Traineeship: Central Procurement (EU Nationals Only)

Job Description

Type of contract: Traineeship

Who can apply?: EU nationals eligible for our traineeship programme

Grant: The trainee grant is €1,170 per month plus an accommodation allowance (see further information section)

Working time: Full time

Duration: Initial traineeship of 6 months, with a possible extension to up to 12 months in total.

Place of work: Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Closing date: 13.10.2025

Your team

You will be part of the Central Procurement Division in the Directorate Finance. Our Directorate has around 100 staff responsible for the financial reporting of the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Eurosystem, including the ECB’s financial and management accounting services and the Eurosystem’s monetary income allocation scheme. We also lay the groundwork for the ECB’s strategic and operational planning, including its annual budget.

In your role as trainee, you will be part of a division of 25 members of staff responsible for ensuring the success of ECB procurement operations by providing central coordination, oversight, advice and support services. We also develop and implement the procedural frameworks that govern the planning, execution and reporting of procurement at the ECB.

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 trainee in the Central Procurement Division, you will:

• help to conduct public procurement operations (see our list of current tenders) by providing general administrative support and performing related tasks, including in SAP Ariba, such as creating events and communicating with tenderers, as well as supporting the procurement committees with administrative tasks from the initiation of a tender procedure until contract compilation;

• assist with the collection, maintenance, cleaning, analysis and processing of procurement data, and compile and analyse statistical data;

• assist with the development and revision of internal processes, methodologies and rules relating to the Division’s data management;

• help with communications on the Division’s activities and regular or ad hoc reporting to internal and external stakeholders;

• contribute to the roll-out of new IT procurement tools or the improvement of existing tools, for example by performing testing and developing or enhancing guidelines;

• contribute to initiatives aimed at improving the efficiency of the team, and assist with reporting/analytics and the automation of existing processes, leveraging robotic process automation (RPA) and AI applications and tools as appropriate.

This traineeship will offer excellent opportunities to gain insight into how the ECB works, acquire hands-on experience in the area of finance and procurement, and put your theoretical knowledge into practice. 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 with a focus on law, finance, business or public administration, economics or another relevant field;
  • a general interest in European affairs, central banking and other matters of relevance to the ECB;
  • a good knowledge of the MS Office package;
  • advanced knowledge and practical experience of using Excel (or other tools) for data management and analysis;
  • an advanced (C1) command of English and at least 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
  • user knowledge of enterprise resource planning systems such as SAP;
  • user knowledge of reporting/analytics and/or RPA and AI tools.

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. Other details on the conditions applicable to traineeships at the ECB can be found on our website. For additional information on this specific vacancy, you can speak to Fernanda Fiusa on +49 (0)69 1344 5544 between 10:00 and 11:00 on 1 October or 8 October 2025.

Application and selection process: The recruitment process for this position will include a pre-recorded video interview in the pre selection phase and – if you are invited to participate in the subsequent selection phase – an online interview. Further information on how to apply is available on our website. If you are not selected for this position but are still considered suitable, you will be placed on a reserve list for 12 months from the closing date for applications, from which you might be considered for other traineeship positions within the ECB.

Deadline for Applications: October 13, 2025

“While we try our best to keep our information updated, the closing date of the actual job source may be changed by the recruiter without prior notice. With this, please make sure to check the official job link when submitting your application. Thank you.”

About the Organization

The ECB is the central bank for Europe's single currency, the euro. The ECB’s main task is to maintain the euro's purchasing power and thus price stability in the euro area. The euro area comprises the 16 European Union countries that have introduced the euro since 1999.