General Information
Type of contract
Fixed-term contract, which may be extended subject to individual performance and organisational needs
Contract end date
31.03.2025
Who can apply?
EU nationals
Salary
E/F (bracket 1 - step 1) full time monthly net salary: €4,869 plus benefits, for further information see
what we offer.
Role specialisation
Research
Working time
Full time
Place of work
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Closing date
22.03.2022
Your team
You will be part of the ECB’s Financial Research Division in the Directorate General Research (DG/R). Our Division has a team of about 25 staff who conduct policy-relevant research on financial and monetary economics. Our output includes articles and studies in top-ranked academic journals and ECB publications such as the Working Paper Series and the Research Bulletin. Based on their research, staff also prepare policy notes and reports for the ECB’s decision-making bodies, other ECB business areas and external audiences. The current research agenda includes topical issues such as macro-financial linkages, the interaction between monetary and macroprudential policies, financial innovation like Fintech and digital currencies, and the financial aspects of climate change.
In your role as research analyst, you will contribute to the technical and typically data-related support of a wide range of research projects along with around ten trainees whose activities you will lead and coordinate. You will also be responsible for the recruitment of new trainees in cooperation with the Division’s management. Depending on your level of expertise and interests, among others, there may also be scope for you to develop your own research projects, working together with DG/R staff and external consultants.
The ECB is an inclusive employer and we strive to reflect the diversity of the population we serve. We encourage you to apply irrespective of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, race, religious beliefs, sexual orientation or other characteristics.
Your role
As a research analyst you will:
- autonomously coordinate the regular activities of the Division’s trainees and assist management with annual trainee recruitment;
- develop and maintain monetary, financial and economic databases, which includes organising and contributing to regular updates and enhancements of the data infrastructure available to all DG/R staff;
- present new developments in the data infrastructure to the Division and the wider DG/R;
- contribute to mathematical, statistical and econometric programming for research projects.
The position offers you excellent opportunities to gain deep insights into and contribute to world-class policy-relevant research. Apart from your daily interactions with research staff, learning opportunities will also arise from the possibility to participate in research seminars and conferences as well as internal and external training courses. The position may be an ideal starting point for candidates who wish to pursue a PhD in economics or finance at the end of the initial three-year period of this fixed-term contract.
You will be part of a multicultural team that strives for continuous innovation to make a positive impact on the lives of European citizens.
Qualifications, experience and skills
Essential:
- a bachelor’s degree or equivalent in economics, finance, statistics/econometrics or another relevant field (click here for details on degree equivalences);
- an excellent command of both Stata and MATLAB; advanced programming skills in terms of data handling and statistical analysis in Python or R may substitute for a basic knowledge of either Stata or MATLAB;
- very good knowledge of spreadsheet and database software, in particular Microsoft Excel and SQL;
- experience in dealing with large multidimensional micro datasets such as balance sheet data on individual financial institutions and/or securities transaction-level data;
- familiarity with at least two of the following databases/providers: Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters Eikon, Bureau van Dijk, Fitch Connect, SNL Financial, Dealogic or Bankscope;
- a genuine interest in quantitative techniques, data and financial/monetary research, including a natural drive to acquire the new skills required to make use of “big data” for research purposes;
- good knowledge of the MS Office package;
- an advanced (C1) command of English and an intermediate (B1) command of at least one other official language of the EU, according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
Desired:
- a master's degree or equivalent in economics, finance, statistics/econometrics or another relevant field;
- basic knowledge of Python;
- familiarity with macroeconomic and financial statistics such as the ECB’s Statistical Data Warehouse, ECB Household Finance and Consumption Survey, Eurostat statistics, Bank for International Settlements (BIS) statistics, International Monetary Fund (IMF) International Financial Statistics);
- familiarity with statistics and econometrics software packages such as SPSS, SAS, GAUSS, OxMetrics, RATS or EViews, as well as some first experience with big-data technologies such as Hadoop (Hive/Spark);
- ambition to pursue PhD studies or equivalent research skills training at a later stage.
You engage collaboratively with others. You pursue team goals and learn willingly from other people’s diverse perspectives. You signal any need for change by explaining it and proposing alternative solutions. You analyse complex information effectively and can evaluate different views to arrive at solutions. You know and anticipate stakeholder needs.
You are motivated to be part of our team and to develop and use your skills and competencies to achieve the objectives of this position.
Working modalities
We are happy to discuss part-time arrangements for this position.
Further information
For additional information on this specific vacancy, you can contact Manfred Kremer, Adviser in the Division, via email at manfred.kremer@ecb.europa.eu.
Application and selection process
The recruitment process for this position will be conducted remotely. It will include – if you are invited to participate in the final selection phase – a written exercise and interviews.
If you are not selected for this position but are still considered suitable, you will be placed on a reserve list (
see step 4 of how we hire), from which you might be considered for similar positions within the ECB.
