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), The trainee grant is €2,120 per month plus an accommodation allowance (see further information section)
• Working time: Full time
• Place of work: Frankfurt am Main, Germany
• Closing date: 08.01.2025

Your team

You will be part of the Financial Regulation and Policy Division in the Directorate General Macroprudential Policy and Financial Stability. Our Directorate General has approximately 100 staff providing analysis and policy advice on issues relating to financial stability, banking, non-bank financial intermediation, financial regulation and macroprudential policy. 

In the area of financial regulation and policy, we analyse regulatory policy issues from a financial stability and financial integration perspective. We conduct impact analyses on regulatory policies and contribute to European and international discussions on regulatory and supervisory issues. We also contribute to the ECB’s work on banking, non-bank financial intermediation, and capital market development and integration, as well as the structural transformation of the financial system stemming from the development of private digital money (such as crypto-assets and stablecoins). 

In your role as a trainee or PhD trainee you will be part of a team of approximately 25 members of staff responsible for policy-relevant analysis and coordination of the ECB’s views on the issues mentioned above. You will work closely with our experts, contributing to projects that are relevant to our division. 

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 assessment of macroprudential and financial regulatory policies and/or financial stability arrangements, including through the use of impact assessments to evaluate the effectiveness of adopted or proposed reforms from a financial stability and financial integration perspective. The assessment may include empirical analysis of the interaction between (i) regulation and bank and non-bank intermediation activities, (ii) financial integration and stability, and (iii) microprudential and macroprudential instruments. Other areas of interest include: (i) private credit and non-bank market-makers; (ii) capital market development and integration; and (iii) the structural transformation of the financial system in response to the proliferation of private digital money and related technological change, together with the role that money plays in the wider crypto ecosystem and its linkages with the traditional financial system;
• participate actively in the general work of the Division, including by: (i) contributing to analyses for regular internal and external publications such as the Financial Stability Review and the Macroprudential Bulletin; (ii) assisting – through data collection, research assistance and programming – with analytical projects on issues currently of interest to the Directorate General; and (iii) helping to prepare presentations and notes for management (including senior management); 
• maintain, update and further develop databases used for the analysis of macroprudential policy and of the impact of regulatory measures on financial markets and the real economy; 
• develop visualisation tools, programs and code for efficient data processing, while helping to ensure that users can access complex datasets; 
• contribute to the coordination and preparation of high-level European and international meetings attended by ECB representatives.

The position offers you excellent opportunities to become familiar with macroprudential policy, financial regulation and financial stability by taking part in a variety of tasks and projects. You will be able to develop your potential and will quickly have a real impact on the work of our division. As a trainee, you will have the opportunity to work in a team 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 its computing, programming and statistical resources. You will have the opportunity to network and engage with other employees, to grow personally and to increase your 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: 

• for a PhD traineeship paid at €2,120, a master’s degree and at least two years of PhD studies in finance, economics, statistics, mathematics, engineering, business administration, physics, computer science or a related discipline;
• for a traineeship with a monthly grant of €1,170, a bachelor’s degree or higher in finance, economics, statistics, mathematics, engineering, business administration, physics, computer science or a related discipline;
• an advanced knowledge of MS Office, in particular Excel; 
• 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: 

• knowledge of financial sector analysis and financial policy and regulation, and/or of macroeconomics; 
• knowledge of bank balance-sheet and bank-specific data analysis, financial market data analysis and/or of non-bank financial institutions; 
• a basic understanding of EU and/or international financial regulation; 
• good analytical skills and familiarity with banking, financial market and/or macroeconomic data; 
• sound IT and programming skills, and knowledge of programming languages and econometric software (e.g. SQL, R, MATLAB, Stata, Python, C++ and/or EViews); 
• experience in one or more of the following fields: econometrics (e.g. microeconometrics, time series analysis, financial econometrics, panel data econometrics, machine learning), modelling and programming;  
• experience of a broad range of standard macroeconomic and financial databases (e.g. Refinitiv Datastream, Orbis, Bloomberg and Refinitiv Lipper).

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/PhD traineeship of between three and six months, with a possible extension to up to 12 months in total. 

The earliest starting date will be mid-February 2025 and additional dates will be available throughout 2025. 

Other details on the conditions applicable to traineeships at the ECB can be found on our website.

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.