NATO Internship - Defence Industry, Innovation and Armaments Division (D2IA)

Internship Call – D2IA - Vacancy Notice Template

The Defence Industry, Innovation and Armaments Division (D2IA) leads on the rapid development and delivery of cutting-edge and interoperable defence capabilities, working with innovation ecosystems and industry across the Alliance to meet NATO’s deterrence and defence needs.

The Division is comprised of three Directorates:

Ø  The Innovation Directorate is responsible for driving forward and cohering NATO’s innovation agenda, ensuring that the Alliance understands the policy and capability implications — both opportunities and risks — of Emerging and Disruptive Technologies (EDTs). The Directorate contributes to eliminating barriers to innovation, whether these are policy or process-related constraints, and structures the Alliance’s engagement with Allied innovation ecosystems. The Directorate is comprised of two sections: Innovation Policy and Ecosystem Section  and Innovation and Technology Adoption Section.

Ø  The Industry Directorate translates the geopolitical strategic urgency to deliver capabilities at higher quantity and speed into initatives to increase defence industrial capacity for the Alliance. The Directorate leads the Alliance’s engagement with Defence Industry, working across the industrial ecosystem, from prime to start-up. It supports the work of the Conference of National Armaments Directors, in particular the Defence Industrial Production Board and the NATO-Industry Advisory Group. The staff of the Industry Directorate also focuses on addressing interoperability challenges through standardization to ensure that Allied forces can operate well together. The Directorate is comprised of two sections and one unit: Standardisation and Enablement Section, Industry, Partnerships and Policy Section, and Industry Engagement Unit.

Ø  The Armaments and Major Capability Programmes Directorate supports Allies plan, develop and deliver the military capabilities needed to meet today’s and tomorrow’s biggest security challenges. It contributes to NATO Defence Planning by providing capability-related advice to committees and senior leadership, and by supporting key bodies such as the Conference of National Armaments Directors and the Aviation Committee. The Directorate is involved in policy, programme, and capability development across the land, air, maritime and space domains, with a focus on developing and integrating multinational capability solutions. The Directorate is comprised of four sections: Space Section, Air Section, Land and Maritime Section, and Major Capability Programmes and Cooperation Section.

How the daily work will look like?

The interns will support the Division through conceptual and administrative work related to its areas of expertise, including the organisation of meetings and workshops, drafting papers and attending senior policy committee meetings on a broad range of political and defence related issues and providing written summaries, thereby ensuring visibility and coherence of work going forward. The selected interns will have the opportunity to develop their stakeholder management and project management skills, together with gaining a solid network in the organization.

Learning elements during the internship:

Ø  Understand NATO Organisational Structure, core tasks and processes;

Ø  Build expertise in deterrence, defence, security and policy aspects related to the Division’s work;

Ø  Gain experience working in a multinational environment through interaction with NATO staff and  delegations from both Allied and Partner Nations;

Ø  Learn to work in a proactive environment and engage with a range of stakeholders to deliver politically focused work, sometimes under tight deadlines;

Ø  Gain insight into negotiation processes and development of consensus.

What do we offer?

• A 6-month traineeship at NATO Headquarters, in Brussels, starting in March / September 2027. 

• A full-time traineeship (38 hours a week).

• A monthly grant of 1,334.96 € and a travel reimbursement upon joining and leaving the organisation.

• Teleworking subject to business requirements.

• A rich programme of activities, attending regular events and participating in meetings with several stakeholders.

• NATO HQ Staff Centre which promotes employee well-being and foster 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 vacancies!

Apply until 30/04/2026 [23.59, Brussels time]

Essential:

The candidate must:

1.     be a national of a NATO member state,

2.     be at least 21 years old,

3.     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),

4.     have proficiency in one of the two official NATO languages (English/French).

Desirable:

The following criteria will be considered an advantage:

1.     have a Bachelor's degree or in the final stage of a Master’s degree relevant to the requested area of expertise,

2.     elementary knowledge of the second official NATO language (English/French),

3.     be an advance user of IT tools including Microsoft Office, SharePoint;

4.     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 see 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.

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:

1.     Copy of university qualifications you have completed and/or

2.     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.

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.