If the thought of joining a hard-working team working at the coal face of public affairs at one of the UK’s most modern and respected trade bodies excites you, then this opportunity may be the one for you.

Representing this industry to policymakers and politicians is no simple task. It takes a sharp brain, an ability to make complex subjects sound simple and buckets of hard work and determination.

That’s where you come in. We need a keen, intelligent and hard-working individual to join our team for 12 months starting Summer 2020 as an intern. In return you’ll get the chance to learn about public affairs and insurance in organisation with an extraordinary breadth and depth of expertise to draw from.

If you’re interested in politics, this is the perfect internship to get you real-world, meaningful experience that will provide you with lots of great experience on your CV. To find out more from some of our previous interns, have a read of an interview we did with them: https://www.abi.org.uk/news/blog-articles/2018/12/internships-at-the-abi/

Please note this is a 12-month fixed term contract and is being offered as a sandwich placement starting in Summer 2020.

Your role:

During your time with us, you will:

• Support and assist Public Affairs colleagues in Political Monitoring, research and stakeholder mapping.

• Compile internal and external updates and newsletters including a daily political monitoring note for an internal audience and weekly member newsletter

• Coordinate responses to MP letters and inquiries on matters relating to insurance and long-term savings, including working with policy colleagues to draft replies and liaising with MP offices.

• Complete administrative tasks associated with the successful running of a busy public affairs team such as arranging Government Public Affairs Network meetings, updating stakeholder maps and activity logs, and dealing with enquiries to the team.

• Help deliver the Public Affairs team’s political events programme including the Parliamentary Reception, roundtables and other events.

• Undertake political research - producing biographies of parliamentarians, researching political interests of key parliamentarians.

Don’t just take out word for it, read the blog from previous intern, Emma (who’s now one of our Public Affairs Advisers!), to find out more: http://bit.ly/2p5xrXB

We’re looking for:

It goes without saying you’ll need a keen interest in current affairs and politics. We’re not looking for any prior work experience but the minimum requirements for the role are:

•  A keen interest in current affairs and politics and a desire to learn about the insurance industry.

•  High level of attention to detail and accuracy;

•  Fluent written and spoken English;

•  Excellent oral and written communication skills, with the ability to communicate with people at all levels

•  Organised and comfortable prioritising and managing several pieces of work at any one time.

•  Ability to work under pressure and to agreed timelines.

•  A mature, confident and friendly manner with the ability to build strong working relationships and to interact effectively with colleagues.

•  Proactive and self-motivated;

•  An ability to work collaboratively and to contribute to the wider work of the ABI, a premium is placed on an open and friendly personality.

Throughout the interview and assessment process, we will be looking for you to demonstrate the ABI’s values; We are Brave; We take Ownership; We are Appreciative; We are Human and We are Curious. For more information about what these mean to us, please visit: https://www.abi.org.uk/about-the-abi/careers/our-values/

Where can this role take you?

With a collaborative environment, the fantastic exposure you have to people and leaders in the industry and the knowledge you’ll build on a range of regulatory and policy issues, the ABI is a great place to advance your career.

What training and benefits are offered?

On your first day you’ll be met by our HR team for a full company induction. You’ll then have inductions to get you up to speed with anything from Events to how our finances work, plus one to ones with relevant colleagues. Everyone goes on an introduction to insurance course and will receive plenty of on the job training. We host various Staff Learning Events throughout the year and you will be able to attend relevant ABI and industry events.

Additional training will be tailored to your own personal needs and aspirations and we have a range of courses as part of our Learning and Development offering.

More detail on our company benefits can be found here.

Interested?

The deadline for applications is 27 November 2019.

Please note that as part of your application, we may ask questions regarding your background to support our commitment to maintaining diversity and inclusion in our workforce. This includes building an accurate picture of the make-up of the workforce in encouraging equality and diversity. Answering these questions is entirely voluntary and the information you provide will stay confidential, and be stored securely. Access is limited to only relevant and necessary staff members. You can find out how we use your personal information by reading our candidate Privacy Notice and how we use information you may voluntarily disclose regarding your background by reading our Summary of Legitimate Interest: https://www.abi.org.uk/about-the-abi/careers/abi-candidate-privacy-notice/.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Committed employer and as such, we:

•  Are partnered with Vercida who provide an accessible website accredited by The Shaw Trust. Our jobs can be viewed on Vercida here.

• Are committed to making reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process as required for disabled candidates. To discuss in more detail, please contact careers@abi.org.uk. We will also check this with you should you be invited to interview

• Offer an interview to disabled candidates who meet the minimum requirements for a role. If you believe this may apply to you, you will be able to indicate this on your application form. Please note that there may be occasions where it is not practicable or appropriate for us to interview all disabled people who meet the minimum criteria for the job. In certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, we may need to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people.

• For some of our jobs, we partner with Applied which anonymises applications before we review them and interviews are awarded to the highest scoring applications. Due to the anonymous nature of these applications, it is not possible for us to identify individuals’ backgrounds and characteristics. If you are disabled, please contact careers@abi.org.uk and let us know if you require any reasonable adjustments to this recruitment process.

About us:

The ABI is the voice of the UK’s world leading insurance and long-term savings industry. A productive, inclusive and thriving sector, we are an industry that provides peace of mind to households and businesses across the UK and powers the growth of local and regional economies by enabling trade, risk taking, investment and innovation. The UK insurance industry is the largest in Europe and the fourth largest in the world.

It is an essential part of the UK’s economic strength, managing investments of over £1.8 trillion and paying nearly £12bn in taxes to the Government. It employs around 300,000 individuals, of which around a third are employed directly by providers with the remainder in auxiliary services such as broking.

If you would like to know more about the ABI and the work we do please visit www.abi.org.uk. You can find us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram too.