Vacancy: RCPE Intern: Policy and Public Affairs

Salary: £11.44 per hour

Location: Edinburgh/Hybrid                                                                                                                     

Fixed term contract, 35 hours per week, up to 10 or 12 weeks over summer 2024

The College is seeking to appoint a Policy and Public Affairs Intern, to assist us in our policy, media and political engagement work and to support the delivery of our corporate strategy. The ideal candidate will have a keen interest in politics and current affairs, preferably with an interest in healthcare.

About the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh

The College is an independent professional membership organisation and registered charity, which exists to support the medical profession to deliver the gold standard in healthcare provision.

We represent over 14,000 Fellows and Members worldwide by improving their skills and knowledge, setting standards and developing policy and guidance. The College helps qualified doctors to pursue their careers in specialist (internal) medicine through our world-renowned education and training programme. We ensure that the views and practical clinical experiences of our membership are taken into account by health policymakers throughout the UK and communicated to the media, politicians and the public. We provide resources and information to support and facilitate professional development for physicians throughout their careers.

Previous interns have written a short blog post of their experience at the College:

https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/college/2022-rcpe-internship-blog-post

https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/college/2023-rcpe-internship-blog-post

The Role

Reporting to the Policy and Public Affairs Manager, the RCPE Intern will provide a wide range of administrative research and routine policy and public affairs support to the Global Engagement Department.

The post holder will support the College’s advocacy activities through identifying and analysing relevant policy, providing advice and developing evidence-based position statements and briefings, undertaking research, writing press releases, monitoring media and policy activity and providing administrative support. You will represent the College at internal and external meetings, seminars and conferences – both alongside colleagues and occasionally independently.

The ability to learn quickly, on the job, is highly desirable although you will be given support and guidance by more senior colleagues. You’ll receive continuous feedback and guidance on how to plan and deliver your workload, along with advice on what to look for and who to talk to. You’ll also be encouraged, individually and together with your cross-discipline intern peer group, to find out more about other teams and operations across the College.

Who we are looking for

The successful candidate will satisfy the following requirements:

• Preferably be a recent or prospective bachelor’s or master’s graduate in a degree relating to the advertised role, such as politics, public relations or journalism
• Have an interest in a career in policy, research, public affairs, strategic communications or politics.
• Possess excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Possess strong IT Skills including Microsoft Office, Word and Excel. Experience of social media is desirable.
• Ability to manage and prioritise own workload, with assistance from senior colleagues, while working as part of a team.
• Have experience of producing high-quality research whilst demonstrating critical thinking and a desire to help solve complex issues.
• Be passionate about learning and developing your skills and experience in the policy and public affairs field.
• Commitment to documenting their internship experience online and contribute to improving the programme for future interns by providing feedback.

How to Apply

• All applicants are required to submit a completed application form.
• A CV may be included with your application.
• Please send your application form and supporting documentation in Word format only (not converted to .pdf).

Closing Date:                     9am, Monday 22 April 2024
Interviews:                         Wednesday 8 May 2024
Informal enquiries to:    Dr Paul Gillen, Policy and Public Affairs Manager, p.gillen@rcpe.ac.uk

Completed applications should be returned to: people@rcpe.ac.uk