Junior Advocacy Officer (Trainee)

The Fair Trade Advocacy Office is looking for a highly motivated and well-organised person, able to work at a fast pace and independently by managing their own time and work priorities. The FTAO is a small team, hence this job opening would suit somebody who is flexible, able to work on different issues simultaneously and carry out a diversity of tasks in the advocacy area.

• Contract type: Paid traineeship (Convention d’immersion professionnelle - CIP) - Full-time (38 hours/week)
• Duration: 6 months starting from November 2026 (with option of a 3- to 6-month extension)
• Location: Fair Trade Advocacy Office (Brussels, Belgium) with flexibility for remote work 2 days/week
• Reporting to: International and Institutional Relations Manager

We are seeking somebody with the ability to carry out advocacy tasks (including monitoring), organise advocacy events, do research work, turn complex issues into easily understandable documents, as well as conduct administrative tasks.

Somebody who is excited to learn and brings in ideas for the advocacy strategy of the FTAO. Last but not least, we are looking for a friendly team member!

Key areas of work

Analysis of EU and international trade and sustainable development policies:

• Analyse EU (and, to a lesser degree, other International Organisations), legislation, policies and agreements
• Monitor EU processes that are key for our advocacy work.
• Specific work is expected to be carried out on different files FTAO is working on (due diligence, textiles, EUDR, public procurement).

Support in advocacy work:

• Liaise with MEPs and assistants, European Commission staff, other NGOs and Fair Trade Organisations.
• Provide support to the FTAO staff in their advocacy tasks.

Event organisation:

• Manage the organisation of some of FTAO’s events (workshops, conferences, etc.), in liaison with the responsible policy officer.
• Write succinct reports of relevant conferences/meetings in Brussels where the trainee represents FTAO.

General administrative support:

• Carry out specific administrative tasks on an ad hoc basis.

Essential

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field (e.g. European Union Studies, Political Science, Economics, Law or International Relations).
• Excellent spoken and written English.
• Excellent research, analytical and writing skills.
• Able to work in a small team and independently with people from different cultural backgrounds.
• Flexibility, ability to work at a fast pace, improvise and multi-task.
• IT skills at user level (e.g. Word, Excel, PowerPoint).

Desirable

• Master’s Degree in the above-mentioned academic fields.
• Fluency in spoken and written French or Spanish.
• Prior knowledge and experience in the following policy areas: Fair Trade, trade, sustainable agriculture, sustainable development, development cooperation policies.
• Demonstrated knowledge of EU Institutions.

We offer

• A stimulating and dynamic international work environment.
• Remuneration of EUR 1.421,88 gross.
• Flexibility to work from home (2 days per week) + possibility to work outside of Brussels for an annual maximum of 30 days (non-consecutive).
• 12 days of (extra official) holidays per 6 months of traineeship.
• Plenty of learning and networking opportunities as part of a training programme.
• Space for taking initiative.

Conditions

• Brussels-based.
• Work permit for the EU.
• Have completed your studies.

To apply

Please fill inthis Google formby 7th October 2026, close of day. You will have to upload a CV and a motivation letter to the Google form (in one document).

Interviews will take place via video call in the week of 12th October. Ideally, the candidate can start at the beginning of November.

If you have any questions, please contact Michelle Barrientos ([email protected])

Thanks for your interest in Fair Trade and in working with us!