The European Central Bank has launched: Traineeship in Legal Services – Knowledge Management team.

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Your team

You will be part of the Legal Knowledge Management team in the Directorate General Legal Services. Our Directorate General has around 120 staff advising on all legal aspects of the regulatory, contractual and institutional framework of the ECB, the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and the Single Supervisory Mechanism. We are currently working on a number of exciting projects covering two main areas of activity: consolidating legal know-how (in the form of practice guides, templates and manuals) and introducing legal technology (for example, process mapping and digitalisation, AI-based legal content analytics and legislative knowledge visualisation).

In your role as a legal trainee in the Legal Knowledge Management team, you will be part of a cross-disciplinary team consisting of six members of staff supporting the work of lawyers in the Directorate General by conducting legal research and compiling notes on legal topics and case-law. You will also be involved in a variety of legal operations and legal technology projects aimed at digitalising work processes and improving access to legal knowledge. Our team works closely with the remainder of the Directorate General and, depending on the requirements of each project, with IT and information management specialists. 

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:

• contribute to practice notes and templates for use by the Directorate General and to the consolidation of relevant legal doctrine/know-how;
• research specific issues in response to requests received from lawyers in the Directorate General;
• contribute to developing and implementing tools for legal knowledge management such as search engines and databases, digital workflows, wiki pages and legislative visualisation tools;
• work on processes and systems used in the Directorate General for tracking and monitoring legal developments of relevance to the ECB and the ESCB;
• contribute to the legal training programme and knowledge management culture in the Directorate General.

The position offers you excellent opportunities to contribute to a culture of collaboration and exchange and to improve best practices. 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, obtained in an EU Member State;
• a sound knowledge of EU law;
• excellent research and analysis skills;
• outstanding written and verbal communication skills, particularly the ability to summarise;
• 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: 

• an understanding of the role of the knowledge management function in law firms and/or in-house legal departments;
• experience of document management systems and legal databases such as OpenText Livelink and EUR-Lex;
• experience in analysing data (including use of Excel and Tableau); 
• experience in or knowledge of activities associated with the emerging field of legal technology (i.e. the use of technology to support the delivery of legal services and solutions);
• an ability to master new software quickly.

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.

Closing date: 06.07.2022

Further information

Traineeship of between 3 and 12 months in total.

For additional information on this specific vacancy, you can speak to Monica Löhdefink, on +49 (0)69 1344 5764, between 11:30 and 12:30 on Tuesday, 28 June.

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. 

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.