The European Central Bank Hiring for Accounting Analysts Job at Frankfurt am Main Full Time

You will be part of the Accounting Section in the Financial Accounting and Reporting Division of the Directorate Finance. The Directorate has approximately 100 staff providing financial reporting, accounting, procurement, budgeting and controlling services within the ECB. We are currently seeking to fill several Accounting Analyst positions.

In the Accounting Section, we process incoming and outgoing invoices, deal with VAT and other tax matters, maintain the bank’s fixed asset accounts, levy fees on supervised credit institutions, accommodate payroll and pension accounting and perform other financial accounting tasks. This includes the closing of the corresponding accounts at year-end and contributing to the disclosures required for the ECB’s annual accounts preparation process. We look to constantly improve measures and procedures in all these areas, moving away from manual processing towards automation and digitalisation.

In your role as Accounting Analyst, you will be working in one of the following two teams:

• the Accounts Payable Team, which focuses on processing invoices from suppliers and other administrative payments to be made by the ECB;
• the Accounts Receivable Team, which focuses on levying fees on supervised credit institutions, raising reimbursement requests to national central banks (NCBs) in relation to ESCB cost sharing initiatives, conducting HR-related accounting and processing payments.

Although you will be allocated to one of the teams for a period of time, we would emphasise the importance of transversal knowledge and skills that will enable you to work across the teams as required. Moreover, we expect you to be interested in continuously improving your skills and in establishing good collaboration with your team members and our stakeholders.

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.

As an Accounting Analyst you will run day-to-day accounting operations relevant to accounts payable, accounts receivable, fixed assets, payroll, pensions and year-end procedures. You will support management and colleagues by performing financial accounting operations such as:

• conducting accounting and payment-related operations;
• analysing complex accounting scenarios;
• reviewing and improving accounting processes and procedures;
• providing accounting support to external stakeholders and ECB business areas;
• reconciling accounting data and performing regular accounting checks;
• supporting the analysis and presentation of accounting data for decision-making purposes;
• contributing to the implementation of system changes, including the drafting of user requirements and undertaking testing activities;
• training newcomers and supporting colleagues.

For this role we are seeking candidates who demonstrate the potential for growth, and we will support the selected candidates in developing the required knowledge, skills and competencies.

The position offers excellent opportunities for using ECB SAP components relevant to financial accounting and for contributing to the system’s smooth operation and enhancement from a financial accounting perspective.

You will be part of a multicultural team that strives for continuous innovation to make a positive impact on our organisation and indirectly on the lives of European citizens.

Essential:

• a bachelor’s degree or equivalent in accounting, finance, business administration or another relevant field (click here for details on degree equivalences), or a relevant chartered accountant or certified public accountant qualification, e.g. ACA (ICAEW), ACCA or CPA;
• in addition, a minimum of three years of relevant professional experience in financial accounting (e.g. accounts receivable, accounts payable, fixed assets, general ledger, VAT and other taxes);
• relevant experience with SAP or a similar enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, predominantly with the financial accounting modules;
• proven knowledge of accounting operations and processes in one or more areas relevant to accounting, e.g. accounts payable, administrative payments or accounts receivable, customer accounts monitoring and debt collection, as well as the corresponding internal control procedures;
• an advanced knowledge of MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint;
• 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 intermediate level (B1) of German;
• knowledge of the procure-to-pay (P2P) process.

You engage collaboratively with others. You pursue team goals and learn willingly from other people’s diverse perspectives, taking the initiative to constantly widen your expertise and knowledge. 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 meet the aims of this position.

One of the contracts will be convertible into a permanent contract after three years, subject to individual performance and organisational needs.

Some of the contracts offered will be fixed-term, the appointment being for 12 months from the exact starting date of the person selected.

Temporary appointments may be extended or made permanent, subject to organisational needs and budgetary constraints. This may result in a staff member with a non-convertible fixed-term contract being offered a convertible contract under the ECB Conditions of Employment.

For additional information on this specific vacancy, you can speak to the hiring manager, Heiko Nordhausen, on +49 (0) 69 1344 6295 or contact him at [email protected]

The recruitment process for this position will be conducted remotely. It will include a written exercise 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 European Central Bank. Read more about joining us.