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
31.03.2028
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 2 - step 1) full time monthly net salary: €8,225 plus benefits, for further information see
what we offer.
Role specialisation
Digital Security
Working time
Full time
Place of work
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Closing date
23.11.2026
Your team
You will be part of the Digital Security Services Division in the Directorate General Information Systems. Our Directorate General provides innovative, flexible and secure IT solutions to enable staff from the ECB and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) to carry out their daily tasks. In addition to running and maintaining more than 100 available services, it is also responsible for the IT governance frameworks. Our Division provides security governance, assurance, engineering and operational services to protect the ECB against cyber threats.
In your role as Senior Security Governance and Risk Expert, you will be part of the Security Governance team made up of five digital security experts responsible for ensuring that new technology is adopted in a user-friendly and secure manner. We are hiring for two positions: one focused on supporting the digital euro project, and the other focused on supporting ongoing security governance activities related to ECB and ESCB IT services.
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 Senior Security Governance Expert supporting the digital euro project your will:
•support the implementation of cybersecurity resilience and information security consistent with the ESCB SSM IS Framework;
•design and implement processes for assessing and monitoring cybersecurity risks (including those of third parties);
•perform provider, service and application security analyses and risk assessments;
•provide expert guidance on integrating cybersecurity best practices into digital euro ecosystem frameworks;
•liaise with application development teams to ensure proper controls are in place.
As a Senior Security Governance Expert supporting ECB and ESCB IT services you will:
•support product teams by producing security deliverables (i.e. security requirements, criticality assessments, pre-production security assessments and risk opinions);
•actively contribute to the continuous improvement of the security risk management process and information security framework;
•support third-party cybersecurity risk management process by taking active part in procurements and monitoring the third party risk evolution.
The position offers you excellent opportunities to contribute to important ECB and ESCB projects in the field of security governance and risk 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 equivalent in information technology or another relevant field (see How you can join us for details on degree equivalences);
•in addition to the above, a minimum of seven years’ experience in drafting security requirements and performing information security and operational risk assessments;
•a sound understanding of the relevant ISO and NIST Cybersecurity Framework standards;
•professional experience working with the Information Systems Risk Management methodology and the ESCB Operational Risk Management framework;
•good drafting and communication 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 for the Security Governance Expert supporting the digital euro project:
•a good understanding of retail payments and their security features;
•experience in designing, applying or carrying out assessments of key regulatory and oversight requirements (such as the Digital Operational Resilience Act, the Eurosystem cyber resilience oversight expectations or the CPMI-IOSCO principles for financial market infrastructures).
Desired for the Security Governance Expert supporting ECB and ESCB IT services:
•experience in Eurosystem committee work, ESCB projects and/or collaboration initiatives across institutions (e.g. with national central banks, national competent authorities or other international financial institutions).
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.
Working modalities
We would be happy to discuss a part-time arrangement for this role.
Further information
The formal title for this position will be Senior IT Expert.
The contract(s) offered will be short-term ESCB/IO, the appointment being until 31 March 2028 for the position supporting the digital euro project and until 31 December 2027 for the position supporting ECB and ESCB IT services.
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 contact the hiring manager, Jan-Olaf Droese, at jan-olaf.droese@ecb.europa.eu or the Security Governance Team Lead, Yavor Atanasov, at Yavor.Atanasov@ecb.europa.eu.
Application and selection process
The recruitment process for this position will be conducted remotely. It may 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.
