Economist Graduate Programme 2026

General Information
Type of contract
Two-year fixed-term contract starting on 1 September. It may be extended for one additional year upon successful completion of the programme.

Who can apply?
EU nationals

Salary
E/F (bracket 1 - step 1) full time monthly net salary: €4,869 plus benefits, for further information see what we offer .

Working time
Full time

Place of work
Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Closing date

Your team
We are looking for up to four highly talented recent graduates with postgraduate degrees, preferably PhDs, for the ECB's Graduate Programme in Economics.

We will give you a challenging two-year assignment in one business area matched to your fields of expertise, your interests – which you can indicate during the application process – and our organisational needs. During the two-year assignment you will spend a six-month period in the Directorate General Research.

Your successful completion of the programme will be assessed by the Graduate Programme Committee on the basis of performance reviews and your project paper, which you will prepare and submit before the end of the second year.

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
The Graduate Programme offers you excellent development opportunities, valuable experience and an insight into the ECB's tasks and working methods. It could be your starting point for an exciting career at the ECB.

Your assignments can be in the following business areas at the ECB: Economics, Monetary Policy, International & European Relations, Macroprudential Policy & Financial Stability and Research. In these areas we perform analytical and policy work in the field of economics, as well as working to optimise the analytical framework and tools. We lay the groundwork for policy decisions and communications by providing high-quality analysis and advice. We contribute to the intellectual leadership of the ECB, represent the ECB in external fora and maintain productive relationships with stakeholders.

We will assign you an experienced colleague as a mentor to provide you with support, advice and guidance on participating successfully in the programme. You will also get a tailor-made training programme that includes a number of in-house and external training opportunities.

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 and a PhD in Economics or a related field completed between 1 February 2024 and 6 January 2026; alternatively you may be due to complete your PhD by the end of 2026;
• 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 macroeconomics, international economics, monetary economics and/or international finance, including banking, financial markets and financial intermediation;
• advanced knowledge of MS Office applications, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint;
• advanced knowledge of time series or panel econometrics;
• strong programming skills, especially experience with MATLAB, STATA, Python and R.

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 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 motivated to be a part of our team and to use your skills and competencies to achieve the objectives of this position.

Working modalities
This is a two-year fixed-term contract which we aim to start from 1 September 2026 and to last until 31 August 2028. It may be extended for one additional year upon successful completion of the programme.

While on the Graduate Programme you can apply for vacancies that are advertised both internally and externally. Upon successful completion of the programme and subject to business needs, participants are eligible to be directly appointed to positions as Economists.

Further information
You can find additional information on the Graduate Programme on our website .

Application and selection process
The recruitment process for this position will be conducted remotely. It will include a written exercise, a presentation and 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.