Trainee (Modern collaboration adoption and change management)
Selection procedure reference: EMA/TR/11404
Deadline for applications: 06 May 2026 23:59 CET
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is a decentralised agency of the European Union (EU), located in Amsterdam. It began operating in 1995. It is responsible for the scientific evaluation, supervision and safety monitoring of medicines in the EU.
This traineeship opportunity is now open for applications until 06 May 2026 23:59 CET, with an intake on 1 October 2026.
About the traineeship programme
The Agency is looking for motivated, qualified recent graduates or students on an Erasmus+ or other programme or PhD students or Master's students (who posses a previous degree), who are interested in gaining experience and contribute to the Agency’s work for every patient in Europe. The purpose of a traineeship at the Agency is to perform tasks that are predominantly in the interest of the trainee’s training and principally serve to increase the trainee’s knowledge and to gain relevant experience.
Placement description
We are looking for a trainee in the Digital Workplace Office.
Specific objectives and projects
Context
The Agency is modernising its digital workplace to improve how staff collaborate, meet and share information. Recent upgrades to meeting rooms, new tools for online collaboration and the introduction of more intuitive Microsoft 365 applications have created new opportunities to improve the user experience.
To make the most of these changes, the Agency aims to develop clearer guidance, practical learning materials and accessible “how-to” resources that help staff work effectively in hybrid and digital environments.
Project description
As a trainee, you will contribute to a project aimed at improving the day-to-day digital experience of staff by focusing on three areas:
1. Helping people use collaboration tools more confidently, especially Microsoft Teams, SharePoint and the new Outlook experience.
2. Enhancing the quality of hybrid meetings by analysing how upgraded meeting rooms are used and turning your findings into practical checklists and visual guidance.
3. Creating simple and engaging learning materials, including short tutorials, user guides and tips that help colleagues run successful hybrid meetings and make best use of the Agency’s digital tools.
This project offers a hands-on opportunity to shape how hundreds of colleagues experience digital collaboration. You will work closely with the Digital Workplace team, observe real user needs, and transform insights into high-quality and easy-to-understand content.
Tasks
During the traineeship, you will be involved in:
- Analysing how staff use digital tools, identifying common questions, obstacles and improvement opportunities.
- Running small user testing sessions in selected meeting rooms to understand how people join online meetings, share content, and interact with room equipment.
- Creating simple, attractive “quick start guides” for hybrid meetings, including checklists for organisers and attendees.
- Developing short written or visual tutorials, such as “How to run a hybrid meeting,” “How to join a meeting from a room system,” or “Tips for effective online collaboration.”
- Supporting awareness activities for Microsoft 365 features (Teams, Outlook, SharePoint, OneDrive) by preparing short posts or visual tips that encourage good digital habits.
- Collecting and presenting user feedback, and turning it into concrete recommendations that help improve future digital workplace initiatives.
- Contributing to the intranet content, ensuring that guidance pages for meeting rooms and digital tools are clear, accurate and easy to navigate.
This traineeship is well suited to someone interested in technology and user experience. Deep technical expertise is not required; curiosity, creativity and an interest in helping others understand digital tools are more important. The trainee will learn how modern collaboration tools support hybrid work and how to communicate technical concepts in a clear and accessible way. The trainee will work with experienced colleagues and gradually take ownership of specific project components.
Learning outcomes
Eligibility criteria
To be eligible for consideration for this placement, you are required to:
- enjoy full rights as a citizen of a European Union Member State or Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway;
- possess a university degree in computer sciences, information technology, software engineering, management information system, or computer-oriented engineering (minimum of three years or more) that must have been obtained between 6 May 2025 and 6 May 2026 or be a university student on an Erasmus + or a similar programme or a PhD student or a Master's student with a previous fully finished degree in the areas mentioned before.
- a thorough knowledge of English (at least level C1) and good knowledge of other official EU language (at least B2) of the Common European Framework for Languages
For criteria 1 and 2, you will be required to provide proof in the application form and at the interview stage. Failing to present these documents may result in the disqualification from the procedure.
Additional skills
- IT literacy, particularly in MS Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook);
- ability to work with VTC tools (Teams, WebEx, Zoom).
- familiarity with an international environment;
- working knowledge of Microsoft Office suite, in particular Office 365, including SharePoint;
- basic IT service management knowgledge (e.g. incident, request, problem);
- good writing skills and experience in preparing various types of communications, notes, presentations and emails.
Behavioural Competencies
You will demonstrate the following behavioural competencies:
- Communication skills
- Interpersonal skills
- Working with others
- Adaptability
- Research and analytical skills
- Learning and development
Conditions of traineeship
The traineeship is offered for 10 months (1 October 2026 – 31 July 2027) and takes place at the Agency’s premises in Amsterdam with possibility for teleworking up to 40% of working time from The Netherlands and occasional teleworking from outside The Netherlands. Traineeships are offered for either full-time or part-time (80% or 50%) if combined with university studies.
The Agency pays a monthly stipend of €2,049.77 for a full-time traineeship (reduced accordingly for 80% or 50%) and a travel contribution upon joining the Agency.
Each trainee will have a mentor at the Agency who will guide the trainee through the programme.
The conditions of employment are stated in the Executive Decision on rules governing the traineeship programme at the EMA available here.
Expected selection timelines
| Deadline for applications | 06 May 2026 23:59 CET |
|---|---|
| Assessments (remote) | From mid-June 2026 to mid-July 2026 |
| Decision and offers | By end of July 2026 |
| Placement start | 1 October 2026 |
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Domenico Scarlattilaan 6 - 1083 HS Amsterdam - The Netherlands
Telephone +31 (0)88 781 6000 - Email recruitment@ema.europa.eu
© European Medicines Agency, 2024. Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.
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