Who are we?
The United Kingdom Mission to the United Nations in Geneva represents the interests and policies of the UK at the UN and is recruiting a highly motivated and skilled Communications Intern.
The UK Mission in Geneva prioritises dignity and respect at work. We value respect, inclusiveness, empowerment, teamwork and kindness.
Main purpose of job:
The internship offers a unique opportunity to join the Communications Team and to develop your communications skills in an international context. The focus will be on social media and digital communications but you will also gain experience across a range of communication disciplines including media handling, event planning and stakeholder engagement.
This is an exciting internship where creativity, a passion for social media and political awareness can be combined to deliver engaging content in support of important policy goals. There is wide collaboration with teams across the mission and plenty of opportunity for autonomy in taking forward communications planning and activity in support of policy work.
The Mission works with the full spectrum of organisations/agencies in Geneva on issues including human rights, global health, trade & economics, cyber and humanitarian. Your work will be varied: one week you could be supporting the UK’s priorities at the UN Human Rights Council and the next, you could be working on a WTO Ministerial Conference. Whilst we strive to be as proactive as possible with our communications, the nature of our work means that we are looking for someone who can also thrive in a reactive, fast-paced environment.
The UK Mission is already recognised as a leader when it comes to the effectiveness of our social media outreach and engagement. The sucessful candidate will build on our strong reputation and help us to ensure that we are continuing to innovate. The team is small and so we’re looking for an intern who can lead projects and perform tasks independently, while also being a team player. There will be some administrative work but this is minimal.
The UK Mission in Geneva prioritises dignity and respect at work. We value respect, inclusiveness, empowerment, teamwork and kindness. These qualities will be tested through the recruitment process.
Roles and responsibilities:
- Social and digital media: content creation, generating ideas, publishing, management of channels, evaluation – 70%
- Media monitoring and reporting – 20%
- Opportunity to get involved in other areas of the Mission’s work (depending on your interests) – 10%
Essential qualifications, skills and experience
- Fluent written and spoken English (C1 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages).
- Social media: a strong interest in and prior experience of managing social media channels such as Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn (personal use counts).
- Education: candidates will ideally have a higher education qualification. Our previous interns have had academic backgrounds in media, communications, journalism, public relations, international relations and political science. Candidates without a qualification but with equivalent professional experience will also be considered.
- Motivation: a strong interest in communications, media, multilateral institutions (UN, WTO etc) and/or relevant policy areas (human rights, global health, international trade etc).
- Written communication skills: we need someone who is competent and confident in writing for different audiences, with a high degree of accuracy.
- Graphic design skills (e.g. Photoshop, Canva): we need someone who can create eye-catching designs for all our social media channels.
- Flexibility: our work is fast moving and priorities can shift suddenly. We are looking for someone who can be agile. If you enjoy variety, then this role will suit you perfectly.
- Willingness to undergo a mandatory security check.
Other benefits and conditions of employment
The UK Mission will offer the intern a monthly training allowance of 1,450 CHF. Please note that interns will need to arrange and pay for their own travel and accommodation, as well as any other living costs and are subject to Swiss taxes. This internship will be for a period of 6 months with an option to extend to a maximum of 11 months.
All applicants should have permission to live and work in Switzerland.
Applicants that have the right to live and work in Geneva and don’t require a visa sponsorship are: Nationals from United Kingdom, European Union and EFTA, along with Nationals of: Brunei Darussalam, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Principality of Andorra, Principality of Monaco, San Marino, Singapore and Vatican – these applicants are eligible to live and work in Switzerland as long as holding a full passport valid for at least 12 months.
All other applicants need to have permission to live and work in Switzerland.
Where applicable, we encourage successful applicants to obtain a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) prior to entering Switzerland.
The Mission offers a contribution to the payment of travel insurance for the duration of internship, in place of Private Swiss Health Insurance that includes health & accident cover for all interns.
The final appointment and commencement of internship will be dependent upon successful security clearance.
Learning and development opportunities:
The UK Mission Geneva attaches great importance to the learning and development of its staff, with both formal and informal training and development opportunities available for all employees, in line with a personalised development plan. This learning and development offer is facilitated by the Mission’s L&D Committee, and supported by the L&D Champion.
This is a great opportunity to ‘learn on the job’, quickly being given responsibility for significant areas of activity, and having close supervision and guidance as necessary. There are some ‘all staff’ learning and development opportunities, as well being able to take part of wider UK Mission corporate activities.
There are also resources available for interns to undertake Learning and Development opportunities.
How to apply
Note: We only accept applications through our software. We do not accept CVs. To apply please follow this link.