Policy Trainee

Location: Brussels
Reporting to: Head of Policy
Starting date: September 2025
Status: Traineeship - Convention d’immersion professionnelle (CIP)
Working language: English
Application deadline: 7 August 2025  (noting that interviews may start before that date) 

About the role    

The European Cancer Organisation is looking for an ambitious, energetic and enthusiastic trainee to join our policy team in Brussels. The successful candidate will be supporting the team on policy initiatives, advocacy activities, monitoring and a range of projects. This represents a unique opportunity to gain hands-on experience at the heart of European health policy-making, contributing to initiatives that directly impact cancer care across Europe.

The role is advertised during a pivotal period for EU cancer policy, in the context of the negotiation of the next multi-annual financial framework (MFF) for 2028-2034.

We have a hard-working team of staffand consultants from all over the world. The work environment is collaborative, inclusive and fast-paced, offering an excellent learning experience for candidates. The working language of the organisation is English. Candidates must already have the right to work in the EU.  

The initial period of the traineeship is six months and if the period is successful another six months may be offered. Several of our permanent staff team members started through such a traineeship.

About the Organisation

European Cancer Organisation (ECO)

The European Cancer Organisation is a not-for-profit federation of 41 Member Societies working in cancer at a European level, together with 21 European Patient Advisory Committee members, through nine Focused Topic Networks.

The Mission of the European Cancer Organisation is to reduce the burden of cancer, improve outcomes and the quality of care for cancer patients, through multidisciplinarity, and multiprofessionalism.

What You’ll Do 

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Policy and Political intelligence

The trainee will be expected to contribute to the functioning of the Organisation’s monitoring and policy and political intelligence capacities. In practice, this will entail advising colleagues of developments relevant to cancer policy coming from :

  • The European Commission; particularly the Directorate-General for Public Health (DG SANTE)
  • The European Parliament’s Committees; particularly the Committee on Public Health (SANT), the Committee Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee (FEMM) and the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL)
  • The European Council; particularly the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council configuration (EPSCO)
  • WHO institutions
  • National governments and other European and international bodies.

Consequently, candidates must possess an analytical mind and an ability to summarise news and legal acts in a precise and succinct manner. Demonstration of this will be a part of the recruitment process.

Stakeholder engagement and communication

The trainee will assist the policy team in aspects of both internal and external communication with stakeholders. This might include the drafting of briefings, the communication of key policy developments, summarising of meetings and liaison with the communications unit in respect of social media and press material related to policy developments. Consequently, candidates will be expected to be able to demonstrate strong written communication skills. Demonstration of this will be a part of the recruitment process.

Project implementation

During the traineeship period, the trainee will be entrusted with responsibilities across key projects of the European Cancer Organisation. In 2025, ECO continues to drive forward actions under Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, including several EU-funded projects. The trainee will support such initiatives developed under ECO’s 9 Focused Topic Networks, which address a broad range of priority areas such as prevention, early detection, inequalities, survivorship, and digital health. ECO also remains highly responsive to emerging and urgent needs in European cancer care, including the ongoing impacts of health system pressures, geopolitical crises, and the evolving demands of climate change and digital transformation on oncology services. As such, candidates should bring a proactive and adaptable mindset, with the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously and prioritise tasks in a fast-paced, mission-driven environment. Strong time management and organisational skills will be essential and will be assessed during the recruitment process.

General Skill Specifications

The candidate is expected to be computer and internet literate with proven experience in using Microsoft Office (Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Teams and Word). The candidate should be a flexible, collaborative and positive team member who accepts additional tasks and responsibilities as directed by the CEO.

  • A high degree of proficiency in writing in English, especially for formal audiences (e.g. meeting reports, minutes, briefings)
  • A background and understanding of the European Union political landscape
  • A background, understanding, and enthusiasm for, EU health policy
  • An interest and passion for improving the quality of cancer care in Europe
  • Ability to understand and/or analyse legal and policy-related texts, such as European Commission proposals, European Parliament draft reports, and Council conclusions
  • Ability to multi-task and prioritise several items that all require varying degrees of urgency
  • Aptitude to maintain calm when confronted with unforeseen circumstances
  • Being able to maintain a professional and friendly attitude, keeping the reputation of the European Cancer Organisation into consideration at all times
  • Strong organisational, communication and inter-personal skills with effective and efficient writing skills in English (native or near-native level)
  • Ability to work both independently, problem solve, think critically and have excellent organisational skills and attention to detail
  • Be a team player able to follow internal and external workflows with precise deadlines
  • Proactively follow-up on pending tasks
  • High level of discretion to maintain confidentiality of information
  • Outgoing and professional attitude
  • Computer and internet proficient with keen interest in continually developing IT-related skills
  • A “completer-finisher”, who is not afraid to pick up the phone and proactively make things happen
  • Working in a fast-paced environment, the candidate needs to be readily available in case of urgent requests
  • Flexibility and adaptability are key aptitudes for this profile

Profile & Experience

Some previous experience in either EU affairs and/or health policy is desirable

Computer and internet literate

Educational qualifications and/or prior experience relating to health and/or science and/or policy and advocacy

 The Role Offers the Successful Candidate

  • An initial period of traineeship for six months
  • Upon successful performance review, another six months could be offered
  • Experience with varied angles and perspectives of the inter-workings of a not-for-profit organisation
  • Satisfaction from contributing to the design and implementation of impactful, Europe-wide initiatives that bring tangible improvements to the lives of cancer patients and their families
  • Hands-on experience in the public health sector, particularly in the context of the EU Cancer Mission and Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, currently top priorities on the EU policy agenda
  • The opportunity to collaborate closely with high-level experts, senior staff, and executive leadership
  • Insight into working within a mission-driven organisation supported by dedicated volunteers and leading healthcare professionals across Europe
  • Direct engagement with top-level stakeholders from EU institutions and the broader European health policy landscape
  • A strong platform for both professional and personal development within a supportive, mentoring-based office environment

Traineeships are remunerated on a level comparable to the traineeship programmes offered at European institutions.

Application

Interested applicants must have the right to work in the EU.

Please send your CV and cover letter, specifying your earliest starting date (giving details of any required notice period), to marion.lhote@europeancancer.org with the subject line “Policy Trainee – [Candidate Name]”.

Cover letters should be clear in covering the candidate’s motivation for the position and their experience to date that has relevance to the described role. The conduct of at least one practical exercise is envisaged as part of the candidate selection process.

Due to a high volume of applicants, only short-listed candidates will be contacted. Diversity and respect are core values of our organisation. ECO welcomes applications from all individuals regardless of their gender, ethnicity, social background, religion or philosophy, age, sexual orientation and identity.

Application deadline: 7 August 2025 noting that interviews may already commence before that deadline. Recruitment is intended to be completed as soon as possible.