Government Affairs Intern

About the Role: 

• Every year, we welcome interns from every corner of the world to join Microsoft. You bring your aspirations, talent, potential—and excitement for the journey ahead. 
• Come build community, explore your passions and do your best work at Microsoft with thousands of university graduates from every corner of the world.
• Microsoft Africa’s Corporate External and Legal Affairs (“CELA”) department has an immediate opening for a Government Affairs Intern.
• This is a unique opportunity to gain hands-on experience at the intersection of public policy, law, and technology across some of Africa’s most dynamic markets.
• The intern will play an active role in shaping external engagement and regulatory strategies across key policy areas such as data protection, cybersecurity, AI, and digital transformation.
• The position will focus on supporting the government affairs function within CELA Africa. The role will report into the Government Affairs Director for Africa and will be located in one of Microsoft’s offices in Nairobi, Cairo or Abuja
• At Microsoft, Interns Workers work on real-world projects in collaboration with teams across the world, while having fun along the way.
• You’ll be empowered to build community, explore your passion, and achieve your goals. This is your chance to bring your solutions and ideas to life while working on cutting-edge technology.
• The internship is designed not only for you to do great work with the opportunity to learn and grow, but to experience our culture full of diverse community connection, executive engagement, and memorable events.
• Imagine yourself as a Microsoft Intern. Join Microsoft today and help us innovate and shape the business of tomorrow.
• Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.

Responsibilities:

• Collaborate with the CELA Africa Government Affairs Leads to provide general policy and government affairs support, utilizing consultants as needed.
• Support team efforts through research, preparing comparative analysis, translations, checklists and summaries.
• Assist with drafting agreements for the marketing, sale, licensing and distribution of Microsoft Products and Services.
• Participate in data collection and intelligence gathering to aid in crafting position papers, policy briefings, and legislative testimony.
• Stay informed on public policy and geo-political issues, contributing to Microsoft’s policy and political initiatives.
• Engage in research across legal, policy, and technology sectors to aid team strategies, address logistical issues, and monitor regulatory changes.
• Support Government Affairs Leads as necessary in managing internal stakeholders as well as external relationships with coalitions, the public sector, and relevant interest groups to achieve desired regulatory and/or legislative outcomes.
• Help in advancing public sector objectives and managing communications across various groups.
• Organize and support internal and external events, including content development, material drafting, and social media engagement.
• Support in communication, strategic positioning and campaigning activities.
• Provide regular updates to the team about key policy issues arising in their markets.
• Undertake any other task assigned by the Head of Government Affairs for Africa and/or the Government Affairs Leads.

Qualifications:
Required Qualifications:

• The ideal candidate should hold a Public Policy, Law, Political Science, International Relations, or a similar degree.
• You must be legally authorised to work in Kenya, Nigeria or Egypt to be eligible for this role. (Legally authorised = has citizenship or has been granted a valid visa or work permit).
• Excellent knowledge of technology and emerging policy issues around AI, cloud computing, and data governance.
• Written and oral fluency in English.

Preferred Qualifications:

• At least 1 year of prior experience in a related field, such as government relations, regulatory affairs, public policy, law or technology.
• Fluency in Arabic and French.
• 1+ years experience in developing and managing strategic relationships to advocate and influence public/technology policy priorities.
• Ability to analyse, conceptualize, and visualize information and data.
• The ability to review, draft, or contribute to policy documents, briefing notes, whitepapers, advocacy materials.
• Demonstrated ability of Africa’s public sector dynamics or regional governance institutions (e.g. African Union, ECOWAS, EAC, SADAC).

Location: Abuja & Niger 

How to Apply: Interested and qualified candidates should apply using the Employer's link.

Step in with confidence, speak with clarity, and let your excellence shine through. We’re rooting for you every step of the way, go make it happen! 🚀 – The Thrive Team