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
31.12.2027
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: €10,223 plus benefits, for further information see
what we offer.
Working time
Full time
Place of work
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Closing date
31.08.2026
Your team
You will be part of the Operational Risk and Business Continuity Management Section in the Directorate Risk Management. Our Directorate develops and maintains the financial risk management frameworks that govern the Eurosystem’s monetary policy operations and the ECB’s investment operations. It also ensures sound practices are followed to help deliver operational resilience at the ECB.
Our Section plays a second line role in the area of non-financial risk and resilience management. This entails developing and maintaining the ECB’s policy frameworks for operational risk management (ORM), business continuity management (BCM) and critical incident management (CIM). It also involves overseeing the implementation of these frameworks and providing business areas with methodological support on all matters related to non-financial risk and operational resilience.
To this end, we produce comprehensive risk and resilience reports, coordinate bank-wide risk assessment updates and associated risk acceptance procedures, conduct business impact and threat analyses, and oversee business continuity testing activities. In addition, we monitor and report on the status of risk mitigation measures, as well as participate in handling and following up on high-impact incidents at the ECB. We also organise CIM information sessions and act as a CIM support team in crisis situations.
The current focus of our work is on managing emerging risks and threats, by building up cyber, third-party and quantum resilience, and on exploring ways to support the digital transformation and use of artificial intelligence at the ECB from a second line perspective. We are also in the process of introducing a new governance risk and compliance tool, at both the ECB and the Eurosystem level. To strengthen the resilience of the Eurosystem and European banking supervision as a whole, we collaborate with colleagues from national central banks on providing operational resilience services and ensuring comprehensive resilience testing at the system level.
In your role as Lead Operational Resilience Expert, you will work closely with counterparts across various business areas and hierarchical levels. This includes risk coordinators, business continuity leaders and members of the CIM team, as well as with peers from national central banks and national competent authorities.
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 Operational Resilience Expert (ESCB IO), you will:
- contribute to further developing, implementing and maintaining the ECB’s ORM, BCM and CIM frameworks, including those applicable at the level of the Eurosystem, the European System of Central Banks and European banking supervision;
- facilitate exercises to maintain/update the holistic risk profile of the ECB and the Eurosystem, and conduct business impact and threat analyses together with the associated reporting;
- deliver ORM/BCM resilience training and testing, and assist in carrying out CIM information sessions;
- contribute to deploying, testing, operating and maintaining software applications and tools, such as the governance risk and compliance tool or the alert and mobilisation tool;
- contribute to the review and potential renewal of the ECB’s recovery site.
The position offers you excellent opportunities to gain hands-on experience of operations from a second line perspective. 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 business administration, operational risk, business continuity, crisis management, resilience, IT security, audit or another relevant field (see How you can join us for details on degree equivalences);
- in addition to the above, a minimum of six years or more at the second line in the fields of non-financial risk management, business continuity, critical incident management and/or resilience management;
- in-depth knowledge of best practices in non-financial risk and resilience management, together with a good understanding of regulatory developments affecting the financial industry;
- a proven track record of experience in developing and promoting resilience frameworks (comprising policy, principles, procedures, methodological approaches and tools), as well as project management experience and experience in managing non-IT changes;
- good presentation skills;
- 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:
- practical experience in the fields of cyber, third-party and/or quantum resilience, and in the use of artificial intelligence in second line operations.
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, to develop and use your skills and competencies to achieve the aims of this position. 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.
Further information
The contract offered will be short-term ESCB/IO, the appointment being for 12 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.
Application and selection process
The recruitment process for this position will be conducted remotely. It will include 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.
Read more about how you can join us.
