About the EPP Group

The Group of the European People's Party (EPP Group) is the largest and oldest group in the European Parliament. As a centre-right group, the Group is committed to creating a stronger Europe, building on its people and working towards the benefit of all Europeans. It aims to build a more ambitious and self-assured Europe where everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed. In its day-to-day business, the Group and its Members can rely on the multinational secretariat that provides high-quality political, administrative and technical support.

About the Department

The Information & Communication Technology Unit (ICT Unit) is responsible for operating, developing and maintaining the Secretariat’s IT tools (both hardware and software), developing new applications, managing the Group’s Intranet, supporting the Group’s Internet and providing IT infrastructure at external meetings. It also oversees the Secretariat’s mobile solutions.

What do we offer?

The EPP Group’s traineeship programme offers an excellent opportunity for university graduates and undergraduate students to gain experience and practical knowledge of working in an international, multilingual and multicultural environment of the EPP Group and the European Parliament.

We offer the following types of five-month full-time (40 hrs/week) paid traineeships for graduates in the ICT Unit, Internal Organisation Directorate in our Secretariat in Brussels (Belgium):

• ICT Developer Trainee
• Support & Equipment Trainee 

Compensation and benefits

• Monthly allowance of €1,700 to cover living costs in Brussels;
• Reimbursement of mission costs (travel and accommodation) to attend one plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg;
• Sickness and accident insurance.

When?

Approximate timetable

Spring Traineeship starting in February:

Deadline for applications - 15 November, 12:00 CET.

What will you do?

This traineeship offers a unique opportunity to gain experience within the ICT Unit by supporting the Group’s ICT team in their day-to-day activities. It also provides an excellent opportunity to work in a dynamic, political and international environment.

The ICT Developer Trainee will work under the guidance of an experienced ICT team member, contributing to the development, maintenance and improvement of the EPP Group Secretariat's internal applications and digital solutions.

The trainee will:

• Contribute to gathering and analysing users' needs and translating them into functional and technical requirements;
• Support the design, development, testing and maintenance of web-based and administrative applications;
• Contribute to application development using technologies and programming languages such as Java, PHP, JavaScript/TypeScript and SQL;
• Gain practical experience with modern development frameworks and tools, which may include Spring Boot, Angular, Laravel, Maven, Composer and Git;
• Assist with the development and maintenance of front-end and back-end application components;
• Contribute to the preparation of technical documentation, application specifications and user documentation;
• Assist with database-related activities involving Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle, including queries, data processing and application-database integration;
• Contribute to the development and improvement of reports, dashboards and data visualisations, including through tools such as Power BI;
• Participate in the testing, debugging and optimisation of applications and assist in identifying and resolving technical issues;
• Become familiar with modern software development practices, including Agile and Scrum methodologies and version-control workflows;
• Contribute, where appropriate, to solutions involving cloud technologies, web services, APIs, Docker containers and Amazon Web Services;
• Assist with technical support relating to administrative applications and contribute to the follow-up of requests through IT ticketing tools;
• Participate in technical exchanges with users, colleagues and other European Parliament services in relation to applications and ICT projects;
• Support the preparation of user guides, demonstrations and short training sessions relating to applications and basic ICT operations;
• Perform other ICT-related tasks appropriate to the trainee's profile and the needs of the service.

Applicants for the ICT Developer traineeship must:

• Be a national of a Member State of the European Union;
• Have a university degree or have completed at least three years of study (six semesters) at a university or equivalent institute of higher education, preferably in information and communication technologies, computer science, software engineering or another relevant field;
• Have not previously been granted a paid traineeship in an EU Institution/MEP Office or have not already been in gainful employment after the completion of their studies;
• Have a very good knowledge (at least CEFR B2 level) of two official EU languages, one of which must be English or French
• Have a good understanding of basic software development concepts and of the software development life cycle;
• Have knowledge of at least one programming or scripting language relevant to application development, such as Java, PHP, JavaScript/TypeScript, Python or a comparable language;
• Have a basic understanding of web technologies (such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, web services or APIs) and relational databases and SQL.

The Support & Equipment Trainee will work under the guidance of an experienced ICT team member, contributing to the day-to-day IT support, maintenance and management of the IT equipment and services.

The trainee will contribute to:

• Handling technical support requests related to IT equipment (PCs, printers, screens, smartphones, copiers and digital senders), including diagnosing and troubleshooting issues;
• Setting up, configuring and carrying out basic maintenance of PCs, laptops, screens, printers and other IT equipment;
• Supporting users with mobile devices, including iOS, Android and Windows-based devices;
• Setting up IT equipment for meetings and conferences, including audio/video connections, screens, presentations, Microsoft Teams and Webex;
• Preparing IT equipment for new users and providing basic guidance on standard IT tools and equipment;
• Managing IT equipment and stock, including inventory, labelling, tracking, packing, spare parts and the follow-up of repairs;
• Implementing, maintaining and continuously improving IT systems, including software updates and testing;
• Supporting automated system installations using cloning and deployment tools.

Applicants for the Support & Equipment traineeship must:

• Be a national of a Member State of the European Union;
• Have a university degree or have completed at least three years of study (six semesters) at a university or equivalent institute of higher education, preferably in information and communication technologies, computer science, software engineering or another relevant field;
• Have not previously been granted a paid traineeship in an EU Institution/MEP Office or have not already been in gainful employment after the completion of their studies;
• Have a very good knowledge (at least CEFR B2 level) of two official EU languages, one of which must be English or French;
• Have excellent knowledge of Microsoft Office, with strong proficiency in Word and Excel;
• Knowledge of computer hardware and operating systems;
• Familiarity with Windows, iOS, and Android environments;
• Knowledge of hardware and software installation, configuration, maintenance, and troubleshooting;
• Familiarity with audiovisual equipment, Microsoft Teams, and Webex.

How to apply? (Admission Documents)

The candidates must:

• Complete the online application form in English available when clicking on the Apply button below;
• Upload a Europass CV in English;

• Upload a one-page PDF document in English answering the following questions:

  (Your answers must be in Times New Roman font, size 12 and contain maximum 250 words per question):

  1. Why have you chosen this traineeship in the EPP Group?
  2. Why are you applying to the specific Unit?
• Upload the following supporting documents as a single PDF file, including:
  • Letter of recommendation from a university professor;
  • Documents proving the knowledge of the languages (certificates or diplomas);
  • ID card or Passport;
  • University studies diploma(s) OR a certificate proving that you completed at least six semesters at a university;
  • (Optional) letter of recommendation from a political figure (local, national or European) belonging to the EPP family.

We particularly encourage qualified candidates with disabilities to apply for the traineeship.

CANDIDATES WHO DO NOT MEET ALL ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS OR FAIL TO UPLOAD ADMISSION DOCUMENTS WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE ELIMINATED FROM THE SELECTION PROCEDURE.

Candidates may APPLY FOR ONLY ONE of the currently open traineeship calls. CANDIDATES WHO APPLY FOR MORE THAN ONE TRAINEESHIP CALL WILL HAVE ALL THEIR APPLICATIONS DISREGARDED.

You may contact the Human Resources Unit of the EPP Group by email eppgroup-traineeships@europarl.europa.eu only if you encounter technical problems.