Traineeship in the Directorate Risk Management
Grade: Internship - Traineeship - Only Open to EU Nationals
Closing Date: Feb 16, 2026
Location: Remote | Frankfurt (Germany)
Occupational Groups: Accounting (Audit, Controlling), Internal audit, Investigation and Inspection

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 16.02.2026

Your team

You will be part of the Directorate Risk Management, a dynamic team of professionals developing and maintaining the financial risk management frameworks that govern the Eurosystem’s monetary policy operations and the ECB’s investment operations. Moreover, the Directorate supports the ECB in achieving operational resilience by implementing sound non-financial risk, business continuity and critical incident management practices.

You will be working in one of the Directorate’s two divisions that cover financial risk management issues:
  • Financial Risk Analysis monitors the compliance of monetary policy and investment operations with their respective risk management frameworks. It also models, analyses and reports on financial risks.
  • Financial Risk Strategy designs and maintains the risk management frameworks and policies governing Eurosystem credit operations and non-standard monetary policy measures.

You will also work closely with colleagues from different teams within the Directorate and from other ECB business areas, in particular the Directorate General Market Operations and the Directorate General Information Systems.

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 Financial Risk Analysis Division you will:
  • learn about the different risk management frameworks that govern the ECB’s asset purchase programmes and the management of the ECB’s foreign reserves and investment portfolios;
  • contribute to daily, weekly and monthly monitoring and reporting tasks;
  • collect and process data used in our regular financial risk management tasks;
  • participate in projects and conduct ad hoc analyses to further improve financial risk management processes.

As a trainee in the Financial Risk Strategy Division you will:
  • learn about the risk management policies and frameworks governing the Eurosystem’s credit operations and non-standard monetary policy measures, including eligibility requirements, valuations and haircuts;
  • contribute to a range of tasks related to assessing and mitigating credit risk, market risk and climate change and nature-related risk in the Eurosystem’s credit operations;
  • perform regular monitoring and reporting tasks and ad hoc analyses to further improve financial risk frameworks;
  • collect and process data used in our regular financial risk management tasks;
  • contribute to presentations and documentation for Eurosystem committee and working group meetings.

This traineeship offers you a unique opportunity to learn more about financial risk management at the ECB and how the Eurosystem functions. You will gain hands-on experience of the IT applications, databases and risk methodologies used to analyse credit risk, market risk and other types of risk (e.g. climate change risk) related to assets and issuers of financial instruments as well as the Eurosystem’s counterparties. 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

  • a bachelor’s degree or higher in finance, economics, business administration, law, STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering or mathematics), computer science or another relevant field; 
  • a keen interest in financial risk management and monetary policy;
  • the ability to process, analyse and interpret data;
  • familiarity with at least one data processing tool, e.g. Python, MATLAB, SQL, Stata, R, Java, C, Ruby, VBA or Tableau;
  • a good knowledge of the Microsoft 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.

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. Different starting dates are possible from 1 July 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.

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