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
02.05.2025
Your team
You will be part of either the Stress Test Modelling Division or the Systemic Risk and Financial Institutions Division in the Directorate General Macroprudential Policy and Financial Stability. Our Divisions have around 50 members of staff in total. We are responsible for identifying and assessing the main risks to financial stability in the euro area with a focus on the banking system and its interactions with the real economy and broader financial system.
We are also responsible for monitoring potential sources of systemic risk in the euro area and developing and maintaining state-of-the-art models that support stress test activities. We use econometric methods to assess the drivers of financial stability risks in the banking sector and the broader financial system, and we analyse the interaction between macroprudential policy, financial stability and monetary policy.
In your role as trainee, you will be part of one of these Divisions, focusing on policy relevant analysis and model development. The precise nature of the traineeship will depend on your skill set and the team that you join.
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:
- contribute to analyses for internal discussions related to key policy processes and external publications such as the Financial Stability Review;
- contribute to research on topics of interest to the Directorate General;
- help to prepare presentations, figures and charts for management and senior management;
- participate in analytical projects on topics of interest to the Directorate General by collecting data and helping with research, including code development;
- maintain, update and further develop databases for stress tests, systemic risk identification, macro-financial policy analysis, and financial and real sector developments;
- develop user visualisation tools and programs/code for efficient data processing, while facilitating user access to complex datasets;
- work with colleagues across the ECB to maintain and improve the IT systems used for stress testing.
The position offers you excellent opportunities to become more familiar with macroprudential policy and financial stability by working alongside experts on a variety of tasks and projects. You will be able to develop networking skills and business knowledge. You will also be able to attend a wide range of seminars and access the ECB’s computing, programming, statistical and library resources. 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, finance, statistics, data science, mathematics, engineering, business administration, physics, computer science or a related field;
- a sound understanding of and practical experience with one or more programming languages and econometric software packages (e.g. Python, R, MATLAB, Stata or SQL);
- a sound knowledge of statistical and econometric methods and the ability to present data and results;
- experience in data management, data handling and analysis of multidimensional datasets;
- a good knowledge of the MS Office package, particularly Excel;
- 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 master’s degree studies in their final stages of completion) in economics, finance, statistics, data science, mathematics, engineering, business administration, physics, computer science or a related field;
- experience with econometric techniques in one or more of the following areas: macroeconometrics, microeconometrics, time series analysis, panel data econometrics, financial econometrics and empirical banking;
- experience with state-of-the-art modelling tools (e.g. DSGE models, network analysis and mathematical optimisation models);
- a sound understanding of financial statement analysis (e.g. balance sheets of banks and other financial institutions) or derivative pricing;
- experience with macroeconomic, financial, banking, corporate or climate-related statistics at the sector or micro-level, including familiarity with standard databases (e.g. Refinitiv Eikon, Bloomberg, BankFocus and Haver Analytics) or big data.
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 between 3 and 6 months, with a possible extension to up to 12 months in total.
Application and selection process
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.
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.
