European Central Bank Traineeship in the Business Cycle Analysis Division

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 (see further information section)
Working time Full time
Place of work Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Closing date 11.02.2026

Your team
You will be part of the Business Cycle Analysis Division in the Directorate General Economics. Our Directorate General assesses and forecasts economic developments and provides policy advice on topical economic issues relevant to the euro area economy. Our analysis is published in the ECB’s Economic Bulletin, Occasional Paper Series and Working Paper Series and The ECB Blog. 

The Business Cycle Analysis Division analyses and forecasts real macroeconomic developments in the largest euro area countries and the euro area as a whole. This involves monitoring business cycles, analysing the main domestic demand components, and developing innovative economic and forecasting tools using state-of-the-art AI techniques, including machine learning, text mining and big data processing. The Division also conducts two major ECB surveys, the Consumer Expectations Survey (CES) and Corporate Telephone Survey (CTS), which play an important role in gaining deeper insights into the behaviour and dynamics of euro area households and firms. 

The current analytical work of the Division relates to:

• understanding the implications monetary policy transmission, supply and demand conditions and uncertainty have for business cycle dynamics, as well as for households’ and firms’ spending, investment and saving decisions;
• developing nowcasting and short-term forecasting tools for economic activity, using state-of-the-art AI techniques;
• investigating the heterogeneity of households and firms in driving aggregate economic fluctuations, the impact of recent crises on the behaviour of households and firms, and the varying effects of monetary and fiscal policies;
• improving forecasting for the euro area and the largest euro area economies, including scenario analysis. 

In your role as a trainee, you will be part of either the Data Support team or the CES team, both of which have a key function in the Division. The Data Support team is heavily involved in the policy process, including the production of high-quality charts and other inputs to the Division’s regular analysis, as well as the preparation of presentations for Executive Board members and the Directorate General’s senior management. The team is also responsible for maintaining and enhancing the Division’s data infrastructure and tools. The CES team is responsible for the smooth functioning and continuous improvement of the Consumer Expectations Survey, including the regular production of key indicators and publications, and questionnaire design and development. A large part of the team’s work involves maintaining and enhancing the Division’s data infrastructure, visualisation tools and documentation. The team also regularly provides policy-relevant insights on the saving and consumption behaviour of euro area consumers by analysing CES microdata.

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:

• support the Division with policy-relevant assignments, working closely with other members of your team and the Division’s economists;
• prepare tables and charts for internal and external reports, and presentations for Executive Board members and the Directorate General’s senior management in collaboration with other business areas;
• maintain and enhance the Division’s data infrastructure, including processing, consolidating and transforming datasets, maintaining and developing databases and visualisation tools and assisting in automating and adapting regular work processes;
• contribute to the formulation of policy advice to support policymakers and the Division’s broader economic assessments, using data analytics and statistical and econometric tools;
• contribute to the improvement of analytical, econometric and forecasting tools. 

The traineeship offers you excellent opportunities to develop your quantitative skills, contribute to analytical tasks and work with experienced economists on topical economic issues. It also provides you with a unique opportunity to gain insights into economic analysis and policy decision-making in a central bank. 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 economics, statistics, data science or another relevant field;
• practical experience of working with databases, including data quality validation, and preparing charts and tables for reports and presentations;
• practical experience of working with statistical/econometric software such as Stata, Python, R, EViews and/or MATLAB;
• an interest in supporting policy advice through applied economic analysis;
• a good knowledge of the MS Office package, particularly Excel and PowerPoint;
• 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 master’s degree in economics, statistics, data science or another relevant field;
• a broad knowledge of macroeconomics;
• a solid background in econometrics (in particular time series econometrics, the econometrics of panel data and microeconometrics) or statistics; 
• experience in working with relational databases, using SQL and/or other big data analytics tools;
• experience in using and/or developing visualisation tools, such as R Shiny, Shiny for Python and/or Plotly/Dash;
• knowledge of, or experience in, data science (for example text analysis, machine learning or other advanced machine learning techniques);
• a good understanding of economic issues related to the household and corporate sectors, the business cycle and the current macroeconomic climate.

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 3 and 6 months, with a possible extension to up to 12 months in total. The starting dates will be from May 2026. 

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 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.