Internship: Business Development and Partnership

Job Description

Search for Common Ground seeks a professional, motivated intern to assist its Brussels-based team in all European business development activities, including funding research, fundraising data analysis, supporting donor outreach and support to proposal development. Interns must be available at least 32 hours per week for a period of six months from October 2025 onward.

Key responsibilities

Business development (70%):

• Conduct research on European (EU, governments, foundations) funding opportunities;
• Support the writing and reviewing of proposals and related documents;
• Analysis of fundraising data;
• Support partner meetings;
• Other tasks related to business development.

Other support (30%):

• Provide general administrative support.

As job descriptions cannot be exhaustive, the position holder may be required to undertake other duties that are broadly in line with the above key responsibilities.

Minimum required qualifications

• Bachelor Degree, preferably in international relations, conflict studies, development studies, political science or similar;
• Masters in a relevant field is an asset;
• Demonstrated research skills with the ability to pay close attention to detail;
• Good knowledge of European institutions and understanding of EU decision-making procedures;
• Prior (volunteering) experience in business development or a related field is an asset;
• Excellent oral and written communication in English;
• Good organisational and time-management skills, with the ability to prioritise tasks and manage multiple projects simultaneously within a demanding environment.
• Computer literate with practical experience in Microsoft Office applications.

Desired qualifications

• Working knowledge of French is a very big advantage;
• Working knowledge of Dutch would be desirable;
• Experience working at a (non-)governmental organisation/non-profit or similar international environment.

Behavioral Competencies

• Works cooperatively and effectively with other employees, team members and managers;
• Uses logical thinking to structure, interpret and analyse data;
• Possesses excellent analytical, writing and editing skills;
• Ability to handle multiple tasks and deadlines and to prioritise essential tasks;
• Listens actively and is open to learning;
• Values multicultural teamwork;
• Has knowledge of and respect for the values and norms of the organisation;
• Is able to identify essential information for a task or project;
• A self-starting, detail-oriented and flexible approach to tasks;
• Is resourceful and uses Search tools to support efficiency for self and team members.

Desirable start date: October 13th 2025

About the Organization

Founded in 1982, Search for Common Ground works to transform the way the world deals with conflict - away from adversarial approaches and towards collaborative problem solving. We work with local partners to find culturally appropriate means to strengthen societies' capacity to deal with conflicts constructively: to understand the differences and act on the commonalities.