General Information
Type of contract
Traineeship
Who can apply?
EU nationals eligible for our traineeship programme
Grant
The trainee grant is €1,170 per month plus an accommodation allowance (see further information section)
Working time
Full time
Place of work
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Closing date
08.04.2025
Your team
You will be part of the Euro Area External Sector and Euro Adoption Division in the Directorate General Economics. Our Directorate monitors and analyses the economies of the euro area as a whole, the individual euro area countries and the non-euro area EU Member States.
Our Division has about 20 staff members and is responsible for analysing and conducting studies on international trade, the balance of payments and the international investment position, and the price and non-price competitiveness of the euro area and EU Member States. In addition, we monitor and forecast macroeconomic developments in non-euro area EU Member States and the euro area countries in central and eastern Europe, and develop tools for these purposes.
Our output is an integral part of the policy advice provided by the Directorate General to the ECB’s decision-making bodies for monetary policy meetings. It includes articles and studies in publications such as the ECB’s Economic Bulletin, Annual Report, Occasional Paper Series and Working Paper Series.
In your role as an economics modelling trainee, you will be expected to focus on one or more of the Division’s three main areas of competence: (1) the trade and competitiveness of the euro area; (2) the current and financial accounts of the euro area; (3) the forecasting and monitoring of developments in non-euro area EU Member States, as well as in euro area countries in central and eastern Europe.
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 trainee in economic modelling you will:
- support the Division in developing and maintaining structural and/or time series models for the euro area;
- conduct quantitative analyses for the economic and policy assessment of the euro area as a whole and of individual countries;
- support the monitoring and forecasting of developments in a euro area country in central and eastern Europe;
- orchestrate the processing, consolidation and transformation of datasets while maintaining and enhancing database infrastructures in order to monitor economic developments;
- support the team in collecting, processing and visualising data and model-based results;
- contribute to the Economic Bulletin and other regular internal and external publications produced by the Directorate General Economics in collaboration with other ECB business areas.
The position offers you excellent opportunities to work closely with the Division’s economists and to contribute to both longer-term projects and short-term tasks, giving you valuable experience to help you launch a successful career. You will also be assigned a mentor who will help you to reach your potential, and you will have the chance to make a significant contribution to the work we do. 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 higher in economics or a related field;
- experience in the area of macroeconomic modelling, with a focus on one or more of the following: DSGE models, time series econometrics (including Bayesian VAR models), factor models, state-space models, machine learning;
- practical experience of statistical and econometric packages such as Stata, MATLAB or Dynare, or programming languages such as R or Python;
- practical experience in handling and manipulating one or more of the following types of economic dataset: macroeconomic data, firm-level or other microeconomic data, financial market data;
- a good understanding of the economic issues covered by the Division and of the institutional framework of the ECB and the Eurosystem;
- a 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 higher (completed or nearing completion) in economics or a related field;
- a sound understanding of international macroeconomics.
You are curious and eager to learn, and want to further develop your ability to analyse complex information. You are keen to collaborate with others, pursue team goals and learn from other people’s diverse perspectives. You strive to know and anticipate stakeholder needs, and will signal any need for change and propose alternative solutions.
You are motivated to contribute to the ECB’s mission, to serve the citizens of the EU as a member of a public institution and to work with colleagues from all over Europe. You are keen to be part of our team and to use your skills and competencies to achieve the aims of this position.
Further information
Initial traineeship of 6 months, with a possible extension to up to 12 months in total. Earliest start dates will be in summer 2025.
Application and selection process
The recruitment process for this position will include an online interview.
Further information on
how to apply is available on our website.
If you are not selected for this position but are still considered suitable, you will be placed on a reserve list for 12 months from the closing date for applications, from which you might be considered for other traineeship positions within the ECB.
