Oversight Experts – Payment and settlement systems

Oversight Experts – Payment and settlement systems

Your team

You will be part of the Oversight Division in the Directorate General Market Infrastructure and Payments. Our Directorate General has around 150 staff who work to ensure that Europe’s financial markets can rely on a safe and efficient market infrastructure, while embracing innovation and contributing to further European integration. We have three main responsibilities: we provide payment and securities settlement infrastructure under the TARGET Services brand; we work with the financial sector to promote innovation and the harmonisation of business practices across Europe; and we oversee market infrastructures and payments.

In your role as Oversight Expert in the Oversight Division, you will be part of a team of around 45 members of staff responsible for ensuring that systemically important financial market infrastructures and payments in the euro area are safe and efficient. This supports the stability and efficiency of the financial system and the economy as well as the smooth conduct of monetary policy and trust in the currency. We define the respective oversight policies, frameworks and requirements. We also help supervise and oversee financial market infrastructures under the relevant EU regulations or international cooperative arrangements. In our work we analyse market and geopolitical developments and the use of new technologies to ensure the entities we oversee remain resilient. We work closely with a number of authorities, including national central banks, national competent authorities, the European Commission, the European Securities and Markets Authority and other international organisations.

Your role

As Oversight Expert for payment and settlement systems, you will:

• establish and maintain oversight requirements, policies, frameworks and procedures;
• conduct oversight assessments of (systemically important) payment systems and securities settlement systems, including systems based on distributed ledger technology (DLT) that fall within the responsibilities of the Eurosystem;
• conduct risk analysis focusing on (i) operational risks, including cyber resilience, third(nth)-party risk (e.g. cloud outsourcing and supply chain management), as well as other risks stemming from the adoption of emerging technologies (such as DLT) by the entities concerned; or (ii) financial risks, governance risks and risks related to interlinkages and interoperability between financial market infrastructures;
• help develop the ECB’s policy stance on EU legislative initiatives relating to payments and post-trade financial market infrastructures and, in particular, the use of DLT in the financial ecosystem as well as new types of digital assets such as tokenised deposits and stablecoins;
• work closely with colleagues from other ECB business areas and counterparts at other European and international authorities, and represent the Oversight Division in various working groups and international fora;
• foster collaboration within the team, particularly by guiding and coaching trainees and junior colleagues.

The position offers you excellent opportunities to work on complex and topical oversight issues related to payment and securities settlement systems, emerging risks and innovative technologies, in collaboration with internal and external stakeholders. 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 information technology, finance, economics, business administration or another relevant field;
• in addition to the above, a minimum of four years of professional experience in payment systems or financial market infrastructures, in one or more of the following functions: oversight, supervision, audit, policy, operations or project development;
• professional knowledge of at least one of the following:

• risk management processes; operational risks, including cyber resilience, third(nth)-party risk; and other risks stemming from the adoption of emerging technologies (such as DLT) by financial market infrastructures or related entities;
• financial risks, governance, legal and other aspects relevant to the functioning of payment systems and financial market infrastructures or related entities;

• strong analytical skills and experience in conducting risk analysis;
• experience in drafting different types of documents and, ideally, in presenting complex topics to varying audiences;
• an advanced (C1) command of English and an intermediate (B1) command of at least one other official language of the EU.

Desired:

• experience with on-site inspections;
• knowledge of the EU regulatory framework for market infrastructures and/or digital assets;
• experience in building and managing relationships with various stakeholders.

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.

Further information

The formal title for this position will be Oversight Expert.

Some of the contracts will be convertible into permanent contracts after three years subject to individual performance and organisational needs.

Temporary appointments may be extended or made permanent subject to organisational needs and budgetary constraints. This may result in a staff member with a non-convertible fixed-term contract being offered a convertible contract in accordance with the ECB Conditions of Employment.