Statistics Traineeship Programme ECB - European Central Bank Frankfurt, Germany

The Directorate General Statistics (DG/S) of the European Central Bank (ECB) is seeking recent graduates or students who are close to completing their studies for its Traineeship Programme in 2012.
DG/S is responsible for developing, compiling and disseminating the statistics and the related statistical indicators that the ECB needs to conduct its monetary policy, and that enable the other functions of the ECB, the Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) to be carried out. DG/S also provides statistical support to the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB).
For this purpose, DG/S cooperates closely with other ECB business areas, the national central banks of the Member States of the European Union (EU), the European Commission (especially Eurostat), European and national supervisory authorities, international organisations, the national statistical institutes of EU Member States and the statistical departments of certain international institutions. DG/S comprises five divisions:

• Euro Area Accounts and Economic Data Division

This Division develops, compiles and disseminates the statistics regarding financial and non-financial sector accounts for the euro area, as well as statistics on prices and costs, output and demand, the labour market and government finance and, where appropriate, liaises with the primary producers of such data.

• External Statistics Division

This Division develops, compiles and disseminates the euro area’s external statistics and statistical indicators, in particular the balance of payments, the international investment position and effective exchange rates. It also manages the Centralised Securities Database.

• Monetary and Financial Statistics Division

This Division develops, compiles and disseminates the statistics regarding monetary financial institutions (MFIs), other financial intermediaries, financial stability and financial markets – including interest rates and securities (issues) statistics – as well as statistics regarding payment systems within the euro area.

• Statistical Information Services Division

This Division develops and applies the statistical tools and procedures to collect, produce, manage and disseminate the ECB’s statistics and statistical databases. It provides IT support to internal and external users of the databases, implements best practices in statistical data exchange and management, and harmonises statistical processes.

• Statistics Development/Coordination Division

This Division develops new types of statistics and statistical indicators (current projects include work relating to financial stability, credit risk transfer, securities holdings and payment cards). It also develops, compiles and disseminates statistics on surveys relating to household finance and consumption and access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In addition, it contributes to work on European and global statistical standards.
Further details of the work of these five divisions can be found on the statistics pages of the ECB's website, where you can also find profiles of some of our statistics trainees.
The holders of these traineeships will be expected to perform the following main tasks:
Trainees will be expected to:

• participate actively in the work of the divisions;
• gain an insight into conceptual, methodological and operational work on statistics in a policy-oriented environment;
• work independently, under the guidance of a mentor; use their initiative and interact with other members of staff, and
• they will also have an opportunity to complete a conceptual or empirical study, suitable for presentation at an internal seminar.

Typically, up to 30 trainees are recruited a year to work on different tasks and projects. Some examples are given below.

• In the Euro Area Accounts and Economic Data Division, trainees may work on the compilation, statistical analysis and dissemination of general economic statistics, such as price and output statistics. They may also be involved in seasonal adjustment.
• In the External Statistics Division, they may work on monitoring the quality of statistics on balance of payments and international investment position, as well as methods and sources in EU Member States.
• In the Monetary and Financial Statistics Division, they may work on the compilation, statistical analysis and dissemination of monetary and financial statistics data, such as bank balance sheets and monetary aggregates, securitisation statistics, insurance corporations and pension funds data, MFI interest rates, payment statistics, yield curve, securities issued statistics and implied probability density functions. Trainees may also be involved in technical tasks related to data processing.
• In the Statistical Information Services Division, they may work on programming (mainly FAME, JAVA, Perl and UNIX scripts), data loading, metadata maintenance, first-line support for the business area, maintenance of the hotline, testing of applications and many tasks in support of the publication process.
• In the Statistics Development/Coordination Division, trainees may work on developing and maintaining statistical datasets for financial stability purposes, securities holding statistics, securitisations, international payment cards and credit derivative statistics, including work arising in the area of securities markets and financial infrastructures. In addition, trainees may be involved in ongoing work on a joint Commission/ECB survey on SME access to finance and a Eurosystem Household Finance and Consumption Survey.

Qualifications and experience

The successful candidates must have the following knowledge and competencies:

• The traineeships are aimed at those who have been studying economics, econometrics, statistics, mathematics, finance or other relevant disciplines (e.g. computer science).
• An excellent knowledge of English is essential and a good knowledge of one other official language of the EU is an asset.
• Good IT skills and a sound knowledge of MS Office (in particular Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access) are basic requirements.
• Familiarity with a statistical or mathematical software package and related computer programming experience (Stata, Matlab, SAS or equivalent) are important assets.
• Ideally, knowledge of, or experience in, financial instruments, institutions and markets, as well as in statistical methods.
• Knowledge of economic statistics and/or international statistical, accounting or supervisory standards would be important additional assets.
• Familiarity with data analysis and/or data management is an asset.

Behaviour Competences

Successful candidates will have the following behavioural competencies:

• has analytical and quantitative skills, and a proven ability to deliver results and provide innovative solutions to problems;
• communicates effectively, presenting complex issues in a clear and concise manner;
• shares information and supports colleagues in the attainment of common goals;
• examines critically and applies relevant approaches geared towards successful solutions;
• analyses complex data sets from diverse sources.

Duration of contract / Closing date

Traineeships from 3-6 months, with possibility of extension to 1 year subject to individual performance and organisational needs.
Closing date for applications:  9 October 2011

Further information

Applications are to be made in English and submitted using our online application form. An “Applicant Guide” can be downloaded from the “FAQs and Help” page.
The recruitment process may include a telephone interview and a remote testing exercise.
Applicants should also submit a complete record of undergraduate and postgraduate studies (with a list of courses and grades), and letters of recommendation from their supervisors or faculty members. The documents should be uploaded as a single .doc or .pdf file.
For further information, please see the ECB’s Traineeship Rules.
Apply for this internship.