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 26.09.2025
Your team
You will be part of the Legislation Division in the Directorate General Legal Services. Our Division is responsible for preparing the ECB’s legal acts in the official languages of the EU, reviewing legal texts for legal, linguistic and terminological consistency and maintaining a legal terminology database.
In your role as a trainee, you will be part of a team of 40 members of staff and will work closely with other relevant ECB business areas in all of the ECB’s fields of competence.
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 Lawyer-Linguist with Italian as your main language, you will:
- translate draft ECB legal acts and other legal documents from English into Italian;
- revise Italian translations of ECB legal acts and other legal documents;
- translate legal texts from Italian into English for internal working purposes, and revise translations from Italian into English of national laws and other legal documents;
- contribute to the drafting of ECB legal acts;
- carry out legal research related to legislative drafting and in areas relevant to the ECB’s activities as a central bank and a banking supervisor;
- participate in the Division’s projects related to the development of the lawyer-linguist function, knowledge management, use of technology, etc.;
- support the Division in conducting procurement procedures under Article 35 of the ECB Procurement Decision and in ensuring that all processes are carried out efficiently and in full compliance with ECB procurement rules;
- assist in various contract management tasks;
- contribute, as required, to the work of the Division as a whole.
The traineeship offers you excellent opportunities to contribute to the quality of ECB legal acts and to participate in the Division’s projects related to procurement and contract management. 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 higher in Italian law awarded by an Italian university;
- a good knowledge of the MS Office package;
- a mastery-level (C2) command of Italian and an advanced (C1) command of English, according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
Desired:
- a good knowledge of EU law;
- a basic knowledge of EU and Italian banking and financial law;
- experience in legal translation;
- an intermediate (B1) command of at least one other official language of the EU, according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages;
- a demonstrable interest in procurement law;
- knowledge and understanding of the EU procurement rules, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Data Protection Regulation for EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies (EUDPR).
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.
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.
