The British Embassy in The Hague is part of a world-wide network, representing British political, economic and consular interests overseas, and is recruiting 3 Public Diplomacy interns.

The main purpose of the internship will be to support the Policy team, Events team, and teams supporting senior leaders with various public diplomacy activities, including communications work. Activities will include events with the diplomatic community, government and non-government contacts, and the wider public in the Netherlands. The successful candidates will have a unique opportunity to learn about public diplomacy in action and gain direct exposure to the workings of a busy bilateral embassy. Within the Public Diplomacy internship there are currently two internship tracks.

Events track – supporting the policy and events teams, working closely with the Ambassador’s team, in designing and delivering all aspects of diplomatic events. This role will support different events from conception to delivery. The intern will liaise directly with the suppliers and sponsors needed to make the event happen, manage the guest list and invitation process, tracking event budgets and ensuring logistics arrangements have been considered.

The successful candidate should be able to show evidence of project management skills, organisation, and the ability to multitask.

Public Affairs track – supporting the Public Affairs and Communications team with press monitoring and engagement, public diplomacy campaigns, and communications planning. This includes helping to develop content for a variety of events, drafting content, helping to develop strategic communications plans. The intern on this track will support the communications team as the connector between the embassy’s work and wider discourses and discussions within the Netherlands e.g. in the press, media, and parliament.

There is overlap between the two tracks and interns from both tracks will be expected to work together on projects, or across teams based on the work of the embassy at the time. All interns will also support work across wider bilateral teams, based on the work of the embassy.

Roles and responsibilities

An indication of the average proportion of tasks, noting that this varies based on the embassy’s priorities, and will change over the course of the internship. The role exists as part of a team and all staff are expected to be flexible in supporting colleagues, particularly at busy times.

For the Events track:

• 35% – Event preparation:  Arrange invitation processes for events from start to finish, overseeing their distribution and the RSVP process. Work with event planning committees and the lead officer(s) for the event, handling enquiries from wider Embassy teams and external contacts. Planning, including arranging meetings and creating the agenda, taking meeting records, keeping all records and paperwork filed and keeping members updated.
• 20% – Event design: Help design embassy events, including food and drink provision, decorations, entertainment, wet weather preparation etc. lead on procurement of goods and services.  Work with lead officers and residence team to ensure all logistical requirements are understood and taken into account. Work with Corporate Services to track event budgets; work with the Department for International Trade team to secure sponsorship for events as necessary.
• 20% – Post-event support: After the event, ensure that the project is formally closed, invoices budgets are account for, and (if necessary) produce a detailed report of the event, including recommendations for future events, including feedback from all stakeholders.
• 15% – Wider support to other teams.
• 10% – Press and media reporting – supporting in the creation of daily media summaries as part of a rota across the wider teams.

For the Public Affairs track:

• 30% – Press monitoring and reporting. Keep track of relevant news stories in Dutch newspapers and provide reports on a regular basis.
• 25% – Support the Policy team with monitoring and reporting of domestic policy matters and Parliamentary debates. For example, follow and report on debates, summarising Kamerbrieven (letters to Parliament).
• 20% – Support the communications team with the conception and development of campaigns across multiple platforms and formats (e.g. in person, digital).
• 10% – Event preparation and logistics, supporting teams in the preparation of events and providing logistical support to these events.
• 15% – Supporting wider public affairs engagement and activities, based on the needs of the team at the time.

• Fluent oral and written communication skills in English and Dutch (minimum of C1 level for CEFR framework*);
• Ability to work to deadlines;
• Highly flexible and adaptable;
• Proactive, independent and self-motivated to learn;
• Tactful and diplomatic manner and an ability to liaise effectively and productively with staff and clients at all levels of seniority.