European Central Bank: Traineeships in Market Operations

General Information

Type of contract  Traineeship

Who can apply?  EU nationals eligible for our traineeship programme

Grant  The trainee grant is €1,070 per month plus an accommodation allowance (see further information section)

Working time  Full time

Place of work  Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Closing date  09.10.2023

Your team

You will be part of one of five divisions in the Directorate General Market Operations: the Bond Markets and International Operations Division, the Financial Operations Services Division, the Money Market and Liquidity Division, the Market Operations Analysis Division or the Market Operations Systems Division.

Our Directorate General has around 180 staff responsible for preparing and executing the monetary policy and foreign exchange operations of the Eurosystem. We manage the ECB’s foreign reserves and own funds, and we develop and maintain the framework for its financial market activities. We also coordinate the implementation of the Eurosystem’s asset purchase programme and reserve management services.

To effectively achieve our goals, we monitor and analyse financial market developments that are relevant for market operations. As well as maintaining regular contact with financial market participants, our Directorate General works closely with other ECB business areas, the national central banks (NCBs) of EU Member States and the Group of Ten central banks.

Market Operations traineeships are aimed primarily at graduates with an interest in data management, financial markets and/or monetary policy implementation.

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 in the Directorate General Market Operations, you will contribute to the operational and analytical tasks of your division, working closely with experts on a diverse range of monetary policy activities. You will have a unique opportunity to develop your teamwork skills and gain hands-on experience, delivering insights, findings, reports, presentations and other analytical outputs to colleagues in your division, the Directorate General’s senior management and the Eurosystem’s task forces and working groups.

As part of one of our teams, especially our data teams, you will also showcase and expand your data analysis skills as you:

• collect and process data;
• investigate and integrate data from different sources;
• visualise and communicate findings using interactive tools such as Tableau;
• assist professional teams in developing IT applications.

Throughout your traineeship you will be given opportunities to learn and contribute to the goals of your team while collaborating with more senior colleagues on some of the activities listed below.

Bond Markets and International Operations Division

• supporting the coordination and implementation of the asset purchase programmes and the management of foreign reserve portfolios and other ECB portfolios managed by the Division;
• contributing to the regular production of various reports on financial markets, covering, for example, developments in US, Japanese, Chinese and euro area government bonds, bank and corporate bonds, and foreign exchange and commodity markets;
• assisting with the production of ad hoc analyses and summaries of meetings with external counterparties, in particular investment banks.

Financial Operations Services Division

• assisting with the reconciliation of ECB nostro cash, gold and custody accounts used in connection with the ECB’s own funds, monetary policy, centralised foreign exchange and a range of other transactions carried out by the ECB, and of Eurosystem NCB accounts used for operations involving the ECB’s foreign reserve assets;
• contributing to the management of legal documentation related to the ECB’s counterparties and intermediaries and helping to analyse and follow up on regulatory changes.

Money Market and Liquidity Division

• analysing money market developments using transaction-level financial market data and gathering feedback from external parties;
• analysing bidding behaviour in the ECB’s monetary policy operations, examining changes in the Eurosystem balance sheet and investigating the effects of monetary policy decisions on liquidity conditions and the money market;
• supporting our monitoring of the euro short-term rate and the coordination of market contact groups.

Market Operations Analysis Division

• monitoring and analysing the performance of the Eurosystem monetary policy implementation framework and contributing to the preparation of policy proposals for its improvement;
• helping maintain and enhance the Eurosystem collateral framework on a policy, operational, and technical level by performing data analysis activities, testing software and improving internal business intelligence reporting;
• monitoring and assessing the financial eligibility of monetary policy counterparties and contributing to the analysis of topics such as minimum reserve requirements, targeted longer-term refinancing operations, emergency liquidity assistance and Eurosystem balance sheet items.

Market Operations Systems Division

• analysing and configuring new financial instruments in the ECB’s treasury management system, reflecting changes in the operational framework and supporting users at the ECB and NCBs to ensure that Eurosystem operations can be processed smoothly;
• bringing innovation to business processes by leveraging automation, new technologies, data analytics and visualisation tools; building synergies with other ECB business areas.

These positions offer you extensive exposure to financial markets and practical approaches to implementing monetary policy. You will also be able to dive deep into data, experience a busy operational environment and feel part of a larger mission.

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 finance, economics, econometrics, mathematics, statistics, accounting, computer science or a related discipline; 
• an awareness of financial market structures, financial market developments and market operations;
• experience using one or more of the following: SQL, VBA, R, Python, Java, MATLAB, Stata, Tableau, MS Power BI, Bloomberg or Refinitiv Eikon;
• experience working with complex data (i.e. data preparation, analysis and visualisation); 
• a good knowledge of the MS Office package, including an advanced knowledge of MS 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 in finance, economics, econometrics, mathematics, statistics, accounting, computer science or a related discipline.

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

Traineeships of between six and 12 months in total, with starting dates in January 2024 or later.

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

For additional information regarding this vacancy notice, you can contact Ioana-Elena Coman (Ioana.Coman@ecb.europa.eu) or Ole Gregarek (Ole.Gregarek@ecb.europa.eu).

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 positions within the ECB.