General Information
Type of contract
Traineeship
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
05.10.2026
Your team
You will be part of the Language Services Division in the Directorate General Communications. Our Division provides translation, editing, proofreading, language technology and terminology services in all EU languages, as well as offering advice on linguistic matters.
In your role as a trainee, you will join the Language Technology and Terminology team, which consists of seven members of staff responsible for providing expert support for the computer-assisted translation software used at the ECB, tailoring the tools to the workflows of the translators and lawyer-linguists and keeping abreast of developments in the field of language technology and artificial intelligence (AI). Our team’s language technology work involves designing, managing and coordinating the expansion of the ECB’s databases of central banking and banking supervision terminology in all official EU languages. We also work closely with the ECB’s publications and information systems teams.
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 Language Technologist/Terminologist you will:
- support the testing of language technology (e.g. computer-assisted translation tools and translation management software) and customisations prior to their roll-out at the ECB;
- prepare and check end-user guides and documentation;
- perform translation memory maintenance tasks;
- help to assess the suitability of generative AI for linguistic tasks at the ECB;
- help prepare bilingual data to train a domain-specific machine translation engine;
- research terminology and create termbase entries in a MultiTerm database;
- contribute to other activities and projects carried out by the Language Technology and Terminology team.
The traineeship offers you excellent opportunities to gain practical insights into the work of a language services department and, in particular, a language technology and terminology team in a multilingual European institution. 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 bachelor’s degree or higher in language technology, terminology, translation studies, computational linguistics or another relevant field;
- a good knowledge of and practical experience with terminology management and translation memory software packages, such as the RWS Trados suite;
- practical experience with machine translation software and AI in the field of translation and editing, as well as good prompting skills and experience with large language models;
- advanced knowledge of the MS Office package;
- 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:
- an interest in financial and economic affairs or banking supervision.
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 six 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.
For additional information on this specific vacancy, you can speak to Catherine Lane on +49 (0)69 1344 7925 between 15:00 and 16:00 on Wednesday, 23 September.
Application and selection process
The recruitment process for this position will include 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.
