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 15.12.2025
Your team
One of the tasks of the ECB is to contribute to a safe and sound European banking system. We carry out this task as part of a system of European banking supervisors called the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM). It comprises the ECB and the national supervisory authorities of the participating countries.
We supervise the euro area’s largest banks, working in Joint Supervisory Teams, and oversee the supervision of all other banks, working with supervisors from national competent authorities across the euro area. We supervise banks on a day-to-day basis and conduct focused on-site inspections. Supervisors may specialise in fields as diverse as internal governance, credit risk, capital markets, operational resilience, climate risk, cyber risk, geopolitical risk, business models, internal models, capital planning, crisis management, stress testing, and supervisory policy and methodologies.
We also grant and withdraw authorisations for banks, assess acquirers of qualifying holdings, decide on the classification of banks as “significant” or “less significant”, and assess the suitability of members of their management bodies. In addition, we impose enforcement measures and sanction banks that breach prudential requirements. We develop our supervisory processes, IT systems and communication tools, including by leveraging artificial intelligence.
Besides the identification of risks and supervisory priorities, we continuously monitor and strive to improve the consistency and effectiveness of our supervisory actions.
We are keen to draw on fresh perspectives for different areas of work and are looking to fill 100 traineeship positions in various fields through four traineeship campaigns running in parallel.
Your role
As a trainee you will gain unique hands on experience by carrying out day-to-day supervisory activities as part of an international team of experts.
For example, you may:
- participate in meetings about risks with supervised banks and banking supervisors;
- assess the impact of risk drivers on banks’ risk profiles;
- analyse banks’ reports and identify any undesirable developments;
- assess whether banks are complying with supervisory expectations and regulatory requirements;
- collect and scrutinise data, producing tables, charts, presentations and reports;
- support the efficiency of core business processes and systems;
- enhance and automate data processing tasks;
- contribute to projects and activities that implement supervisory practices and standards;
- contribute to one key supervisory process, e.g. planning, supervisory reviews, authorisations, developing supervisory technology, or vertical and horizontal analyses.
You will be working alongside international experts who look forward to benefiting from your enthusiasm and recent academic experience.
The traineeship offers you excellent learning opportunities, such as training courses and workshops. You will also be able to hone your communication and collaboration skills, contributing to memos and presentations and interacting with internal and external audiences. You will be assigned a mentor to help you further develop these skills.
You will be part of a multicultural team that strives for continuous innovation to make a positive impact on the lives of European citizens.
As part of the ECB trainee community, you will have the opportunity to build your own professional network.
Qualifications, experience and skills
Essential:
- a bachelor’s degree or higher in law, public administration, business administration, European studies, banking or a similar field (or having obtained at least 180 academic credits under the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System – ECTS – by the closing date for applications);
- in-depth knowledge of banking, finance, banking supervision and/or financial regulation (i.e. the SSM Regulation, the SSM Framework Regulation, the Capital Requirements Regulation and the Capital Requirements Directive);
- experience in applying legal requirements and provisions to practical cases, drafting assessments and conducting legal research;
- analytical, interpersonal and problem-solving skills, teamwork and adaptability;
- a keen interest in working for a European institution and protecting the stability of the banking system;
- motivation to make the most of the development opportunities that this traineeship has to offer;
- 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:
- broad academic knowledge of and/or work experience in any of the following fields: risk analysis, supervisory standards and practices, implications of the digital transformation for the financial sector, banking, finance, banking supervision and/or financial regulation;
- project management skills;
- a strong interest in working in a multicultural environment or gaining experience abroad, as demonstrated through, for example, language skills, education, work experience and/or volunteer work.
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
We will be offering traineeships with an initial duration of six months, with a possible extension of up to 12 months in the same or another business area in ECB Banking Supervision.
The ECB is an inclusive employer and we strive to reflect the diversity of the population we serve. To achieve a more representative spread of nationalities for these traineeships, we may adjust our initial filtering of applications to bring them more in line with the relative size of the EU population.
We encourage you to apply irrespective of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, race, religious beliefs, sexual orientation or other characteristics.
Application and selection process
The recruitment process for this position will include a pre-recorded video interview in the pre-selection phase and – if you are invited to participate in the subsequent selection phase – an online interview.
For the ongoing traineeship recruitment in ECB Banking Supervision, we have published four different traineeship campaigns, covering four profiles. We advise you to only apply for the one you consider yourself best suited.
Please include in your application form your proficiency in the skills mentioned above.
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.
