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
12.06.2023
Your team
We have trainee positions available in the two sections of the Financial Accounting and Reporting Division. Our Division is part of the Directorate Finance and has around 50 members of staff.
As a trainee in the Financial Reporting Section, you will be part of a team of 26 members of staff responsible for producing the financial statements and reports of the ECB and the Eurosystem, preparing accounts for the ECB’s financial instruments, and calculating and redistributing the monetary income of the euro area’s national central banks (NCBs). Our team also develops and implements standards and policies for financial accounting and reporting as well as for monetary income allocation in the ECB and the Eurosystem. Moreover, we advise on accounting and financial reporting matters, provide analytics and forecasts on the ECB’s financial situation and results for the decision-making bodies, and respond to internal and external queries concerning the ECB’s and the Eurosystem’s financial statements and monetary income. We work closely with other ECB business areas, including the Directorate General Market Operations, the Directorate Risk Management and the Directorate General Monetary Policy, as well as with the NCBs.
As a trainee in the Accounting Section, you will be part of a team of 28 members of staff responsible for processing incoming and outgoing invoices, dealing with VAT and other tax matters, maintaining the ECB’s fixed asset and leasing accounts, levying fees on supervised credit institutions, accommodating payroll and pension accounting, and performing other financial accounting tasks. This includes the closing of the corresponding accounts at year-end and contributing to the disclosures required for the ECB’s annual accounts preparation process. We strive to continuously improve our measures and procedures in all these areas, moving away from manual processing towards automation and digitalisation.
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 the Financial Reporting Section you will:
- contribute to the preparation of financial statements and reports of the ECB and the Eurosystem;
- support accounting for the ECB’s market operations and financial instruments (monetary policy, foreign exchange and investment portfolios), perform the related reconciliation process and follow up with the relevant business areas, in particular the Directorate General Market Operations;
- collect and analyse the NCBs’ balance sheets and other financial data;
- provide analytical and quantitative support to the Section and address financial reporting queries, extracting relevant data from the ECB’s financial information systems and producing analyses for various stakeholders;
- closely interact, cooperate and share knowledge with other ECB business areas and the NCBs on various financial accounting and reporting topics;
- support the administration and development of information systems used for ECB and Eurosystem financial reporting, and contribute to our digitalisation, automation and innovation plans.
As a trainee in the Accounting Section you will:
- contribute to regular accounting processes not related to monetary policy (such as accounts payable, accounts receivable, fixed assets and year-end procedures) that include working with ECB SAP components relevant to financial accounting;
- advise purchasing business areas, contractors (creditors or debtors) and other relevant stakeholders on accounting issues, and contribute to the development and implementation of accounting concepts for new business;
- support the analysis and presentation of accounting data to management for information and decision-making purposes;
- contribute to the optimisation and documentation of internal processes and procedures, such as the analysis and implementation of innovative business processes and solutions, including within the context of the ECB’s procure-to-pay process and the ECB’s accounting modules in SAP;
- support the training of new colleagues.
The position offers you excellent opportunities to gain insights into how the ECB works, acquire hands-on experience in the area of finance, and put your theoretical knowledge into practice. 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 accounting, finance, business administration, risk management or another relevant field;
- knowledge of one or more of the following areas: accounting/financial reporting, financial markets, financial instruments, financial statement analysis, financial risk management and information technology for financial applications;
- a good knowledge of the MS Office package, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint;
- 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:
- knowledge of accounting principles and financial statements;
- an advanced knowledge of MS Excel and other tools for data management and analysis;
- a working knowledge of other software applications and data visualisation tools;
- experience in data analysis and the ability to interpret data;
- knowledge of enterprise resource planning systems (such as SAP);
- (for Accounting Section) practical experience of accounting operations and control procedures related to the maintenance of accounts payable, administrative payments and/or accounts receivable, monitoring of customer accounts and debt collection, as well as related internal control procedures;
- (for Accounting Section) knowledge of the procure-to-pay process.
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. The positions are available from September 2023 for the Financial Reporting Section and from January 2024 for the Accounting Section.
For additional information on this specific vacancy, please contact:
- Financial Reporting Section: Konstantinos Apostolou, on +49 (0)69 1344 6432 between 16:00 and 17:00 on Tuesday, 30 May.
- Accounting Section: Heiko Nordhausen, on +49 (0)69 1344 6295 between 14:00 and 15:00 on Tuesday, 30 May.
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.
