Career prospects

Career prospects in the Upper Intermediate Service

Whether you come to us as an employee subject to wage negotiations through direct entry or after successfully completing one of our IT degree courses, or as a civil servant after completing a business management diploma specialising in central banking at our University of Applied Sciences in Hachenburg, the Bundesbank can offer you a varied range of employment opportunities.

As a direct entry employee with a diploma from a University of Applied Sciences, a Bachelors or an equivalent qualification, you will usually be a specialist in one of our many different and interesting areas of activity. Assuming responsibility for demanding assignments and/or projects and staff will open up interesting career opportunities for you.

After completing our IT degree courses in business informatics and information technology, you will be able to take on demanding IT development or systems engineering tasks. In addition to broadening your area of responsibility, managing IT projects and staff will open up new career prospects in your specialist area.

School-leavers with A-levels (Fachabitur/Abitur) who, as junior civil servants, have successfully completed a business management bachelor's degree in central banking at our University of Applied Sciences in Hachenburg can work as generalists in all of the Bundesbank’s areas of activity and, thus, enjoy a highly varied career. You can take on interesting operational business duties (for example, in payment transactions or banking supervision) in one of the Bundesbank’s Regional Offices or branches or deal independently with policy issues at our Central Office. In the course of your further career, you will have the opportunity to gain management experience as the head of work units.

Induction course

In addition to participating in an induction day, you will - as a direct entry employee - be given the opportunity to take part in the three-week induction course entitled “Das Haus”, which is held every six months at our Training Centre in Eltville am Rhein. During this course, you will gain an overview of all the Bundesbank’s areas of activity and its organisational structure through presentations, discussions, workshops and independent project work. This opportunity to meet other newcomers to the Bank and representatives of the Bank’s various departments is not least intended to help you to build up a network of professional and social contacts.

We want you to feel at home and identify with the Deutsche Bundesbank!

Remuneration / pay

Remuneration at the Bundesbank is in accordance with the applicable regulations governing public-sector employment.

As an employee, your salary is based on the wage agreement for the public sector (Tarifvertrag für den öffentlichen Dienst) and the supplementary regulations. In addition, we provide a bank allowance. The amount of the bank allowance depends on whether you work for our Central Office or for one of our Regional Offices. For example, if you take up a position in the Central Office, your annual starting wage would be about €30,084 (gross). After one year, your salary would increase by 11% to around €33,354 (gross) under the wage agreement. Direct-entry employees with relevant professional experience may be assigned to a higher level on the pay scale when starting their employment. During the course of your career, your pay would develop in relation to your duties and your individual performance.

As a Bundesbank official, your pay is based on the Federal Civil Service Remuneration Act (Bundesbesoldungsgesetz). In addition, we provide a bank allowance. The amount of the bank allowance depends on whether you work for our Central Office or for one of our Regional Offices. For example, a 26-year old, unmarried official who has completed a business management degree – specialising in central banking – at our University of Applied Sciences would initially receive about €28,691 per year (gross) for a position in the Central Office. As civil servants are not obliged to make social security contributions, their net wages are higher than those of salaried employees with the same gross income. During the course of your career, your salary would develop, in particular, in relation to your duties and your individual performance.

International opportunities

Would you like to work internationally? After an induction period, you will, in principle, have an opportunity to accept international assignments. There are Bundesbank staff in many international bodies and working groups - for example, at the European Central Bank (ECB), the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Our staff can also be seconded for longer periods of time (usually two to three years) to international organisations abroad. Furthermore, under certain conditions, we offer training schemes for acquiring international skills, in the course of which you work for a short time (usually two to six months) for an international organisation in Germany or abroad to gain new experience.

Further training

We offer a wide range of further training options, which are specially tailored to your needs.

Furthermore, junior members of staff in the Upper Intermediate Service can take part in a two-year Professional Enhancement Group to strengthen their methodological, analytical and social skills. The focus here is on active participation by means of seminars, presentations and group exercises.

Promotion prospects

In principle, the Bundesbank gives particularly skilled and qualified staff in the Upper Intermediate Service the opportunity to advance to the Higher Service.