The European Central Bank has launched: Traineeship in Market Operations [1]

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  06.10.2022

Your team

You will be part of one of the five divisions of the Directorate General Market Operations.

Our Directorate General has around 180 staff members 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 develop and maintain the framework for its financial market activities. We also coordinate the implementation of the Eurosystem’s asset purchase programme and the reserve management services that the Eurosystem provides to non euro area central banks, monetary authorities, public financial institutions and international institutions. In addition, we monitor and analyse financial market developments that are relevant for market operations. The Directorate General works closely with other ECB business areas, the national central banks (NCBs) of the EU Member States and non-EU G10 central banks. We also maintain regular contact with financial market participants.

The traineeships are aimed primarily at graduates with a strong quantitative background and an interest in policy or operational tasks.

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

You will be a member of a data team while also contributing to the operational tasks of your division, working closely with experts on a wide spectrum of operational and monetary policy activities. As part of one of our data teams, you will participate in innovation, digitalisation and automation initiatives, contributing to the implementation of new processes and technologies in the Directorate. You will build on your current skill level and aptitude for tools and topics, and gain hands-on experience in business processes and analytics workflows using Excel, Bloomberg, Python, SQL, KNIME, Java, etc. You will also showcase and expand your data analysis skills as you:

• collect and process data (from structured data to market intelligence, from ad hoc requests to daily automated scenarios);
• investigate and integrate data from different sources (from microdata to big data, from Excel files to Oracle databases and big data platforms);
• visualise and communicate findings using interactive tools such as Tableau (from setting up dashboards for experts in the division to developing tools for the Eurosystem);
• assist in the development of IT applications by professional teams (from an end-user or business analyst perspective).

Furthermore, as part of an operational team, you will gather valuable insights into relevant topics and datasets. You will have a unique opportunity to become involved hands-on in providing insights and delivering findings, reports, presentations and further analytical outputs for your division, the Directorate General’s senior management, and the Eurosystem task forces and working groups.

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

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 the financial markets covering, for example, developments in US, Japanese, Chinese and euro area government bonds, bank and corporate bonds, 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 accounts used for the Division’s settlement activities, and of Eurosystem NCB accounts used for operations involving the ECB’s foreign reserve assets;
• performing audit checks;
• assisting with the management of legal documentation related to the ECB’s counterparties and helping to analyse and follow up on regulatory changes.

Money Market and Liquidity Division

• analysing money market developments by using transaction-level financial market data and by gathering feedback from external parties;
• helping to analyse 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 new benchmark rate, the €STR, and the coordination of market contact groups.

Market Operations Analysis Division

• monitoring and analysing the performance of the Eurosystem monetary policy implementation framework, while also assisting with regular tasks and contributing to the preparation of policy proposals for the framework;
• helping to 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;
• monitoring and assessing the financial eligibility of monetary policy counterparties as well as contributing to the analysis of topics such as minimum reserve requirements, targeted longer-term refinancing operations (TLTROs), emergency liquidity assistance and Eurosystem balance sheet items.

Market Operations Systems Division

• contributing to the functional configuration of the ECB’s treasury management system (TMS) by providing daily monitoring, maintaining static data, configuring new financial instruments and integrating new business requirements;
• providing functional support for the system, including interacting directly with end users in the front and back offices of the ECB and the NCBs, investigating any operational issues reported and assisting with the creation and maintenance of user and internal process documentation;
• contributing to the quality of market operations systems by helping to develop a test strategy, assisting experts with the collection and documentation of functional user requirements, preparing test material and participating in software testing.

These positions offer you excellent opportunities to experience the practical approaches to monetary policy implementation and investment in a central bank, enhance your knowledge of financial markets, gain experience in handling and analysing financial data and develop your teamwork skills. You will also be able to participate in projects involving the business implementation, maintenance, development and testing of IT applications for market operations.

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 or market operations;
• experience with one or more of the following programming languages and applications: SQL, VBA, R, Python, Java, MATLAB, Stata, Tableau, Power BI, Bloomberg, KNIME and Refinitiv Eikon;
• experience of working with complex data (i.e. data preparation, analysis and visualisation);
• a good knowledge of the MS Office package, including 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 [2].

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

Traineeship of between 6 and 12 months in total, with starting dates as of January 2023.

For additional background information regarding this vacancy notice you can also contact Christine Haralambous (christine.haralambous@ecb.europa.eu) or Enea Caccia (Enea.Caccia@ecb.europa.eu).

Application and selection process

Further information on how to join us is available on our website [3].

The recruitment process for this position will include an online interview if you are invited to participate in the selection phase.

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.

Links:

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[1] https://talent.ecb.europa.eu/careers/SpecificFolder?jobId=6443&sourc...

[2] https://www.coe.int/en/web/common-european-framework-reference-languages...

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