Intern - Procurement

Internship summary

The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) is funding this internship opportunity for recent graduates or PhD students to work at the ECMWF headquarters in Reading, UK. You will have an outstanding opportunity to join a highly experienced team for a period of 6 months from September 2024 as part of the DAAD Carlo Schmid Programme for Internships in International Organizations.

We are a key player in Copernicus, the Earth Observation component of the European Union’s Space programme, offering quality-assured information on climate change (Copernicus Climate Change Service), atmospheric composition (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), flooding and fire danger (Copernicus Emergency Management Service), and, through the EU's Destination Earth initiative, we are developing digital twins of the Earth. Our annual expenditure is 125M€. We currently utilize an e-procurement tool, which is in the process of being upgraded to a more integrated system. We are upgrading to a new state-of-the art procurement tool, currently its final project stage and undergoing testing. This new system is designed to streamline and centralize a broader spectrum of procurement processes, as well as automate procurement reporting.

The selected candidate will have the opportunity to play a key role in supporting the project during the critical implementation and rollout phases. This project involves engaging with various internal stakeholders, including Legal, Finance, requesters, and approvers from all directorates within the Centre around procurement processes, system rollout, process and service optimization. The project is jointly managed by two teams, Procurement and Contract Management, and you will be working closely with both teams as well as with experts and clients across the center.

About ECMWF

The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) is an independent international organisation supported by 35 European Member States and Cooperating States. It is the world leader in global medium-range forecasts, monthly forecasts and seasonal forecasts. Its products are provided to the European national weather services. The ECMWF is operating at three sites in Reading, UK, Bonn, Germany and Bologna, Italy.

Professional development

Training will be given to help the candidate to become familiar with the procurement rules and procedures of an international organization. You will also gain first-hand knowledge and experience of the workings within the procurement team and its clients and learn skills that will easily be transferred to the similar settings in other international organisations. As well, you will interact and collaborate with leading scientists and software engineers working on some of the most complex forecast and climate models, contributing to the global response to the climate crisis.

Education, skills and experience

• Master's graduate or ecquivalent in Business administration, engineering or other related areas.
  
• Some knowledge of procurement or supply chain management as well as experience with business tools or systems would be useful.
• Familiarity with procurement processes, e-procurement systems and overall experience in related areas such as supply chain, purchasing, vendor and client management would be appreciated but is not a requirement.
  
• Confident knowledge of written and spoken English
• Use of standard MS 365 applications

How to apply

The selection process is managed by DAAD and applicants are invited to complete the online application forms using the DAAD recruitment portal. To access the vacancy and apply online use the following link:

https://www2.daad.de/ausland/studieren/stipendium/de/70-stipendien-finden-und-bewerben/?detail=50015209

Only applications on the DAAD recruitment portal linked above will be considered.