Market Infrastructure & Payments

14393

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 09.07.2026

Your team You will be part of the Financials team in the Directorate General Market Infrastructure and Payments. Our Directorate General manages all matters relating to the Eurosystem market infrastructures, including platforms, applications and associated services in the fields of cash settlement, securities settlement and collateral management. Alongside providing wide-ranging support for the Eurosystem’s TARGET Services (TARGET2, TARGET2-Securities, TARGET Instant Payment Settlement and the Eurosystem Collateral Management System), we are constantly exploring new technological and business initiatives.

The Financials team is responsible for developing and implementing pricing policies, as well as for the invoicing, accounting and financial reporting processes related to all the Directorate General’s projects and services.

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 Financials teams, you will:

• help shape pricing policies for TARGET Services;
• build reporting dashboards and aggregate data sources;
• support the invoicing, accounting and financial reporting processes for all the Directorate General’s projects and services;
• collaborate with the relevant teams within the Directorate General and in other ECB business areas, as well as external stakeholders of TARGET Services with a view to successfully accomplishing the tasks of the Financials team;
• contribute to the analysis of functional, regulatory and operational scenarios.

The traineeship offers you excellent opportunities to gain hands-on experience in financial analysis, operational processes and financial reporting within the field of market infrastructure and payments. While you will be assigned a supervisor, you will need to use your initiative and work with a high degree of autonomy. You will develop valuable skills and make a tangible impact on our work, directly contributing to one of the most dynamic and multifaceted areas of central banking.

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, management, economics, computer science or a related discipline;
• experience presenting complex concepts (including the visualisation of technical concepts and data) to various stakeholders and audiences;
• an advanced knowledge of the MS Office package (including programming macros and building pivot tables in 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.

Desired:

• knowledge of international financial markets, payments and securities;
• experience of accounting and finance;
• experience working with Tableau or other data visualisation tools and databases;
• experience with financial and IT business analysis.

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 traineeship would ideally start in November 2026.

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 a remote written exercise in the pre-selection phase and – if you are invited to participate in the subsequent selection phase – 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.