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
20.07.2022
Your team
You will be part of one of three divisions in the ECB’s Directorate General Information Systems: Enterprise Domain Services, Executional Domain Services or Innovation and Architecture Services. Our Directorate General has 230 staff providing IT services to the ECB, introducing new technologies and digitalising existing systems. We are currently working on the automation of business processes, transforming our operation model to DevOps and migrating as many of our applications as possible to the cloud.
In your role as a trainee you will join a team of 5-10 IT engineers responsible for taking our architecture to a new digital level. As well as working with your team to deliver solutions, you will interact closely with people using the systems.
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 join one of the following teams:
IT Architecture: Can we develop and deploy applications in the cloud in a secure way? What standards and principles do applications need to fulfil to be sustainable in the future? Are there reusable building blocks that applications can share? As part of the Architecture team, you will support the design process for several different IT projects, and will help to create a modern, secure and future-proven IT landscape. The migration of applications to the cloud creates many interesting topics and tasks that you can be part of. You will gain experience in technologies, software architecture and security principles. We will show you how to apply modelling and analysis tools for decision-making such as ARIS, UML, ArchiMate, TOGAF, SWOT, cost-benefit-risk, as-is/to-be.
IT Innovation: Will quantum computers disrupt the financial sector? How can artificial intelligence help us at the ECB? How can we put the right technology in the hands of our colleagues to make their work more efficient and enjoyable? As part of the IT Innovation team, you will help us to spot new trends and ideas and assess their impact on the ECB. You will learn how to put ideas into practice using the lean start-up method and idea management tools. You will contribute to our innovation management strategy with tasks adapted to your profile and interests ranging from facilitating design thinking workshops aimed at understanding what colleagues really need (innovation manager/facilitator) to building IT prototypes for testing potential solutions (hands-on IT innovator).
Enterprise Information Management: This position offers an excellent opportunity to work closely with colleagues across the Division on further developing the ECB’s enterprise information management system, DARWIN. You will additionally contribute to related products and system integration, as well as to the coordination and further development of activities carried out by external providers to ensure system stability.
You will also work with colleagues in other business areas of the ECB on the design and preparation of innovative new solutions or system integration to support the digitalisation of ECB-wide processes. The assignment requires good knowledge of programming, databases, operating systems, networks and applications as well as good coordination and communication skills.
Enterprise Resource Planning: Are you interested working on applications that support the day-to-day tasks of every member of the ECB’s staff? In this team you will contribute to the evolution of the ECB’s Enterprise Resource Planning environment. We develop solutions which staff members use to organise their leave, learning or personal development and managers use to organise their budgets, procurement and workplaces. You will gain experience of technologies for on-premises solutions such as SAP S/4HANA or cloud solutions such as Avature, SAP Concur or SAP Business Technology Platform. The assignment will allow you to interact with users on business requirements and project management and be part of the hands-on development of solutions.
Digital Experience: In this area interaction between business users and IT is the key to fast delivery of solutions for an even better digital experience at the ECB. You will use your communication skills to transform user requirements into IT solutions and automated processes. You will work with a wide spectrum of products, e.g. robotic process automation, chatbots, low code/no code and mobile apps, as part of a small dynamic team providing business users with IT-developed solutions and applications to help them achieve their goals.
Communication: You will help to design, implement and run the IT solution that underpins the ECB’s internal and external communications, covering all communication channels and types of communication ranging from high-level speeches to communication aimed directly at the general public. As a project management/business analyst trainee in this area you will, among other things, (i) see how an international institution communicates and experience the processes involved, including business priorities, pain points and opportunities, (ii) understand what it takes to manage and run a complex project, and how activities and projects are planned and aligned, (iii) engage with current IT issues in an institutional environment, as well as project/process management complexities and needs where boundary conditions exist. You will also see how the process-centric organisation of the ECB translates into our activities in the area of enterprise services. You will negotiate with different stakeholders with sometimes conflicting goals and present possible solutions to the team to assess and discuss their viability. You will gain experience in areas including project management methodologies, implementation of services in the cloud, change management, IT security and infrastructure integration, and data protection.
Data Analytics: Would you like to improve your skills in data warehousing, data modelling and analysis of unstructured data (including big data technologies such as Hadoop, Spark and KNIME), and do you already have some experience with statistical or mathematical software packages, with related computer programming (i.e. Python, Access, VBA or equivalent) and/or with relational databases (Oracle, MySQL or equivalent)? Our teams support the ECB’s banknotes, market operations and risk management functions, giving you a chance to gain insight into core central banking tasks.
Risk Management: You will join a large project team supporting the evolution of web-based applications that run core tasks for the ECB’s Directorate Risk Management. You will gain experience in project management and/or business analysis and will follow project lifecycles. These projects are aimed at significantly enhancing multiple applications using technologies such as Camunda, WSO2, Oracle Exadata and Java. While contributing to a project team, you will also have the chance to work closely with another business area and learn about its processes, IT developments and applications. Work in our team is fast-paced, and you will have the opportunity to experience agile development methods in practice.
We offer coaching and the opportunity to work closely with a multitude of different business areas of the ECB. 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 engineering, information technology, quantitative science, business management or another relevant field;
- a sound understanding of information technology and business processes;
- a sound theoretical background in project management or business analysis topics;
- 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:
- an ability to think outside the box;
- experience in building databases or applications with a user-friendly interface.
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
Traineeship of between 6 and 12 months in total.
For additional information on this specific vacancy, you can speak to Sebastian Menger, on +49 (0)69 1344 4916 between 14:00 and 15:00 on Thursday, 14 July.
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 pre-recorded video interview in the pre-selection phase and – if you are invited to participate in the subsequent selection phase – an online interview.
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 similar positions within the ECB.
