2022 World Trade Organization (WTO) Young Professionals Programme (CHF 3,500 Monthly Salary)

2022 World Trade Organization (WTO) Young Professionals Programme (CHF 3,500 Monthly Salary)

The WTO Young Professionals Programme (YPP) is a unique opportunity for qualified young professionals up to the age of 32 years, as at 1 January 2022, from eligible developing and least-developed country (LDC) WTO Members, to enhance their knowledge and skills on WTO and international trade issues. The Programme aims to widen the pool of professionals from these countries who can later be more competitive with respect to recruitment in the WTO and/or other regional and international organizations.

ALL APPLICATIONS MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY A COVER LETTER OF MOTIVATION, WHICH SHOULD INDICATE UP TO THREE AREAS OF WORK (SEE DETAILS UNDER GENERAL FUNCTIONS), IN ORDER OF PREFERENCE, THAT THE APPLICANT WOULD BE INTERESTED IN. Applications with no accompanying letter of motivation will not be considered. Please refer to instructions under Additional Information on how to add a cover letter on the WTO e-recruitment system.

This is a limited programme that offers selected young professionals with the opportunity to gain work experience in the WTO. There is no guarantee of an extension of the programme or of a job offer after the one-year programme.

General Functions

The selected Young Professional will be placed in a specific Division of the WTO Secretariat in accordance with the needs and priorities of the Organization; and based on the identified areas of interest of the Young Professional. Each Young Professional may express interest in not more than three areas of WTO work; and in order of preference.

The areas of work may include, inter alia, the following (in alphabetical order):

Accessions
Agriculture
Council and Trade Negotiations
Dispute Settlement
Economic Research and Statistics
Government Procurement
Intellectual Property Rights
Market Access (tariffs and non-tariff barriers)
Media and External Relations
Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures
Technical Barriers to Trade
Trade and Development
Trade and Environment
Trade Facilitation
Trade and Gender
Trade in Services and Investment
Trade Policy Analysis
Trade-Related Technical Assistance.
Trade Remedies (anti-dumping and countervailing duties)

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education:

Advanced university degree in law, economics, or other international trade-related subjects relevant to the work of the WTO

Knowledge and skills:

General knowledge of the work of the WTO.
Good drafting skills in English. Ability to draft in French and/or Spanish would be an advantage.
Ability to work independently and as part of a team, in a multicultural environment.
Demonstrated strong interest in international trade and the multilateral trading system.

Commitment and passion for trade or WTO-related work.

Work Experience:

Minimum two (2) years of professional experience relevant to the work of the WTO.

Additional Information:

Preference shall be given to nationals from WTO Members without any representation or with low representation (one staff member) at the professional level in the Secretariat; and have not participated in previous cohorts of the YPP. The list of such WTO Members as at 15 March 2021 is set out below:

Angola, Barbados, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Djibouti, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyz Republic, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Moldova, Myanmar, Niger, Qatar, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Suriname, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Vanuatu, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia.

APPLICANTS MUST SUBMIT THEIR APPLICATIONS THROUGH THE E-RECRUITMENT SYSTEM ALONG WITH THEIR COVER LETTER OF MOTIVATION. Instructions to add the cover letter is as follows: Once the application for the Young Professionals Programme has been submitted, their application will be displayed under the “My Applications” tab. Applicants should click on the button “Add” for the specific vacancy under the “Covering letter” column. Cover letters added in other sections of the applicant profile such as “Additional Information” or “Additional Documents”.

Only applications from nationals of WTO Members will be accepted. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply to this Programme.

The WTO may use various communication technologies such as video or teleconference for the assessment and evaluation of candidates. The recruitment process may also involve the use of various forms of testing, assessment centres, interviews and reference checks.

For further details, log on to the official webpage of the WTO Young Professionals Programme