Lead Supervisors (ESCB/IO) – 2025 EU-wide Stress Tests

General Information

• Type of contract: Short-term contract, which may be extended to up to 36 months subject to individual performance and organisational needs
• Contract end date: 31.07.2025
• Who can apply?: EU nationals working for national central banks of the ESCB, international governmental organisations or other employers performing central banking or banking supervision tasks within the framework of the Eurosystem
• Salary: H (bracket 1 - step 1) full time monthly net salary: €9,462 plus benefits, for further information see
• Role specialisation: General Banking Supervision
• Working time: Full time
• Place of work: Frankfurt am Main, Germany
• Closing date: 08.09.2024

Your team

You will be part of the Stress Test Experts Division in the Directorate General Horizontal Line Supervision. Our Division has around 40 staff providing scenario-based and sensitivity stress-testing analysis to the Joint Supervisory Teams (JSTs). We coordinate and implement the ECB’s contribution to the EU-wide stress tests initiated  by the European Banking Authority (EBA) and run the ECB’s regular annual stress tests as well as its biennial thematic stress tests. We are currently preparing for the EU-wide stress tests to be conducted in the first half of 2025. 

We are seeking applicants to fill a number of positions in the Horizontal Quality Assurance team within the Stress Test Experts Division. The team  is responsible for conducting supervisory quality assurance on banks’ bottom-up projections. This is done by performing peer benchmarking, assessing compliance with the EBA’s stress-testing methodology, and conducting transversal analyses aimed at identifying and reporting key drivers of the stress test results and supporting overall stress test quality assurance.

The Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) is the system of banking supervision in Europe. It comprises the ECB and the national supervisory authorities of the participating countries.

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 Lead Supervisor, you will assume a senior role in the Horizontal Quality Assurance team, focusing on data quality, methodological compliance and peer benchmarking for one or more risks to capital. 

This may include:

• reviewing the data quality and methodological compliance of banks’ submissions in a specific risk area (e.g. credit risk, market risk or operational risk), ensuring that such submissions are sufficiently conservative;
• providing advice on the application of stress testing methodologies as well as the relevant regulation and accounting frameworks (e.g. the Capital Requirements Regulation or IFRS 9);
• helping to build a strong team of experts, together with the Division’s management and team leads, and acting as a reference point and mentor for the team;
• working closely with other teams such as the JSTs and the ECB’s top-down stress test team;
• providing input and preparing materials to support the decision-making process and representing the Division in internal and external meetings.

The position offers you a unique opportunity to contribute to financial stability within Europe and learn from some of the leading experts in the field of microprudential stress testing and policy impact assessment. 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 master’s degree or equivalent in economics, finance, business administration, accountancy, statistics, econometrics, mathematics, physics, engineering or another relevant field (see How you can join us for details on degree equivalences);
• in addition to the above, five or more years of professional experience in the field of stress test data analysis gained at a regulatory authority, supervisory authority, financial institution, international organisation or top-tier consultancy firm;
• professional experience in coordinating and mentoring a team of highly qualified staff; 
• a thorough knowledge of stress-testing methodologies and excellent analytical capabilities;
• professional experience in the quality assurance of banks’ bottom-up stress test calculations, peer benchmarking, horizontal data analysis, data processing and preparing reports using databases;
• advanced knowledge of relevant accounting frameworks (e.g. IFRS 9) and regulations (e.g. the Capital Requirements Regulation);
• sound programming skills in Python, R, MATLAB, SQL, VBA or SAS;
• 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 the development, implementation and/or validation of stress-testing models; 
• advanced knowledge of one or more the following programming languages: Python, R, MATLAB, SQL, VBA, SAS;
• advanced knowledge of Tableau;
• prior experience in EBA EU-wide and SSM stress test exercises.

You engage collaboratively with others. You pursue team goals and learn willingly from other people’s diverse perspectives. You signal any need for change by explaining it and proposing alternative solutions. You analyse complex information effectively and can evaluate different views to arrive at solutions. You know and anticipate stakeholder needs. You are skilled at encouraging people to develop their abilities and are able to build up high-performing teams.

You are motivated to be part of our team and to develop and use your skills and competencies to achieve the aims of this position. You are highly motivated to guide teams in their daily work and support their professional development.

Working modalities

We would be happy to discuss a part-time arrangement for this role.

On-site presence in the ECB’s Frankfurt headquarters may be required for selected weeks during certain key phases of the project.

Further information

The contract(s) offered will be short-term ESCB/IO, the appointment being for six to eight months as of the exact starting date of the selected person, extendable to up to 36 months. Candidates must have a contract of employment with their home institution for a period of at least one year beyond the duration of the ECB contract being offered.

For additional information on this specific vacancy, you can speak to the hiring manager, Christoffer Kok, on +49 173 254 7734 7734 between 15:00 and 16:00 on Monday 29 July and between 11:00 and 12:00 on Tuesday 20 August.

Application and selection process

The recruitment process for this position will be conducted remotely. It will include an interview. 

If you are not selected for this position but are still considered suitable, you will be placed on a reserve list (see step 4 of How we hire), from which you might be considered for similar positions within the ECB.

Find out how to apply for a position at the ECB. 

Read more about how you can join us.