Trainee (Supporting stakeholders' engagement and medicines health information)

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is a decentralised agency of the European Union (EU), located in Amsterdam. It is responsible for the scientific evaluation, supervision and safety monitoring of medicines in the EU.

This traineeship opportunity is open until 30 September 2026 23:59 CEST, with an intake on 1 March 2027.

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 are interested in gaining experience and contributing 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

The Public and Stakeholders Engagement Department is seeking a motivated trainee to support improvements of its stakeholders’ engagement processes and to investigate how public enquiries are handled across the European medicines regulatory network.

Specific objectives and projects

For its stakeholder engagement activities, EMA operates within established frameworks that guide engagement and communication with key stakeholder groups, including patients and consumers, healthcare professionals, academia, and industry.

This traineeship offers a unique opportunity to contribute to enhancing how the Agency organises and communicates information, providing stakeholders with a clear, accessible and strategic overview of its activities.

The project on stakeholder engagement reporting will be expected to:

• Develop a standardised data collection template including minimum required data fields.
• Propose a streamlined process for collecting inputs across the Agency offices, including options for digital tools.
• Propose a revised report format that is more concise, structured, and reader-friendly, including visual elements.

The project examining public enquiries will involve engaging with representatives from national competent authorities to collect information on their systems, processes and experiences in managing public queries.

The trainee will be expected to:

• Develop and conduct a survey of relevant stakeholders within the EU regulatory network.
• Analyse information on communication channels, workflows, response timelines, query types and volumes.
• Identify similarities, differences and examples of good practice across Member States.
• Explore how queries are currently redirected between EMA and national authorities and identify potential inefficiencies or areas for improvement.
• Assess the use of digital solutions and artificial intelligence in public query handling.
• Prepare a report summarising findings and proposing practical recommendations to strengthen collaboration and coordination across the network.

Learning outcomes

The trainee is expected to:

• Learn about EMA’s frameworks and approach to stakeholder engagement.
• Gain hands-on experience in process optimisation within a European regulatory environment.
• Develop skills in data structuring, reporting, and professional communication.
• Gain understanding of factors contributing to effective communication and engagement.
• Gain knowledge of the Agency’s processes and regulatory work.
• Gain insight into how EMA and national competent authorities interact with patients, healthcare professionals and the public.
• Develop skills in survey design, stakeholder engagement and qualitative data analysis.
• Gain experience in mapping processes across multinational organisations.

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible for consideration for this placement, you are required to:

1. Enjoy full rights as a citizen of a European Union Member State or Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway.
2. Possess a relevant university degree (minimum of three years or more) in biomedical sciences (e.g. pharmacy, medicine) or public health or social sciences, that must have been obtained between 30 September 2025 and 30 September 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.
3. Have a thorough knowledge of English (at least level C1) and good knowledge of another 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 disqualification from the procedure.

Additional skills

• Experience in project management
• Experience in stakeholder engagement and/or communication
• Experience with process improvement
• Strong analytical and organisational skills
• Ability to synthesise information clearly and concisely
• Excellent written communication skills in English

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 March 2027 – 31 December 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.

What do we offer?

• Meaningful work contributing to protecting the health of every individual and animal in Europe within a multinational, multidisciplinary team
• Development opportunities (e.g. internal mobility, mentoring, peer coaching, career reflection programme, etc.)
• Work-life balance (flexible working arrangements, teleworking, generous annual leave plus official holidays)