Traineeship in the Euro Area External Sector and Euro Adoption DivisionGeneral 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: 27.03.2026

Your team

You will be part of the Euro Area External Sector and Euro Adoption Division in the Directorate General Economics. The Directorate General monitors and analyses the economies of individual euro area countries, non-euro area EU countries and the euro area as a whole.

Our Division has about 20 members of staff and is responsible for analysing and conducting studies on international trade, the balance of payments and the international investment position, as well as the price and non-price competitiveness of the euro area and EU countries. In addition, we monitor and forecast macroeconomic developments in euro area countries in central and eastern Europe and non-euro area EU countries, while also developing tools for these purposes.

Our output is an integral part of the Directorate General’s policy advice to the ECB’s decision-making bodies for monetary policy meetings. It includes articles and studies in publications such as the ECB’s Economic Bulletin, Annual Report, Occasional Paper Series and Working Paper Series.

In your role as a trainee, you will focus on one or more of the Division’s three main areas of competence: (1) trade and the competitiveness of the euro area; (2) the current account and financial account of the euro area; (3) the forecasting and surveillance of euro area countries in central and eastern Europe and non-euro area EU countries.

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 maintaining and enhancing analytical, econometric and forecasting tools in the fields of trade, balance of payments and country analysis;
• process, consolidate and transform datasets while maintaining and enhancing database infrastructures in order to monitor economic developments;
• support the team in collecting, processing and visualising data;
• conduct quantitative analyses for the economic and policy assessment of individual countries and the euro area as a whole;
• contribute to the Economic Bulletin and other regular internal and external publications produced by the Directorate General in collaboration with other ECB business areas.

The traineeship offers you excellent opportunities to work closely with the Division’s economists and contribute significantly to our work on both longer-term projects and short-term tasks, giving you valuable experience for your future career. You will also be assigned a mentor to support your professional development, enabling you to maximise your potential. 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 or a related field;
• a working knowledge of applied econometrics, especially time series econometrics, panel data econometrics and/or microeconometrics;
• practical experience in handling and manipulating one or more of the following types of economic data: macroeconomic data, firm-level and/or other microeconomic data, and financial market data;
• a good knowledge of the MS Office package, in particular PowerPoint and Excel;
• practical experience in working with statistical/quantitative software and programming languages such as Stata, MATLAB, Dynare, EViews, R and/or Python;
• a good understanding of the economic issues covered by the Division and of the institutional framework of the ECB and the Eurosystem;
• 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: https://www.coe.int/en/web/common-european-framework-reference-languages...

Desired: 

• a master’s degree or higher (completed or nearing completion) in economics or a related field;
• experience in macroeconomic modelling, with a focus on one or more of the following: DSGE models, factor models, state-space models and machine learning;
• experience in designing and programming automated reports and/or creating web-based dashboards using R (especially Shiny), delivering outputs in HTML or similar formats.

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 from summer 2026 onwards.

Other details on the conditions applicable to traineeships at the ECB can be found on our website: https://www.ecb.europa.eu/careers/what-we-offer/traineeship/html/index.e...

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: https://www.ecb.europa.eu/careers/before-you-apply/how-to-apply/html/ind...

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.

 

Traineeship in people analytics, data science and innovation in HR

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: 01.04.2026

Your team

You will be part of the People Analytics team in the Digitalisation and Employee Relations Division of the Directorate General Human Resources. Our Directorate General has over 100 members of staff who provide operational, talent management and advisory services to approximately 4,000 employees at the ECB. We are currently working on a data-driven, evidence-based approach that will enable the Directorate General to best serve the needs of employees and the organisation. 

In your role as a data science trainee, you will be part of a close-knit team of 5-8 members of staff responsible for providing data science services to stakeholders in the Directorate General Human Resources and other ECB business areas. You will support their activities, generate insights to shape human resources (HR) strategy, and use data analytics to optimise the impact of HR policies on working conditions, well-being and performance. You will also work closely with relevant stakeholders both within and outside the Directorate General.

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 People Analytics team, you will:

• develop statistical analyses and data science solutions and provide recommendations for strategic HR decision-making and policy development;
• contribute to exploring new tools and technologies, testing them and developing prototypes;
• support the development of a data-driven, evidence-based approach to HR by reviewing research literature, generating insights from available reports and tools, and training colleagues to integrate these into their work;
• contribute to transforming and visualising HR datasets for various projects and tasks.

The traineeship offers you excellent opportunities to learn from experienced data scientists, gain hands-on analytics experience and work with leading technologies in a dynamic and inspiring environment. 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 data science, statistics, mathematics, computer science, human resources management, business administration, economics, social and organisational psychology, business information systems, business analytics or another relevant discipline;
• advanced skills in R, Python, SQL and/or another statistical programming language;
• excellent analytical and conceptual skills and an interest in complex technical content;
• a good 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: https://www.coe.int/en/web/common-european-framework-reference-languages...

Desired: 

• experience in people analytics/HR analytics;
• experience with R Shiny, Tableau and/or PowerBI;
• experience in data cleaning, data transformation and data visualisation;
• a sound, general understanding of information systems (IS) and information technology (IT); interest in digitalisation, AI and new technologies;
• familiarity or, better, direct experience, with agile methodologies.

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.

Other details on the conditions applicable to traineeships at the ECB can be found on our website: https://www.ecb.europa.eu/careers/what-we-offer/traineeship/html/index.e...

Application and selection process

The recruitment process for this position will include a remote written exercise and an online interview. 

Further information on how to apply is available on our website: https://www.ecb.europa.eu/careers/before-you-apply/how-to-apply/html/ind...

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.

 

PhD Traineeship in the Market-based Finance Division

General Information

Type of contract: PhD traineeship

Who can apply?: EU nationals eligible for our traineeship programme

Grant: 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: 01.04.2026

Your team

You will be part of the Market-based Finance Division in the Directorate General Macroprudential Policy and Financial Stability. Our Directorate General has more than 100 staff providing analyses and policy advice on issues relating to financial stability, non-bank financial intermediation, financial regulation and macroprudential policy.

The Market-based Finance Division assesses and mitigates the systemic risks arising from the activities and behaviour of non-bank financial intermediaries. We also monitor financial stability risks in financial markets, coordinate the Directorate General’s market intelligence activities and improve understanding of how market-based finance interacts with monetary policy.

In your role as a PhD 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.

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 PhD trainee in the Market-based Finance Division you will: 

• assess systemic risk in the non-bank financial sector, including risk from asset management and insurance activities; 
• analyse the non-bank financial sector’s role in funding the real economy; 
• work empirically with large granular datasets, such as data reports on derivatives or securities financing transactions, portfolio holdings data or commercial data on investment funds and financial markets;
• provide analytical input into the wider policy debate around non-bank financial intermediation and systemic risk.

The traineeship offers you an excellent opportunity to work closely with our experts on different tasks and research projects. You will be able to develop your potential, gain an overview of all the activities performed by the Directorate General. You may also have the chance to contribute to its regular work. You will have your own assigned supervisor but will be expected to use your own initiative and work autonomously to complete your projects.

You will be able to attend a wide range of seminars and have access to the ECB’s library, as well as to our computing, programming and statistical resources. You will also have the chance  to network and engage with employees from across the ECB, while building your self-awareness and expanding 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 master’s degree and at least two years of PhD studies in finance, economics, statistics, mathematics, physics, engineering, computer science or a related field;
• a sound background in (including an analytical or research project on) one or more of the following areas: financial instruments, institutions and markets; financial sector analysis, policy and/or regulation; panel data econometrics; numerical techniques; mathematical optimisation models; computational economics; network analysis; corporate finance; big data management; and data science; 
• a good knowledge of one or more programming languages and/or econometric software (e.g. Python, R, SQL, PySpark, MATLAB, Stata);
• a good 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: https://www.coe.int/en/web/common-european-framework-reference-languages...

Desired:

• experience working with large granular datasets, combining different data sources and drawing information from complex financial and real sector data;
• a good knowledge of at least one of the tasks listed in the “Your role” section above.

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 objectives of this position.

Further information

Initial PhD 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: https://www.ecb.europa.eu/careers/what-we-offer/traineeship/html/index.e...

The ideal starting date would be July 2026, and additional dates will be available throughout 2026.

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: https://www.ecb.europa.eu/careers/before-you-apply/how-to-apply/html/ind...

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.