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
23.08.2021
Your team
You will be part of the Stress-Test Modelling Division in the Directorate General Macroprudential Policy and Financial Stability. Our Division has around 30 members of staff and is responsible for: (i) developing and maintaining the ECB models used to perform stress-test exercises, with a focus on stress tests for macroprudential purposes; (ii) supporting the microprudential stress-testing activities of the ECB and the European supervisory authorities by providing scenarios and advanced analytical input; (iii) helping to assess systemic risks in the context of the preparation of the Financial Stability Review; (iv) supporting the activities of the wider Directorate General by providing quantitative models that can be used to assess the potential impact of systemic risks on the stability of the euro area/EU financial system and to calibrate macroprudential measures; and (v) contributing to European and international discussions on the resilience of the financial sector, in particular by contributing to ECB publications and providing relevant analytical support to the European Systemic Risk Board.
A recently acquired additional responsibility of the Division relates to its involvement in the ECB’s new workstream on climate risk in the context of which we are developing and following a stress-test approach to assess the financial stability implications of climate risks. The climate risk stress test entails the model-based design of long-horizon macroeconomic-climate scenarios. The mapping of climate-related financial risks is conducted using microeconometric models exploiting a number of firm-level and loan-level granular databases available internally.
In your role as a trainee, you will be part of one of the teams into which the Division is organised, each being responsible for policy-relevant analysis and model development for some of the specific tasks outlined above.
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, you will:
- participate actively in the general work of the Division, including: (i) preparing data for regular internal and external publications; and (ii) helping to prepare presentations for management and senior management;
- participate – through data collection and research assistance (including code development) – in relevant analytical projects, the development of stress-test models (including climate stress-test models) and macro-financial policy assessment;
- contribute to the maintenance, updating and further development of databases for stress testing, as well as for financial and real sector developments;
- contribute to the development of user visualisation tools and programs/code for efficient data processing, while facilitating user access to complex datasets.
The position offers excellent opportunities to become familiar with the area of macroprudential policy and financial stability through different tasks and projects. You will be able to develop your potential and quickly have a real impact on the work of the Division. As a trainee, you will have the opportunity to work alongside committed and qualified colleagues and leaders in the field of financial stability.
You will be able to attend a wide range of seminars and will have access to the ECB’s library, as well as computing, programming and statistical resources. You will have an excellent opportunity to network, engage with other employees and increase your personal awareness and business knowledge. 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 finance, economics, statistics, mathematics, engineering, business administration (with a focus on accounting), physics, computer science or a related field;
- good IT and programming skills and knowledge of programming languages/econometric software (e.g. MATLAB, Stata, Python, R, SQL and/or EViews);
- an advanced knowledge of the MS Office package, in particular Excel;
- some experience in preparing, handling and analysing datasets based on various data sources;
- 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 studies towards a master’s degree that are close to completion, in finance, economics, statistics, mathematics, engineering, business administration (with a focus on accounting), physics, computer science or a related field;
- good analytical ability and familiarity with macroeconomic statistics or financial statistics (at the sectoral, institution and transaction levels);
- some experience in one or more of the following fields: econometrics (e.g. macroeconometrics, microeconometrics, time-series analysis, financial econometrics, panel data econometrics), analysis of financial statements (e.g. balance sheets of banks and other financial institutions), DSGE models, network analysis and/or mathematical optimisation models;
- familiarity with a broad range of standard databases of macroeconomic and financial data (e.g. Refinitiv Datastream, Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters Eikon, Bankscope/Bank Focus, Haver Analytics).
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 objectives of this position.
Further information
Traineeship of between 3 and 12 months in total.
For additional information on this specific vacancy, you can speak to Ugo Albertazzi on +49 (0)69 1344 7808 between 12:00 and 13:00 on Friday, 13 August.
Application and selection process
Further information on how to join us is available on our
website.
The recruitment process for this position will include a remote written exercise in the pre-selection phase and – if you are invited to participate in the subsequent selection phase – an online interview.
