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: 04.03.2025

Your team

You will be part of the EU Institutions and Fora Division in the Directorate General International and European Relations. Our Directorate General has 120 staff preparing policy positions for the ECB, the Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks on European and global issues.

The EU Institutions and Fora Division has approximately 20 staff, who are responsible for preparing the ECB’s policy positions and analysing EU institutional and policy issues, often in close coordination with other teams at the ECB. The division is committed to providing high-quality policy assessments and positions to ECB’s decision-makers, substantiated by qualitative and quantitative research. We work on policy dossiers linked to deepening Economic and Monetary Union: this includes strengthening its economic governance framework and completing banking union and capital markets union. We also address other EU policy priorities that are relevant for the ECB’s tasks, including climate and the digital transition. In addition, we act as the primary ECB contact with other EU institutions. We coordinate the activities related to institutional accountability for central banking and supervisory tasks, which involves close interactions with the European Parliament. We also coordinate the ECB’s preparatory work for meetings of the European Council, the Eurogroup and the Economic and Financial Affairs Council.

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:

• support the team in identifying and analysing issues relating to EU integration and governance, the ECB’s accountability and the EU’s internal and external policies;
• contribute to the development of ECB policy positions on the issues mentioned above;
• develop research and analysis, and contribute to publications on topics related to the EU Institutions and Fora Division’s work, including by assisting with data collection and analysis;
• prepare briefing notes for senior ECB staff and decision-making bodies on issues that fall under our Division’s remit;
• monitor and analyse the activities of other EU institutions, including the Council of the European Union, the European Commission and the European Parliament.

This position offers you excellent opportunities to work at the forefront of policymaking in high-level EU fora, and to deepen your understanding of EU policies and interinstitutional relations. It also enables you to develop your technical and policy skills by working with large datasets and state-of-the-art analytical tools to support the development of ECB’s policy stances, often in collaboration with other ECB business areas. You will work under the guidance of an experienced mentor in a team of highly qualified experts at the crossroads of political economics, international finance, and macroeconomics. 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, econometrics, finance, political science, European studies or another relevant field;
• a sound understanding of the set-up and functioning of EU institutions as well as a good knowledge of the functioning of Economic and Monetary Union;
• a sound understanding of macroeconomics and/or international finance, as demonstrated by completion of relevant courses and/or a relevant publication record;
• a sound knowledge of the MS Office package, especially Excel;
• experience with basic analytical tasks, such as developing descriptive statistics, collecting and managing data;
• 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: 

• experience using statistical or econometric software packages and/or data visualisation software (e.g. Stata, R, Python, Tableau, Julia, and/or MATLAB);
• experience conducting qualitative and/or quantitative research, especially if applied to topics relevant to policy.

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 six months, with a possible extension to up to 12 months in total. The start date will be in autumn 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 a remote written exercise 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.