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: 01.12.2022

Your team

You will be part of the Legislation Division in the Directorate General Legal Services. Our Division is responsible for preparing the ECB’s legal acts in the official languages of the EU, reviewing legal texts for legal, linguistic and terminological consistency and maintaining a legal terminology database.

In the field of banking supervision, we provide advice and expertise in developing ECB supervisory decisions within the Single Supervisory Mechanism and are involved in preparing and reviewing such decisions. We also contribute to the delivery of large banking supervision projects and help implement common policies in this area.

Our Division is also responsible for publishing and disseminating the ECB’s legal framework and other legal publications.

In your role as a trainee, you will be part of a team of 40 members of staff and will work closely with other relevant ECB business areas in all of the ECB’s fields of competence.

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:

• edit and revise ECB legal acts, ECB supervisory decisions, Administrative Board of Review opinions, court submissions and other legal texts drafted in English;
• apply Union legislative drafting rules to the drafting of ECB legal acts, and review draft ECB legal acts to ensure legal, linguistic and terminological consistency;
• provide assistance to the relevant ECB business areas, joint supervisory teams (JSTs) and national competent authorities (NCAs) in the drafting of supervisory decisions, Administrative Board of Review opinions and other legal texts;
• contribute to the development of the methodology and procedures for drafting and translating ECB legal acts, and develop and update supervisory decision templates and associated guidance notes to be used by ECB Banking Supervision, JST and NCA colleagues;
• carry out legal research related to legislative drafting and in areas relevant to the ECB’s activities as a central bank and a banking supervisor;
• contribute, as required, to projects reaching beyond a particular language desk and to the work of the Legislation Division as a whole.

You will work closely with the Lawyer-Linguists in our Division and have the opportunity to gain experience in legal drafting and revising legal texts in English destined for publication.

The position offers you excellent opportunities to contribute to the quality of ECB legal acts. 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 (or equivalent law degree) obtained from an institution in which the degree programme is taught in English;
• a mastery-level (C2) command of English with proven drafting ability 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;
• a good knowledge of the MS Office package.

Desired: 

• a good knowledge of EU law;
• a basic knowledge of EU banking and financial law;
• a qualification in modern languages and/or translation;
• experience in legal editing and revision;
• a demonstrable interest in or experience with using visualisation and collaboration tools.

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 three and twelve months in total.

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

Application and selection process

Further information on how to apply is available on our website.

The recruitment process for this position will include a remote written exercise in the pre-selection phase and – if you are invited to participate in the subsequent selection phase – an online interview. 

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.