Traineeship in Legal Services

Job Description

General Information

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

Working time: Full time

Place of work: Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Closing date: 24.09.2025

Your team

You will be part of the Directorate General Legal Services. Our Directorate General comprises about 160 lawyers from the 27 EU Member States. We advise on all legal aspects of the regulatory, contractual and institutional framework of the ECB, the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and the Single Supervisory Mechanism. We draft legal instruments and address questions relating to the interpretation of the Treaties establishing the European Union. We also prepare the ECB’s opinions on draft EU and national legislation and contribute to the definition of the ECB’s legal position with regards to EU institutions and Member States, and in international fora.

In your role as a trainee, you will be assigned to work in the Institutional Law Division, the Supervisory Law Division or the Financial Law Division.

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 you will carry out research and prepare legal advice in close collaboration with experienced legal counsels.

As a trainee in the Institutional Law Division, you will:

• help prepare legal advice on questions relating to central banking law, the ECB’s privileges and immunities, EU law (in particular institutional law, administrative law, all aspects of ESCB and Eurosystem governance and EU civil service law), contracts (including non-financial contracts) and procurement law;
• handle legal issues concerning accounting, auditing, taxation, euro banknotes and intellectual property.

As a trainee in the Financial Law Division, you will:

• help prepare legal advice and legal acts relating to monetary policy and monetary policy measures, market operations, financial market infrastructures (including TARGET2 and TARGET2-Securities), the oversight of payment and settlement systems, statistics, financial services legislation (including on sustainable finance), financial stability and the economic governance framework.

As a trainee in the Supervisory Law Division, you will:

• help prepare legal advice on matters relating to the prudential supervision of credit institutions, such as capital and liquidity requirements, common procedures (granting authorisations, withdrawing licences and authorising the acquisition of qualifying holdings), fit and proper assessments, supervisory reporting, crisis management and enforcement and sanctions;
• help prepare legal advice relating to the functioning of the European banking union, with particular reference to the SSM Regulation and its supporting legal framework.

The traineeship offers you excellent opportunities to gain experience in providing legal assistance on matters relating to institutional, financial or supervisory law in an EU context and to put into practice the knowledge and skills you have acquired during your studies. Working with more experienced colleagues, you will have the chance to expand your skills and develop as a professional. 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 in law obtained in an EU Member State;
• an awareness of, and interest in, the role and functioning of the ECB, the European System of Central Banks, the Economic and Monetary Union and European banking supervision;
• a good knowledge of the MS Office package;
• 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:

• a sound knowledge of EU law (e.g. EU institutional and administrative law, or the legal framework of the Economic and Monetary Union), contract and procurement law, financial law, supervisory law or other fields of law directly relevant to the work of at least one of the three divisions mentioned above;
• specialisation, experience or research in fields of law relevant to the work of at least one of the three divisions;
• an intermediate (B2) or higher command of French and/or German, according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

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 between three and six months, with a possible extension to up to 12 months in total. The earliest starting date will be in early 2026, although a later starting date in 2026 may be agreed with successful candidates, depending on the candidate’s availability and business needs.

Other details on the conditions applicable to traineeships at the ECB can be found on our website.

Application and selection process

The recruitment process for this position will include a remote written exercise 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.

Closing date: 24.09.2025

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.