TRAINEESHIP POSITIONS

Main Responsibilities

PROFILES DESCRIPTION 

The Consumer Protection Department is responsible for developing and maintaining EIOPA's conduct of business policy and supervision work through:

• advice to the European Commission on legislation including in the field of digital finance and sustainable finance;
• developing technical rules;
• developing guidelines to ensure EU law is applied consistently, including in relation to digital related topics such as differential pricing practices and sustainable finance related ones such greenwashing;
• driving the development of consistent and effective conduct of business supervision across the EU;
• monitoring conduct risks across the EU and working with national supervisors on addressing risks;
• engaging with stakeholders from consumer, industry, academia and national and international authorities.

1. Consumer Protection Profile:

Under the responsibility of the Head of the Consumer Protection Department and the oversight of team leaders, the trainee will be involved in some of the following activities:

• Insurtech: work on financial innovation and market developments related to insurance and pensions from a consumer protection angle;
• Sustainability and greenwashing: work on sustainability-related topics such as greenwashing, consumer sustainability preferences, the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR);
• Thematic investigations: help with thematic reviews related to products or services, reporting on consumer trends and developing key risk indicators to analyse retail conduct risks;
• Research related to consumer protection rules: researching specific topics in the context of IDD, SFDR and PRIIPs, also in various languages, and preparing notes for a variety of stakeholders;
• Carrying out consumer research and behavioural studies: carrying out studies and more broadly research aimed at understanding consumers’ relationship and perception of insurance and pensions products. Research also includes behavioural experiments to test consumers’ actual experience with insurance and pensions products.
• Monitoring conduct risks: work on monitoring and analysing emerging conduct risks, and working with NCAs on mitigating these risks;
• Analysis: analysing information for the use of different Consumer Protection Department reports, including statistics and research results;
• Q&A process: assist with the drafting of Q&A documents;
• Support in external and internal engagements: supporting the preparation of conferences, meetings with external stakeholders and surveys of participants.

The Corporate Affairs Department is responsible for:

• providing support to the EIOPA Chairperson as well as Executive Director on all governance related matters;
• supporting management in reviewing the institution’s strategic direction;
• developing and maintaining contacts with European institutions and coordination with the EBA and ESMA in Paris;
• organising and coordinating meetings of EIOPA's decision making bodies as well as EIOPA’s Stakeholder Groups;
• leading EIOPA’s external and internal communications including press, speeches, website;
• overseeing efficient and timely provision of legal advice and performing legal quality control;

The Corporate Affairs Department is composed of the Institutional Relations, Strategy & Implementation Team, the Communications Team and the Legal Team.

Under the responsibility of the Head of the Corporate Affairs Department and the oversight of a mentor, the trainee will be working on one of the following profiles:

2.1 Institutional Relations, Strategy & Implementation Profile:

• supporting senior management in developing and reviewing the Authority’s  strategic direction;
• supporting the preparation of meetings held by the EIOPA Chairperson and the Executive Director;
• liaising with EU Institutions (COM, EP, Council), the EBA and ESMA and other stakeholders;
• conducting research on EU policy dossiers under negotiation and supporting the development of the Authority’s positions;
• contributing to regular EU policy updates to EIOPA’s management team, including possible effects on EIOPA’s work programme;
• enhancing our dialogue with the two EIOPA Stakeholder Groups;
• any other tasks as required.

2.2 Communications Profile:

• contributing to the development of written content for internal and external communication channels;
• assisting with video productions and graphic design (including infographics), and developing visual and multimedia content for social media and the website;
• supporting press and media relations, including assisting with the preparation of press releases, monitoring and analysing media reporting, helping to organise press conferences; 
• conducting research on topics relevant for the Communications Team including updating databases;
• contributing to the day-to-day work of the Communications Team.

2.3 Legal Profile:

• supporting the day-to-day work of the Legal Team, such as preparing replies to questions on sectoral legislations (e.g. insurance resolution, recovery, digital operational resilience) and assisting in compliance level of internal procedures (e.g. rules on protection of personal data);
• conducting research on subjects relevant for the Legal team including updating databases;
• monitoring and analysing jurisprudence relevant for EIOPA.

The Corporate Support Department is responsible for:

• supporting the Executive Director in the assignment of resources, finances, technology, communication tools, administration and logistics to support the efficient, effective and compliant operational functioning of the Authority;
• developing and implementing strategies in the following areas:
  • Information and Communication Technology: supporting the development, operation and evolution of EIOPA core systems and databases, including all information and communication, and ensuring the coherent and integrated delivery of Information and Communication Technology products and services to the organisation and to National Competent Authorities;
  • Corporate Services: providing cost-effective facilities, logistics, event and meetings management, document management and administrative support to the organisation;
  • Human Resources: providing effective recruitment, training and development, competency management, performance management, compensation, health and safety and personnel administration services to the organisation as well as supporting the implementation of professional standards at EIOPA;
  • Finance & Procurement: facilitating the effective discharge of EIOPA’s governance responsibilities, including preparation, implementation and monitoring of the annual budget and multi-annual business and financing plan;
• overseeing the internal control function:
  • bringing a systematic approach to implement, improve and evaluate the risk management, control system and governance processes at EIOPA;
  • providing the Executive Director and the Management Board with reasonable assurance as to the compliance, effectiveness and efficiency of processes and activities at EIOPA;
  • providing staff trainings, awareness sessions and advice on Internal Control standards;
  • supporting the work of and coordinating the cooperation with the Court of Auditors and Internal Audit Service of the European Commission, as well as with the other ESAs and the EU Audit Network;
• ensuring the security of EIOPA’s personnel, physical and information assets by
  • developing security related policies, procedures and working instructions;
  • enforcing security provisions concerning physical security and investigation of security breaches;
  • coordinating preventive measures as regards the safety of EIOPA Staff, EIOPA information, and EIOPA installations;
  • assessing risks with regard to physical security, the organisation and its personnel, including continuous monitoring;
  • managing the continuity of business operations and disaster recovery planning;
  • promoting security assessment and training.
• fostering and enhancing greening mindset and sustainability horizontally, through the entire EIOPA working structure.

The Corporate Support Department is composed of the Information Technology Unit, the Finance, Procurement and Corporate Services Unit and the Human Resources Unit.

Under the responsibility of the Head of the Corporate Support Department and the oversight of a mentor, the trainee will be working on the following:

3.1 IT Project Management Support Profile

To support EIOPA’s project managers in their day-to-day activities and independently complete certain project tasks. The activities include:

• taking ownership of certain project deliverables and manage them end-to-end;
• supporting the drafting of business and technical requirements documentation;
• supporting user acceptance testing;
• supporting EIOPA project managers in taking minutes, writing reports, scheduling meetings, etc.

3.2 Corporate Services Profile

• assisting with the coordination of meetings and events;
• preparing the relevant statistics and reports;
• supporting the day-to-day work of the Corporate Services team, such as monitoring the mailbox and responding to the inquiries/requests received etc.

3.3 Human Resources Profile

• supporting the learning and development area in analysing the training needs and developing training proposals;
• supporting the implementation of EIOPA competencies per job family in all HR processes;
• supporting the analysis of HR trends at EIOPA based on available data;
• supporting the day-to-day work of the HR Unit, such as monitoring and follow up staff requests, preparing replies to staff requests, recruitment campaigns, etc.

3.4 Procurement Profile

• assisting with the conduct of market research and benchmarking for different procurements;
• analysing procurement documents, identifying potential pitfalls and proposing ways to improve services in the procurement area;
• supporting the day-to-day work of the procurement colleagues, such as monitoring and following the Procurement Inter Agency Network Platform regarding new and ongoing procurement opportunities etc.

3.5 Finance Profile

• participating in the budget planning, forecasting, monitoring and reporting exercise;
• supporting the day-to-day work of the budget and finance colleagues, such as writing reports, creating statistics, proof-reading documents etc.

3.6 Greening and Sustainability Profile

• planning, organising, executing and monitoring activities related to greening and sustainability actions;
• analysing environmental data;
• identifying critical issues and developing options for solution;
• monitoring the implementation of the decisions.

This profile is affiliated to the Office of Senior Management.

The Policy Department is responsible for developing and maintaining EIOPA's policy on insurance and pensions with regard to the prudential supervision, by:

• developing, maintaining and improving
  • advice to the European Commission on legislative measures;
  • technical standards for endorsement;
  • guidelines to promote convergent supervisory practices and consistent application of union law;
  • answers to questions on the regulatory framework.
• coordinating EIOPA’s activities in relation to sustainable finance, including on prudential aspects and relations with relevant international bodies
• contributing to global standard-setting for insurance and pensions, organising EIOPA's influence at all levels of the IAIS as well as in selected other international organisations;
• interacting with and influencing of representatives of industry, policyholders and other stakeholders including (in close cooperation with the Corporate Affairs Department) through EIOPA's stakeholder groups, and engaging in regular regulatory dialogue meetings with non-EEA supervisors;
• developing an impact assessment methodology and providing Impact Assessment analysis and advice, both ex-ante and ex-post;
• contributing to global standard-setting in the area of International Accounting Principles, which are relevant for the insurance and pensions sector;
• monitoring and assessing the comply/or/explain procedure with the National Supervisory Authorities in the area of competence.

The Policy Department is composed by the Insurance Policy team, the Pensions Policy Team, the International and Sustainable Finance Team, and the Impact Assessment Team.

4. Policy Profile

Under the responsibility of the Head of the Policy Department and oversight of a mentor, the trainee will be involved in the following activities:

• analysis of legal instruments such as Directives, guidelines, opinions etc., comparisons and compilation of documents, e.g. after a public consultation;
• researching specific topics in the areas of insurance, pensions, sustainable finance, international issues and carrying out comparative analyses of foreign regulatory regimes in the context of Solvency II, IORP II and International Capital Standards (may include banking standards), also in various languages, and preparing notes for a variety of stakeholders;
• analysing information for the use of different Policy Department reports, including stock exchange data, indices, statistics, academic research results, sustainable finance investment data;
• analysing data including market information and legal texts from different jurisdiction outside of the EU and drafting summary notes;
• creating/drafting insurance policy FAQ documents, for publication on EIOPA intranet site;
• supporting the preparation of conferences, meetings with external stakeholders (such as Roundtables), surveys including assessment summary.

The Risks & Financial Stability Department is responsible for:

• monitoring and analysis of risks affecting the micro-prudential supervision in the fields of insurance and pensions, both at national and European levels, in accordance with the mission statement and annual work programme of EIOPA;
• providing guidance for the monitoring and analysing sources of risk to financial stability in the EU, arising from the macroeconomic developments, financial markets and insurance undertakings as well as IORPs;
• steering the follow-up process on the analysis, e.g. development of recommendations, opinions or mitigating actions;
• updating EIOPA Chair and Executive Director, EIOPA MB and BoS on the potential build-up of risks and vulnerabilities as well as responsive measures;
• managing and ensuring the effective interaction between risk identification, reporting and management processes within EIOPA for the insurance and IORPs sectors;
• contributing to the efficient cooperation between EIOPA, ESMA, EBA and the ESRB as well as NCAs with regard to identification of risks that pose a threat to the EU financial stability.

The Risks and Financial Stability Department is composed of the Crisis Prevention Team, the Financial Stability Team, the Studies and Statistics Team and the Risk Assessments Team.

5. Risk and Financial Stability Profile:

Under the responsibility of the Head of the Risks and Financial Stability Department and the oversight of a mentor, the trainee will be involved in the following activities:

• contributing to thematic studies focused on financial stability and crisis management;
• supporting analysis of market developments and statistical data on insurance and occupational pensions;
• contribute to work related to recovery and resolution of insurance undertakings
• contributing to developing and implementing new analytical tools to support financial stability analysis and assessment;
• any other tasks as required.

The Supervisory Processes Department (SPD) is responsible for:

• promoting supervisory convergence through appropriate initiatives and use of relevant tools, such as EIOPA supervisory handbook to support NCAs in the insurance supervision under Solvency II, supervisory statements, opinions and peer reviews;
• collecting, managing and disseminating the data received by EIOPA, supporting direct supervision by adding value and providing analytics and developing standardised internal analysis tools, including developing Suptech tools;
• developing the methodology and the monthly production of the Solvency II technical information, such as the risk-free interest rate term structures and its associated components of volatility adjustment and fundamental spread, as well as symmetric adjustment for equity;
• implementing the Digital Operational Resilience Act, by contributing to the development of technical standards on the topic and developing the Oversight framework for Critical Third Party Providers in the financial sector (with the sister ESAs – EBA and ESMA).

The Supervisory Processes Department is composed by the Supervisory Convergence Unit (SCU), the Data Analysis and Processes Unit (DAPU).

Under the responsibility of the Head of the Supervisory Processes Department and the oversight of a mentor, the trainee will be involved in the following activities:

6.1 Data Mining and Machine Learning Profile (within DAPU)

Looking for Data scientists and data/algorithms lovers in general to support the development and design of data analysis tools for data quality and supervisory purposes (SupTech) using the European insurance and pensions databases. Depending on the preferences and skills of the trainee, the work will be on one or more of the following areas:

• network analysis, especially on reinsurance networks;
• outlier detection, pattern recognition;
• time series analysis, predictive modelling, forecasting models.

EIOPA is mainly using R, Python and SAS for data mining and machine learning applications.

6.2 Business Intelligence and Data Analytics Profile  (within DAPU)

Looking for Data scientists and data/algorithms lovers in general to support the improvement of EIOPA’s Business Intelligence and Data Analytics framework. Depending on the preferences and skills of the trainee, the work will be on one or more of the following areas:

• data collection, management and dissemination;
• improve data quality in liaison with national competent authorities;
• enhance business intelligence tools’ efficiency and functionality;
• data governance.

EIOPA is mainly using Power BI, SQL, Python, R, Matlab and SAS for data mining and machine learning applications.

6.3 Digital Operational Resilience Profile (within SCU)

Candidates with interest on cyber security, cyber threats and managing cyber risk in general to support the implementation of the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA). Depending on the preferences and skills of the trainee, the work will be on one or more of the following area:

• contribute to the policy develpment of DORA;
• contribute to the establishment of the DORA Oversight framework (to oversee crital third party providers);
• contribute to the implementation of the EIOPA Cyber Underwriting Strategy by further understanding the role of Cyber Underwriting as a cyber risk mitigant and support the further development of such market.

6.4 Supervisory Convergence Profile (within SCU)

Promote a common supervisory culture and consistent supervisory practices across the EU and EEA to ensure a high, effective and consistent level of supervision, safeguarding a similar level of protection to all European policyholders and beneficiaries. Depending on the preferences and skills of the trainee, the work will be on one or more of the following area:

• develop supervisory convergence tools (e.g. Supervisory statement, Opinion) on supervision of Solvency II framework;
• further develop work in the area of the Supervisory Review Process;
• reflecting lessons learned from Solvency II implementation and contributing to the Solvency II review in particular in the area implementation of proportionality;
• contribute to maintaining supervisory reporting fit for purpose for supervision.

6.5 Peer Reviews Profile (within SCU)

Support the peer review of competent authorities process. Depending on the preferences and skills of the trainee, the work will be on one or more of the following area:

• support the whole process of peer reviews and follow-up peer reviews (e.g. administrative support, assessment and comparison of supervisory practices by NCAs, drafting reports or conducting follow up activities of peer reviews);
• support the review of the peer review methodology;
• support in collecting and analysing data such as questionnaires, comments or written feedback;
• improving the use of data visualisation such as graphics and tables.

The Oversight Department is responsible for:

• engaging with National Supervisory Authorities via visits to NCAs and participation to colleges of supervisors to monitor and challenge the application of Solvency II or IORP II and provide them with feedback and technical support to develop high-quality supervisory outcomes and the implementation of a common supervisory culture;
• to support National Authorities via ad hoc national projects, such as Balance Sheet Review and stress tests;
• to coordinate joint supervisory responses to cross-border challenges through cooperation platforms and proto-colleges.
• To run consistency projects in the area of Internal Models and follow-up on supervisory recommendations.

7.1. Oversight Profile

The Oversight Unit is responsible for:

• enhancing the convergence and coherent application of EU law in the insurance and pensions sector and developing the common supervisory culture, by:
  • leading EIOPA’s follow-up on union-wide strategic supervisory priorities;
  • visiting and engaging with National Supervisory Authorities to better understand their supervisory and regulatory frameworks, monitor their application of Solvency II or IORP II and provide them with feedback and technical support to develop high-quality supervisory outcomes;
  • performing continuous desk-based oversight, including analysis of supervisory data, analysis of risk assessment framework and developing risk reports;
  • supporting National Authorities on ad hoc national projects, such as Balance Sheet Review and stress tests;
• advancing the high-quality, consistent and efficient functioning of the Colleges of Supervisors, by engaging with them through meetings and other contacts;
• promoting joint supervisory plans and joint examinations, and fulfilling EIOPA’s full participation rights in colleges, including participation in joint on-site examinations;
• overseeing the functioning of Colleges and providing relevant reports on progress, issues and best practice;
• coordination of cross-border supervision through platform and proto- colleges;

7.2 Internal Models Profile

The Internal Models Team is responsible for fostering quality, consistency and efficiency in the implementation of Solvency II internal models provisions, by:

• establishing and running projects to assess and improve consistency;
• visiting and engaging with National Supervisory Authorities to better understand, monitor and providing feedback on their internal models supervisory approach, as well as to provide technical support to develop high-quality supervisory outcomes;
• promoting the sharing of good practice and sound application of the rules by engaging with technical experts in National Supervisory Authorities;
• participating in joint on-site inspections, visiting National Supervisory Authorities, as well as participating in Colleges of Supervisors where internal model issues are discussed;
• providing technical assistance upon request by NCAs on model changes and new model approvals.