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: 24.01.2025

Your team

You will be part of the Infrastructure and Operations Services Division in the Directorate General Information Systems. Our Directorate General provides the ECB with the IT systems it needs to keep prices stable and safeguard the financial system. We focus on delivering IT projects on time and within budget, maintaining stable IT operations and ensuring the highest levels of cybersecurity and resilience. We also explore innovative technologies with added business value.

As an Information Systems trainee, you will help manage the ECB’s IT infrastructure and ensure all relevant systems and applications are updated regularly and run smoothly. In addition, you will contribute to designing, implementing and maintaining the technical services that support applications used by the ECB and the European System of Central Banks, while providing our internal customers with communication and collaboration tools on various platforms and devices.

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 be matched to a pathway in one of the following Sections in the Division, based on your interests and skill set.

• The Systems Services Section is the hub for all IT services at the ECB. You will:
  • interact with many other teams and different users, experience new perspectives and learn what goes on behind the scenes in major IT applications;
  • help to create and update service documentation, including standard operating procedures, work instructions and articles; 
  • bring your own perspective to service management and Unix-based statistical data processing. Our team is responsible for the service quality of our external IT service providers, working with sophisticated tools to measure service performance and implement enhancements; 
  • help with the data analysis and visualisation aspects of our IT service management tools, working on agile delivery methods and helping to further align the ECB with best DevOps practices; 
  • help manage, document and improve different Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) processes, including major incident management, problem management and capacity and availability management, while assisting with the ECB’s disaster recovery exercises as part of the IT service continuity management process.

• The End User Services Section is at the forefront of creating modern workspace environments that foster productivity and collaboration. It shapes the end-user experience at the ECB and has developed several solutions to leverage productivity and collaboration in a hybrid workplace environment. We are also responsible for maintaining end-user equipment (laptops, screens, headphones, smartphones, etc.) and the hybrid meeting room infrastructure. You will:
  • have the opportunity to interact with all the ECB’s business areas to help address their individual needs, providing our organisation with a highly customised digital workplace; 
  • interact with and help to manage and develop all the core collaboration, communication, automation, low code and data visualisation tools used at the ECB and carry out extensive practical work to deploy and manage solutions related to Microsoft AI (Copilot); 
  • help configure, test and document new video conference solutions or support the ECB-wide implementation of new telephone systems; 
  • contribute to improving and expanding the standard documentation for the services as they evolve.

Our traineeship programme gives you:

• the chance to immerse yourself in the ECB’s IT infrastructure and gain first-hand experience of a department that delivers high-quality IT services and projects;
• individualised assignments, taking your development needs into account;
• challenging tasks in which you can hone your analytical, technical and business skills;
• mentors and leaders willing to share their experience with you;
• a good insight into different ITIL processes and all the IT service continuity management/business continuity management measures and practices currently in place;
• the opportunity to interact with all the ECB’s business areas through the client services we offer.

Our traineeships offer you excellent opportunities to gain insights into the way the ECB works, acquire hands-on experience in an area of interest to you 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 computer science, computer engineering, business informatics or any of the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines;
• a sound understanding of IT and business processes;
• a sound theoretical background in IT support, hardware roll-out or related topics;
• a good understanding of collaboration and communication platforms (e.g. Microsoft 365);
• a good understanding of IT service management and ITIL practices;
• sound 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:

• a basic understanding of at least one of the following technologies:
  • system administration on Windows or Linux systems (e.g. Bash and PowerShell);
  • cloud device management solutions (e.g. Microsoft Endpoint Manager/ManageEngine), application installation troubleshooting and bug fixing;
  • Microsoft 365 suite (i.e. Office, Power Platform, SharePoint, OneDrive and Copilot);
  • low code development tools (e.g. Power Apps and Power Automate);
  • automation tools, cloud technologies (e.g. Amazon Web Services or Azure) or software delivery tools (e.g. Terraform, Ansible, GitLab and Artifactory);
  • communication or collaboration solutions (e.g. Confluence, Microsoft Teams, Cisco Webex, Miro and wikis);
  • data analysis and visualisation techniques, including the use of related tools (e.g. Tableau and Power BI);
  • data modelling in configuration management solutions (e.g. Micro Focus UCMDB);
  • ITIL process flows and ticket management in IT service management tools (e.g. Micro Focus Service Manager and ServiceNow);
  • business continuity management/IT service continuity management (disaster recovery);
  • project management, agile or DevOps delivery methods, or the ITIL framework.

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 three and six months, with a possible extension to up to 12 months in total.

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

For additional information on this specific vacancy, you can speak to Rosario Percannella, on +49 (0)69 1344 5991 between 09:00 and 11:00 on Friday, 17 January 2025.

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.