Traineeship in Statistics and Data Science

The European Central Bank is offering a traineeship in its Directorate General Statistics (DG/S), where you will contribute to high-quality data and statistics that support ECB decision-making.

Your team

You will be part of the Directorate General Statistics (DG/S). Our Directorate General has over 300 staff working to strengthen Europe by supporting ECB decision-making with high-quality data and statistics. Our statistics inform central banking and banking supervision policy decisions, as well as the public at large. This is done in close collaboration with the European System of Central Banks, the European Commission, the banking industry, national competent authorities and international bodies.

In your role as a trainee, you will contribute directly to the work of the Directorate General Statistics. You will form part of a team responsible for collecting and validating data, producing, publishing and disseminating data and statistical indicators using innovative methods (including AI solutions), managing and governing data and/or metadata, and keeping the related documentation and tools fit for purpose. You will work closely with relevant stakeholders such as economists, analysts and banking supervisors.

Your role

As a trainee in DG/S you will:

• gain insights into the methodology, validation, compilation, management and publication of macroeconomic statistics and/or large-scale granular/micro datasets in a policy-oriented environment;
• work both in a team and independently under the guidance of a mentor, taking the initiative and interacting with other staff members and management;
• have an opportunity to participate in your team’s regular activities, support the development of statistical and/or metadata concepts as well as tools and processes for data and metadata management, and/or contribute to conceptual or empirical studies.

The traineeship offers you excellent opportunities to help modernise the ECB’s data and metadata management landscape in a context of rapid financial innovation and digital transformation. 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 statistics, data science, economics, finance, mathematics, computer science, operational research or another relevant field;
• experience in using at least one of the following programming languages/statistical packages/visualisation tools: C/C++/C#, Java, Mathematica, MATLAB, Python, R, R Shiny, SAS, Scala, SQL, Stata, VB/VB.Net/VBA, Tableau, Power BI;
• experience in data and metadata management, including collection, quality control, aggregation, visualisation and analysis;
• a good knowledge of the MS Office package;
• experience in using complex datasets, interpreting the data and presenting results;
• 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 programming with at least one of the following languages: C/C++/C#, Java, Python, R, R Shiny, SAS, Scala, SQL, VB/VB.Net/VBA;
• familiarity with monetary and financial statistics, macroeconomic statistics (such as financial accounts, balance of payments or price statistics), supervisory data, micro/granular financial data, reference data, household or corporate survey data, accounting, financial and risk reporting, or the governance and management of integrated data and metadata;
• familiarity with international standards for macroeconomic statistics, accounting or banking supervision;
• knowledge of financial concepts and the functioning of financial markets;
• knowledge of the techniques used in the development of applications and tools for data management, visualisation, AI or machine learning;
• knowledge of web development, content creation, digital communication and graphics.

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 6 months, with a possible extension to up to 12 months in total. The start date will be in 2027.