The European Central Bank has launched: Traineeship in the Stress-Test Modelling Division.

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Your team

You will be part of the Stress Test Modelling Division in the Directorate General Macroprudential Policy and Financial Stability. Our Division has around 30 members of staff and is responsible for developing and maintaining the ECB models used to perform stress-testing exercises, with a focus on stress tests for macroprudential purposes. We support the activities of the ECB and the European supervisory authorities by providing quantitative models, scenarios and advanced analytical input for assessing the potential impact of systemic risks on the stability of the euro area and EU financial system. In addition, we support European and international discussions on systemic risks and the financial sector’s resilience, particularly by contributing to ECB publications and providing appropriate analytical support to the European Systemic Risk Board.

We are currently developing and following a stress test approach to assess the implications of climate risks for financial stability, as part of the ECB’s new work stream on climate risk. The climate risk stress test entails the model-based design of long-horizon macroeconomic-climate scenarios. Climate-related financial risks are mapped using microeconometric models, which are based on a number of granular firm-level and loan-level databases.

In your role as a trainee, you will be part of one of the Division’s teams, which focus on policy-relevant analysis and model development for some of the specific tasks outlined above. The content of the traineeship will depend on the team you join and your personal skill set.

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: 

• prepare data for regular internal and external publications; 
• contribute to presentations for managers; 
• participate in data collection and research assistance for relevant analytical projects, the development of stress test models (including climate stress test models) and macro-financial policy assessment; 
• help to maintain, update and enhance the stress testing, financial and real economy    databases; 
• assist in the development of data visualisation tools and coding for efficient data processing, while facilitating user access to complex datasets.

The position offers you excellent opportunities to become familiar with macroprudential policy and financial stability through different tasks and projects. From the early stages of the traineeship, you will be able to develop your potential and have a real impact on the work of the Division. You will have the opportunity to work alongside leaders in the field of financial stability. 

You will have the chance to attend a wide range of seminars and to access the ECB’s library, computing, programming and statistical resources. You will have an excellent opportunity to network, engage with other employees and increase your personal awareness and business knowledge. 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, statistics, mathematics, engineering, business administration (with a focus on accounting), physics, computer science or a related field; 
• an advanced knowledge of programming languages (e.g. MATLAB, Stata, Python, R, SQL) and econometric software (e.g. EViews);
• an advanced knowledge of the MS Office package, in particular Excel;
• some experience in preparing, handling and analysing datasets based on various data sources;
• 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: 

• a master’s degree (either completed or close to completion) in finance, economics, statistics, mathematics, engineering, business administration (with a focus on accounting), physics, computer science or a related field;
• experience working with big data and/or firm-level data and familiarity with Spark and Apache Hadoop infrastructure;
• a sound understanding of derivative pricing;
• a good analytical ability and familiarity with macroeconomic or financial statistics (at the sector, institution and transaction levels); 
• some experience in one or more of the following fields: econometrics (e.g. macroeconometrics, microeconometrics, time series analysis, financial econometrics, panel data econometrics, empirical banking), financial statement analysis (e.g. balance sheets of banks and other financial institutions), DSGE models, network analysis, mathematical optimisation models; 
• familiarity with a broad range of standard databases of macroeconomic and financial data (e.g. Refinitiv Datastream, Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters Eikon, BankFocus, Haver Analytics).

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: 14.07.2022

Working modalities

Playing a role in European banking supervision entails collaborating in multinational and multicultural teams and operating in the context of different national frameworks, for which a strong ability to use different EU languages for business purposes is an asset.

Further information

Traineeship of between 3 and 12 months in total.

For additional information on this specific vacancy, you can speak to Giuseppe Cappelletti on +49 (0)69 1344 5198 between 10:00 and 11:00 on 6 July 2022.

Application and selection process

Further information on how to join us 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.