Talent Pool for European Central Bank

Lead Financial Markets Expert - DGM

Grade: Senior

Closing Date: Sep 14, 2026

Location:

Remote | Frankfurt (Germany)

Occupational Groups: Banking and Finance, Managerial positions, Impact investing, Social venture capital

General Information

Type of contract Fixed-term contract which may be converted into a permanent contract after three years subject to individual performance and organisational needs

Who can apply? EU nationals

Salary H (bracket 1 - step 1) full time monthly net salary: €8,318 plus benefits, for further information see what we offer.

Role specialisation Market Ops Policy & Implementation

Working time Full time

Place of work Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Closing date 14.09.2026

Your team

You will be part of the Senior Management Office in the Directorate General Market Operations (DG/M). Our Directorate has around 200 staff preparing the monetary policy and foreign exchange operations of the Eurosystem, developing and maintaining the framework for all its financial market activities, and monitoring and analysing financial market developments. As part of Appia, the Eurosystem strategy to provide central bank money within tokenised wholesale financial markets, we are currently exploring the impact this would have on market functioning and monetary policy implementation. Digital finance has a potentially transformative role, requiring adaptation of our operational framework and strategic positioning in the emerging tokenised financial ecosystem.

In your role as Lead Financial Markets Expert you will be part of the Senior Management Office Team, supporting the Area Head in DG/M in evaluating the implications for the implementation of monetary policy and formulating a strategic response as tokenised finance scales up. You will also work closely with the cross-divisional and cross-business area Appia project team.

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 Lead Financial Markets Expert, you will:

steer analytical work on how technological innovation and emerging regulation affect the conduct of monetary policy and ensure the high quality and context-relevance of complex analysis;
foster the ramping-up of expertise and enhance knowledge sharing on the global digital transformation of financial markets across the Directorate through the Senior Management Office;
identify market operations matters requiring a strategic response and steer strategic policy work, including drafting and providing input and advising senior management, as well as integrating and reviewing contributions to policy decision-making;
coordinate ECB regulatory consultations related to the digital transformation, as well as reports and official publications, and present your own analytical work;
collaborate with internal and external stakeholders, representing the ECB on policy matters and influencing stakeholders through strategic orientation and analytical excellence;
demonstrate and practice ECB values in daily work and interactions with others.

We actively support professional development for our staff. Beside learning opportunities such as training and mentoring, we encourage and support horizontal mobility after some years in the same position.

The position offers you unique opportunities to provide strategic policy advice at the intersection of monetary policy operations, financial innovation and regulation. 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 master’s degree or equivalent in economics, finance, business administration, STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) or another relevant field (see How you can join us for details on degree equivalences);
in addition to the above, a minimum of six years’ professional experience (excluding traineeships and internships) in central banking, financial regulation or prudential policy-making, or another relevant field, including some direct exposure to technology and innovation;
demonstrated knowledge of the traditional financial system and the emerging developments in tokenisation and digital finance, including their evolving regulatory context;
professional experience in leading or coordinating complex analytical work in financial markets and/or risk management;
a track record of exercising sound policy judgement;
experience of building up institutional expertise in new fields of financial innovation;
strong stakeholder management skills;
excellent oral and written communication skills, including experience of presenting complex technical matters clearly and succinctly to a non-technical audience;
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:

experience in steering policy work in an international context across diverse teams.

You engage collaboratively with others. You pursue team goals and learn willingly from other people’s diverse perspectives. You signal any need for change by explaining it and proposing alternative solutions. You analyse complex information effectively and can evaluate different views to arrive at solutions. You know and anticipate stakeholder needs.

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 aware of your strengths and areas for development and know what motivates you to perform at your highest level.

Working modalities

We would be happy to discuss a part-time arrangement for this role.

Further information

For additional information on this specific vacancy, you can speak to the hiring manager, Isabel Von Koppen-Mertes, on 004915222615650 between 11:00 and 12:00 on Friday 4th September.

Application and selection process

The recruitment process for this position will be conducted remotely. It will include a written exercise, a presentation and an interview.

If you are not selected for this position but are still considered suitable, you will be placed on a reserve list (see step 4 of How we hire), from which you might be considered for similar positions within the ECB.

Find out how to apply for a position at the ECB.