External Affairs Intern

The United Kingdom Accreditation Service, UKAS, is recruiting for an External Affairs Intern. This is an exciting opportunity to develop public affairs skills within a small and dynamic team, working for a not-for-profit organisation with a public interest mission.

A placement year at UKAS offers a unique experience, working with industry and political stakeholders across a wide range of policy sectors, including international trade, AI and emerging technologies, net zero and sustainability and product safety.

We are looking for a dedicated, positive and mission-driven undergraduate who will support the External Affairs team by monitoring and analysing relevant political developments, engaging with public policy and organising events.

The successful candidate will contribute towards a diverse and exciting public affairs and external engagement portfolio, raising awareness of the value of accreditation.

They will play an active role in assisting a broad programme of stakeholder engagement, which in the past year has included attendance at political party conferences, COP29, World Trade Organisation forums, roundtables with senior government ministers and shadow ministers and events at the House of Lords and the Scottish Parliament. There will be opportunities for the Intern to participate in selected external events.

Key responsibilities:

• Support the delivery of UKAS’s political engagement programme, designed to raise awareness of the value of accreditation with government departments and agencies, devolved nations and other UKAS stakeholders.
• Analyse developments in public policy and develop, maintain and distribute political monitoring, using mechanisms such as Hansard, social media, news sources and events.
• Develop messaging and communications material, including social media posts.
• Formulate UKAS’s responses to government and other stakeholder consultations.
• Deliver research projects aimed at gathering evidence on the value of accreditation.
• Represent UKAS in external meetings and events.
• Organise engagement events for UKAS.

Knowledge, skills and experience:

• Comprehensive knowledge of, and keen interest in, the UK political system, including policymaking and government processes.
• Understanding of and interest in current affairs and political, economic, societal and technological trends.
• Interest in global trade and rules-based trading system
• Strong communications skills (verbal and written), including an appreciation of how to communicate with political actors.
• Ability to distil information from multiple sources and articulate core messages.
• Collaborative, proactive and flexible approach to work, including the ability to manage competing and changing priorities.
• Experience of creating messaging and communications campaigns (desirable).
• Experience of monitoring news sources, such as social media, to gather intelligence and information (desirable).
• Experience of organising events and meetings (desirable).
• Experience of developing partnerships with and working across, diverse groups (desirable).

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion: Fostering a Culture of Belonging

UKAS is proud to be the United Kingdom’s sole Accreditation Body. We wouldn’t be able to do what we do without a diverse mix of minds, backgrounds and experiences. UKAS is committed to promoting a culture of belonging and values the differences and uniqueness that everyone brings to the organisation.

We welcome candidates across all types of backgrounds, circumstances, and identities to support our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) commitments.

External Affairs Intern - Job Description

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