The European Central Bank - Traineeship in Macroprudential Policy and Financial Stability

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  15.09.2023

Your team

You will be part of 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, non-bank financial intermediation, financial regulation and macroprudential policy. 

In particular, we identify and measure systemic risks for banks and non-banks and we develop and assess financial regulation and macroprudential measures. We are looking for trainees to work in the Systemic Risk and Financial Institutions Division, the Market-based Finance Division, the Financial Regulation and Policy Division and the Macroprudential Policy Division.

In the area of systemic risk and financial institutions, we analyse developments in the euro area/EU financial system, including its banking sector from a systemic risk perspective. We also coordinate the production of the ECB’s Financial Stability Review and we design, assess and propose structural macroprudential policy measures for systemic banks.

In the area of market-based finance, we assess and mitigate systemic risks arising from the activities and behaviour of non-bank financial intermediaries. We also assess financial stability risks in financial markets and coordinate the Directorate General’s market intelligence activities. We enhance understanding of how market-based finance interacts with monetary policy and contribute to the ECB’s work on sustainable finance and climate-related financial stability risks.

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 developments and we contribute to European and international discussions on regulatory and supervisory issues. We also contribute to the ECB’s work on sustainable finance, non-bank financial intermediation and the structural transformation of the financial system caused by the development of private digital money (such as crypto-assets and stablecoins).

In the area of macroprudential policy, we assess country-specific cyclical and structural risks within the financial sector and beyond it, including the household, corporate and real estate sectors. We assess national macroprudential measures to address the identified risks and prepare analyses to inform the activation of macroprudential measures by ECB as envisaged by Art 5 of SSM regulation.

In your role as a trainee, you will be part of a team of approximately 20 members of staff responsible for policy-relevant analysis, model development and the 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 the division to which you are assigned.

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:

• participate actively in the general work of the division to which you are assigned, including by (i) contributing to analyses for regular internal and external publications such as the Financial Stability Review and the Macroprudential Bulletin, (ii) contributing – through data collection, research assistance and programming – to 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 systemic risk identification, macroprudential policy analysis and the analysis of developments in the financial sector and the real economy;
• develop visualisation tools and programs/code for efficient data processing, while helping to ensure that users can access complex datasets.

The position offers you excellent opportunities to become familiar with macroprudential policy and financial stability by taking part in a variety of tasks and projects. You will be able to develop your potential and you will quickly have a real impact on the work of the division to which you are assigned. 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: 

• 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: 

• a master’s degree, or studies towards a master’s degree that are close to completion, in finance, economics, statistics, mathematics, engineering, business administration, physics, computer science or a related discipline;
• knowledge of financial sector analysis and financial policy and regulation, and/or knowledge of macroeconomics;
• knowledge of bank balance sheet and bank-specific data analysis and/or knowledge of non-bank financial institutions;
• a basic understanding of EU and/or international financial regulation;
• good analytical skills and familiarity with macroeconomic, banking and/or financial market data;
• sound IT and programming skills and knowledge of programming languages and econometric software (e.g. SQL, R, MATLAB, Stata, Python and/or EViews);
• experience in one or more of the following fields: econometrics (e.g. macroeconometrics, microeconometrics, time series analysis, financial econometrics, panel data econometrics, machine learning), modelling and programming; 
• experience of a broad range of standard databases of macroeconomic and financial data (e.g. Refinitiv Datastream, Orbis, Moody’s Analytics BankFocus, Bloomberg, Refinitiv Eikon, Haver Analytics, Refinitiv Lipper and EPFR Global).

Further information

Traineeship of between three and 12 months in total.

The earliest starting date will be mid-January 2024 and additional dates will be available throughout 2024.

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.