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: F/G (bracket 1 - step 1) full time monthly net salary: €6,909 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. 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. It does this by performing peer benchmarking, assessing compliance with the EBA’s stress test 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 Supervisor in the Horizontal Quality Assurance team you will:

• review 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; 
• develop and refine quality assurance methods based on peer benchmarking, for example;
• identify key drivers of stress test results and vulnerabilities both horizontally and for individual banks;
• conduct horizontal analyses of stress test results and quality assurance findings;
• ensure a level playing field for the stress-testing exercises by providing a holistic, horizontal view across risks, banks and geographies.

The positions offer 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, three or more years of professional experience in stress test data analysis, gained at a regulatory authority, supervisory/competent authority, financial institution, international organisation or top-tier consultancy firm;
• sound programming skills in Python, R, MATLAB, SQL, VBA or SAS;
• a thorough knowledge of stress-testing methodologies; 
• 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:

• 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;
• sound experience in the development, implementation or validation of stress-testing models;
• knowledge of relevant accounting frameworks (e.g. IFRS 9) and regulations (e.g. the Capital Requirements Regulation);
• advanced knowledge of one or more the following programming languages: Python, R, MATLAB, SQL, VBA or 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 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 aware of your strengths and areas for development and know what motivates you to perform at your highest level.

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 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.