Traineeship in the Directorate Finance – Financial Reporting Section

Finance
9740

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 23.05.2024

Your team

We have trainee positions available in the Financial Reporting Section. Our Section is part of the Directorate Finance and has around 25 members of staff.
As a trainee, you will be part of a team responsible for producing the financial statements and reports of the ECB and the Eurosystem, accounting 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. 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. We work closely with other ECB business areas, including the Market Operations, Risk Management and Monetary Policy, as well as with the NCBs.
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.

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 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, particularly 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: 
  • 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).

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 2024.
Other details on the conditions applicable to traineeships at the ECB can be found on our website.
For additional information on this specific vacancy, please contact:
Financial Reporting Section: Olivier Morelle, on +49 (0)69 1344 7992 between 16:00 and 17:00 on Thursday 23 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.