The European Central Bank has launched a new traineeship: Legal Trainee in the Library

Your team

You will be part of the Information Governance Division in the Directorate General Secretariat. Our Division has about 50 staff providing the policy framework, services and tools to ensure ECB staff can access and make the most of internal and external knowledge and information. 

We are currently working on the digital transformation of our library to provide content, tools and services for the retrieval and use of online information. We are also developing our range of services to strengthen the ECB’s knowledge management function and collaboration capabilities. Meeting the evolving information needs of our users remains the main mission of the Division.

In your role as a Legal Trainee, you will be part of a dynamic and service-oriented Library Services team of seven members of staff responsible for: 

• providing knowledge and information management services to the ECB’s business areas;
• facilitating and supporting the research activities of the ECB by running a comprehensive search and enquiry service (using both online and print resources); 
• managing the library’s print and online collections and ensuring that the resources continue to meet users’ information needs;
• contributing to the library transformation activities, such as the new library space refurbishment, the development of training sessions on search skills, the design of the new library app and other activities which may arise from time to time;
• supporting the ECB’s knowledge management roadmap by taking part in the Division’s knowledge management activities.

You will be working closely with the law librarian and with lawyers across the ECB, especially the Legal Knowledge Management team. 

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 Legal Trainee you will:

• provide reference services and legal research support for the ECB’s lawyers using the library’s print resources and online legal databases;
• contribute to designing business solutions for published information that help lawyers to organise information and turn it into intelligence;
• develop topic-based alerts and newsletters with filtered content to meet the business and research needs of the ECB’s lawyers;
• help promote and raise awareness of available resources and services.

The traineeship offers you excellent opportunities to gain experience in providing information services in an institutional environment and to gain insight into various legal topics related to the ECB’s activities. 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 law and/or library sciences;
• excellent research and analysis skills;
• good knowledge of EU law;
• an awareness of and interest in the role and functioning of the ECB;
• familiarity with legal databases for research purposes, including Lexis, Westlaw and EUR-Lex;
• an advanced 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: 

• experience in providing library services or legal knowledge management services (in law firms and/or in-house legal departments).

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.

All candidates should:

• be a national of a Member State of the EU or of an acceding country;
• be at least 18 years old;
• have completed at least a first cycle qualification (minimum bachelor’s degree);
• be fluent in English and in another official language of the EU.

Following their most recent qualification candidates should:

• have a maximum of 12 months’ professional experience;
• have been a trainee for no more than six months;
• not have been an ECB trainee or have worked for the ECB previously

Closing date: 26.1.2022

Further information

Traineeship of between 3 and 12 months in total.

Application and selection process

Further information on how to join us is available on our website.

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

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 similar positions within the ECB.