Why intern with us?

Interns at Collective Aid are encouraged to contribute to all dimensions of our work. We firmly believe in learning by doing and direct project experience, which is why we will work with you in order to organise an internship that grants you responsibilities that directly support our current priorities, mission and capacity goals.

How does it work?

We keep the model simple and transparent.

• Interns follow the same Code of Conduct and safeguarding standards as all team members

• A designated supervisor is assigned to you for administrative and operational oversight

• We will work with your institution to sign any learning agreements, Erasmus+ documentation, grant paperwork or placement frameworks

• Upon completion, interns receive an official certificate confirming their internship and responsibilities

What will I do?

Interns are placed on a field programme and encouraged to choose the context of work that best suits their expectations before committing.

Interns are integrated with our field teams, and are expected to take on longer-term responsibilities in lines with intended learning outcomes and goals.

We aim to match placement objectives with real organisational needs and we do not create artificial roles.

It should be noted that all internships are unpaid by default. If this would be a barrier to your application, we strongly encourage you to connect us with your course leaders.

Placement Roles

All placements are designed in conversation with the applicant and, where relevant, their institution. Depending on current operational priorities, internships may include work within the below departments.

Operations and Coordination

Supporting programme logistics, planning, and internal systems.

For Course Leaders

Collective Aid welcomes partnerships with university courses, higher education institutions, and education leaders seeking high-integrity placement environments for their students and course participants.

We offer structured supervision and oversight, clear safeguarding and governance policies, alignment with formal learning agreements and academic objectives, experience within an operational humanitarian NGO environment and, crucially, flexibility to integrate Erasmus+ or grant-funded placements.

We understand institutional requirements around duty of care, documentation, and evaluation can make partnerships complex, and that is why we work collaboratively with all partners to ensure compliance and clarity from the outset.

We are building long-term institutional partnerships with course leaders because the next generation of humanitarians and practitioners need direct experience in our field.

As an organisation committed to responsible, ethical, and standards-driven humanitarian change, our internships are focussed on ensuring students access meaningful, supervised experience within real humanitarian systems.

Our internships are particularly well suited to courses in:

• International Relations, Public Policy and Human Rights

• Human, Social and Political Sciences

• Politics, Philosophy and Economics

• Law

• Non-profit Management

• Humanitarian Logistics

• Development Studies

• Communications

• Architecture