Internship Programme

What is the Slow Food UK internship programme?
We offer the opportunity to get real, hands-on experience in managing deliverables in a Social Enterprise environment.
When you join us as an intern, you get real responsibilities from the first day, with clear accountability and deliverables. If you’re looking for experience limited to making coffee and photocopies, this isn’t the opportunity for you.

As an intern, you will be part of a fast-growing organisation, that requires a lot of skill, determination and flexibility. We offer you a place develop a large array of skills, and the Slow Food brand is recognised worldwide in the food and non-profit community.

Slow Food UK is undergoing tremendous growth and we are looking for good people to join us.

Is Slow Food UK right for you?
We have opportunities for people with and without work experience. If you need to do an internship as part of your degree, we could tailor your role in such a way that it fits the requirements if you’re a qualified candidate.

You will need to live in London, be moving to London, or in close commute to the city. We strongly prefer candidates who can commute to our office in Notting Hill to work with us.

If you enjoy food, you’ve come to the right place; we’re deeply involved in discussing food in many forms, and encourage foods brought in by our staff to sample!

Are you right for Slow Food?
You don’t need to be an überfoodie, but having an affinity for food with particular concerns for a better way to eat does help. If you have a background in cooking, nutrition or food studies, great! If you studied bricklaying, have an MBA or formerly worked in pediatrics, that’s fine too! Food is such a universal fascination, and it’s easy to interlink food studies and concerns with a number of other studies, issues and backgrounds.

You will need to have a hands-on mentality in your work. We try to use the 80/20 rule: 80% of your role is clear upfront, but there will generally be 20% of ambiguity. Stepping up proactively to any challenge is what we value most in our interns!

What does the internship programme look like?
It will look slightly different for everyone; a lot depends on what you want to achieve, and what we need to deliver on our strategic objectives.

Here are some of the basic outlines of the SlowFood UK Internship Programme:

• 6 months minimum placements
• Unpaid positions, but a London Travelcard will be reimbursed and we offer a lunch allowance.
• A real opportunity! Not just making copies and coffee. Promise.
• A “buddy” when you join us, to learn the ropes of the organisation and get you up to speed as quickly as possibe.
• Regular feedback and development sessions with your line manager.
• We try and build the role around you: what do you have to offer and what would you like to develop?
• Access to the SlowFood network; our people go to places, and we offer you access to that network.
• The ability to build a strong set of references for your CV

What does the application process look like?
We recruit on an ongoing basis, according to mutual convenience. If you’re interested in an internship with us, please contact recruitment@slowfood.org.uk:

• A CV including at least two references (names and contact details; we do not require a reference letter)
•  A one-page cover letter setting out your objectives for your internship, the duration of the placement you are looking for and your intended start-date

What can you expect from us:

• We read all applications, and you can expect a response from us within 21 days (but we’re normally a lot quicker!).
• Due to the volume of applications, we cannot provide individual feedback to everyone. Sorry.
• If we feel you could be the person we are looking for, we will invite you for a telephone interview first. This will take 30-45 minutes, and will be a structured interview (that means that we ask all applicants the same questions, and rate accordingly).
• If the telephone interview goes well, we will invite you to come over to our offices (if you are in the UK), or set-up another telephone interview with someone from our Senior Management Team.

Good luck, and thank you for your interest in Slow Food UK!