Presidency Traineeship

Community Plant Variety Office

The Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) in Angers invites applications for 1 traineeship of 12 months (from 1st October 2026 to 30th September 2027).

Detailed information about the CPVO can be found at http://www.cpvo.europa.eu/.

Profile / Duties

The CPVO designs traineeships for motivated young professionals eager to develop their skills in a stimulating environment where initiative is encouraged and contributions are recognised and valued. 

The human dimension of the Agency together with the wide range of tasks dealt in it will allow trainees to truly understand and experience what it is to work for an EU institution. Proactivity and flexibility are highly valued at the CPVO.

The CPVO opens a traineeship to support its Presidency in the following tasks:

1. Technical and Policy Support

• Assist in preparing technical briefings, background notes, and policy presentations related to plant variety protection.
• Conduct research on emerging issues, legislative developments, and international trends relevant to the organization’s mandate.
• Summarize complex technical documents into clear, concise materials for internal and external use.
• Support the drafting of position papers, concept notes, and contributions to consultations.

2. Reporting and Documentation

• Draft reports on topics of strategic interest, including analysis of ongoing initiatives and policy developments.
• Prepare accurate and timely minutes of meetings.
• Maintain organized records of discussions, decisions, and follow‑up actions.

3. Meeting and Event Support

• Assist in planning and coordinating meetings, workshops, and conferences.
• Prepare agendas, participant lists, briefing packs, and supporting documentation.
• Provide on‑site or virtual support during events, including note‑taking and coordination with speakers and participants.

4. Stakeholder Engagement

• Support communication with member organizations, partners, and experts by preparing correspondence, summaries, and follow‑up materials.
• Help track stakeholder inputs and maintain updated contact and distribution lists.

5. Internal Coordination and Administrative Tasks

• Assist the Presidency in managing workflows, tracking deadlines, and preparing internal updates.
• Contribute to the preparation of annual work plans, progress reports, and internal planning documents.

General Conditions

To be considered eligible, applicants must satisfy the following requirements on the closing date for the submission of applications:

• Be a national of an EU Member State. Exceptionally candidatures of non-EU nationals will be considered; 
• Enjoy full rights as a citizen;
• Have a university degree of at least 3 years of study (minimum a bachelor) linked to plant breeding, agronomy, law with a specialization in IPRs;
• Have a thorough knowledge of one of the languages of the European Union and satisfactory knowledge of another official language of the EU.

Candidates who fulfilled a traineeship in another EU institution can apply.

Qualifications

• Candidates must have a degree in agronomy, plant breeding, law with specialisation in IPRs;
• Candidates have to be at ease in a multicultural environment where the main working language is English; 
• Candidates must have excellent IT skills necessary to perform successfully;
• They must have excellent communication skills in English, both written and oral; knowledge of French would be an asset;
• They must be able to work autonomously and pay attention to details.
• Previous work experience in the domain of  plant variety protection or IPRs in general would be an asset.

Professional Experience

None required.

Additional Requirements

None.

Contractual Conditions

- The successful candidate will be offered a traineeship of 12 months (not renewable).

- Grant: trainees will be awarded a monthly traineeship grant, equal to 25% of basic salary for EU officials in grade AD5 step 1 as of 31.12.2025 plus the correction coefficient for France (for information: 1.747€ in 2026).

Recruitment procedure

Shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview via Microsoft Teams.

For applications to be valid, candidates must be made through the CPVO electronic recruitment portal which can be found on the CPVO web site: Recruitment | CPVO

Incomplete applications, and applications not sent via this tool, will automatically be excluded from the selection procedure.

The CPVO contacts candidates via email and will only use the email address provided during the registration of the candidate's profile. Therefore, candidates should regularly check their Spam folder, as CPVO cannot be held accountable for emails that may end up in that folder.