Trainee German Translator

Trainee German Translator

You will be part of the Language Services Division in the Directorate General Communications. Language Services provides translation, editing, proofreading and language technology and terminology services in all EU languages, as well as offering advice on linguistic matters. Our work covers a wide range of texts for both expert audiences and the general public and includes multilingual content for our website aimed at making the ECB’s work accessible to non-expert readers.

In your role as a trainee German Translator, you will join one of the Division’s three multilingual sections, working closely with other Translators and Editors, Language Technologists/Terminologists, our team of Administrators and experts from across the ECB. You will also work closely with others in our Directorate General as part of cross-divisional teams handling strategic communication projects or urgent tasks.

Your role

• translate texts from English into German;
• revise and proofread texts in German;
• identify, extract and compile terminology, particularly in the fields of economics and finance;
• contribute to other responsibilities of the German team, such as maintaining translation memories and providing linguistic advice.

The traineeship offers you excellent opportunities to use state-of-the-art language technology tools in your daily work and to gain insight into the work of a language services division in an EU institution. 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 modern languages or translation;
• familiarity with using computer-assisted translation tools;
• a good knowledge of the MS Office package;
• a mastery-level (C2) command of German and an advanced (C1) command of English, according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

Desired:

• a master’s degree (completed or in the final stages of completion) in modern languages or translation;
• experience in translating English texts into German;
• an intermediate (B1) command of another official EU language;
• an interest in financial and economic affairs.

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.

If you have completed university courses in translation from English into German, you are encouraged to provide an official list of these courses from your university (together with the grades achieved) and/or a letter of recommendation from a relevant supervisor or faculty member. These documents should be in English or German.