About us

Founded in Brussels in 1983, CEPS (Centre for European Policy Studies) is a leading think tank and forum for debate on EU affairs, which has been consistently ranked among the world’s top 10 best think tanks. One of CEPS’ distinguishing features is its strong in-house research capacity and an extensive international network of partner institutes. CEPS’ funding comes from a variety of sources, mainly research grants and service contracts, but also from membership and conference fees.

The Partnerships, Development and Intelligence (PDI) Unit is responsible for developing and maintaining CEPS’ relationships with its members, partners and stakeholders. The Unit supports CEPS ’ membership community, develops engagement opportunities, coordinates partnership activities, and contributes to the organisation ’ s positioning, visibility and sustainability.

The Unit works closely with CEPS researchers and operational teams to strengthen relationships with existing members, attract new partners and create opportunities for meaningful engagement with CEPS’ research, events and activities. The Membership and Partnership Coordinator acts as a key bridge between CEPS members and the organisation ’ s research Units, ensuring that member s’ needs are understood, translated into action and followed through from first contact to long-term stewardship.

Main tasks

You will become a member of CEPS ’ staff and work in the Partnerships, Development and Intelligence (PDI) Unit, reporting to the Head of Unit (Head of Development and Strategic Partnerships) and acting as the primary support contact and relationship bridge between CEPS members and its research Units.

Your responsibilities will include:

Support member strategy & intelligence: identify priority members/prospects based on strategic segments and policy debates, analyse their profiles and interests, and collect and circulate member intelligence to the Head of Development and Partnerships and to the relevant Research Units to spot funding or joint-initiative opportunities;
Facilitate internal-external bridging: liaise with Unit Heads and researchers to match member priorities with CEPS ’ work, prepare meeting objectives/briefings, and act as the ’ translator ’ ensuring members understand CEPS ’ offer and Units understand member needs.
Support member engagement delivery: support the Head of Unit in the preparation of member meetings and recruitment calls, present CEPS ’ value proposition, and capture and confirm feedback, needs and concerns in real time.
Drive follow-up & relationship stewardship: synthesise feedback into prioritised actions, help mobilise Units to deliver on commitments, close the loop with members on outputs (events, publications, briefings), and monitor relationship health to propose ways to deepen engagement.
Actively support recruitment & onboarding of members: identify potential new members, prepare outreach materials, and support onboarding processes.
Support communications & events: prepare newsletters, member updates and outreach content, and support the organisation of member meetings, networking events and community-building activities.
Facilitate reporting & institutional memory: brief leadership on relationship dynamics, risks and opportunities, feedback on process improvements, and ensure key insights and decisions are documented and shared rather than kept informally.
Ensure discipline and administrative excellence: maintain CRM/databases and support cross-team coordination and reporting related to membership and partnership activities.

Your profile

You hold a Master ’ s degree in European affairs, international relations, business administration, public policy, management or a related field, with a minimum of 3 years of relevant professional experience.
You have initial to solid experience in stakeholder engagement, partnerships, account or relationship management, membership coordination or a related area.
You are comfortable acting as a liaison or ’ bridge ’ between different internal teams and external stakeholders, translating technical or research content into terms relevant to members.
You are confident leading or co-leading meetings and calls with senior external stakeholders, including corporate partners, institutional contacts and researchers, or demonstrate a strong willingness to learn and take on this responsibility.
You have strong active listening skills and the ability to synthesise feedback into clear, actionable, prioritised follow-up items.
You are proactive in following up with internal teams to ensure commitments to members are delivered, and comfortable holding colleagues accountable in a collegial way.
You have a good understanding of, or strong interest in, EU policy debates and the work of think tanks and knowledge-based organisations.
You are analytical and able to identify relevant content or opportunities for specific members based on their profile and interests.
You are organised, proactive and solution-oriented, able to manage multiple relationships and priorities simultaneously and work effectively under deadlines.
You have excellent written and oral communication skills and enjoy preparing visual, creative and engaging materials, briefing notes and outreach content.
You are comfortable working with digital tools and databases; experience with CRM systems (especially Salesforce) is an asset.
You have an excellent command of English, both orally and in writing.
You are curious, eager to learn and motivated to contribute to the growth and stewardship of CEPS ’ membership community.
You are kind, with a deep respect for diversity and a strong sense of empathy towards colleagues and members alike.
You enjoy teamwork, are open to giving and receiving feedback, and are keen to contribute to process improvements in how member relationships are managed.
You are enthusiastic about contributing not only to the success of the PDI Unit but to CEPS as a whole.

What CEPS can offer

We offer full-time employment, initially for one year. The contract is renewable. The salary will be in accordance with your previous experience as well as the CEPS salary scale. We also offer a benefits package (group and hospitalisation insurance, meal tickets, public transport reimbursement, 20 days legal holiday entitlement per year plus an additional two weeks during the Christmas-New Year period when CEPS is closed, as well as the possibility to telework in Belgium and 20 days per calendar year of teleworking from abroad). We would like the preferred candidate to ideally start in October 2026. The role will be based in Brussels.

Career development prospects

This position will give the successful candidate the opportunity to progress on their career path and gain valuable skills, training and stakeholder management experience within CEPS ’ partnerships and membership function. CEPS offers a Learning and Development Programme for all staff to develop the necessary skills for their position.

More information

For further information about the position, please contact [email protected]

Application and deadline

Applicants are requested to:

Complete and submit this recruitment form by 16 August 2026, 23:59 CET;
Send their CV (in English) to [email protected] by 16 August 2026, 23:59 CET. We kindly request that you use the following subject line for your email: ’ Membership and Partnership Coordinator -PDI ’ . Please include the names and contact details of at least two referees (including your current or last employer). Shortlisted candidates may be asked to produce one or two letters of recommendation. For the CV, please use the Europass template (<https://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/>).

Applications received after the deadline, incomplete applications, or applications that do not follow the above instructions will not be taken into consideration.

Pre-selected candidates are invited to a short online interview in the week of 31 August 2026. Based on these first interviews, shortlisted candidates will be invited to an in-person interview in the week of 7 September 2026.

Even if you do not strictly have all the necessary competences for this role but you believe your experience and skills could be valuable and enable you to fulfil the tasks required, we would still highly recommend that you submit an application.