designed for this post, including manuals, descriptions and handover notes on our internal financial and administrative processes, especially those related to the requirements of EU grant programmes;
  • Assist in office management and procurement, for example, buying office supplies, requesting offers for various services (related to the office or external events), making travel arrangements for team members, etc;
  • Assist in the organisation of events for representatives of member organisations, for example, general assemblies and board meetings. This may include helping to prepare internal reports and documents, sending emails and communicating with members as well as taking minutes at the meetings;
  • Assist the BETTER FINANCE policy and research team, with the monitoring of relevant EU legislative files, including preparing briefings and stakeholder mappings for the team as well as aiding BETTER FINANCE policy research activities with data gathering and processing as well as other duties that may reasonably be requested;
  • When requested, attend and report on meetings at the European institutions, organisations and other relevant internal and external events;

PROFILE/MAIN QUALIFICATIONS

We are looking forward to welcoming an enthusiastic team player willing to take initiative within the portfolio of assigned tasks. The ideal candidate would meet the following requirements:

Mandatory:

  • Background (either having studied or having some relevant experience) in political science, economics, finance or law;
  • Interest in investment products, financial services regulation and/or EU policy-making
  • Quick learner, intelligent, diligent and well-structured;
  • Proficiency in working with Microsoft Excel and Word;
  • Readiness to work with contracts and reporting documents;
  • Fluency in English
  • Candidates must be legally allowed to live and work in Belgium.

Not mandatory, but it would be considered beneficial if the applicant possessed:

  • Experience with non-profit organisations (including volunteering);
  • Detailed knowledge about the EU policy process;
  • Experience with EU-funded projects (Erasmus+, Horizon Programme etc);
  • Fluency in French (preferred) or Dutch/Flemish;
  • Keen interest in consumer protection and financial markets.

START DATE: Late August, however we would aim to sign the contract with the selected candidate by 1st of August at the latest.

Interested candidates are invited to send their CVs and motivation letters in English to joab@betterfinance.eu. IMPORTANT: Only applications received via email will be considered.

Non-EU candidates are additionally asked to confirm their availability to work in Belgium.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: 23:59 on Tuesday, the 23rd of July, however, an earlier application is advised, as we reserve the right to conclude the recruitment before the deadline.


BETTER FINANCE is a non-profit international NGO with its office in Brussels acting as an independent financial expertise centre for the direct benefit of European financial services users (individual shareholders, investors, savers, life insurance policyholders, pension fund participants, mortgage borrowers, etc.) and other stakeholders of European financial services who are independent of the financial industry. At present, we count more than fifty national and international member and sub-member organisations. In turn, those count millions of individual members. The European Union supports BETTER FINANCE activities since 2012. For more information please consult our website www.BetterFinance.eu.