VIE ESG & Sustainable Finance Analyst

The core mandate is to support the ESG team as it rolls out Euronext's sustainability strategy across the group. In practice this means monitoring evolving ESG regulation (CSRD, taxonomy, sustainable finance rules) and translating it into usable updates for colleagues and clients, plus tracking what peer exchanges and competitors are doing on the same topics. You would also contribute to Euronext's own sustainability reporting, feeding data and narrative into CSRD disclosures and rating-agency submissions, which connects directly to the SBTi 1.5 degree roadmap. A second strand is community and visibility. The role helps structure and animate the Euronext Sustainable Network, supports the organisation of Euronext Sustainability Week, and takes part in developing the Euronext trading Game, which sits within the Euronext Foundation's scope. Expect a mix of analytical work, event logistics and partnership coordination rather than a single narrow function. Longer term, the goal is to build capital markets for future generations by making ESG part of the product and client conversation, not a side report. Because the team is transversal, the position touches many geographies and business lines, so the boundaries of the role likely shift with the regulatory calendar and with whatever the team prioritises that quarter.

You would get unusually close to the machinery of sustainable finance at a market-infrastructure level. CSRD is one of the heaviest reporting frameworks in Europe, and contributing to Euronext's own disclosure plus its rating-agency submissions gives hands-on exposure to how a listed company actually builds that file, including data collection, gap analysis and drafting. The regulatory monitoring side builds a working knowledge of EU sustainable finance rules that is hard to get from a textbook. There is also a product and client dimension. Euronext's ESG team promotes ESG indices, bonds, derivatives and equities, so a VIE here sees how sustainability labels get attached to financial instruments and how issuers and investors respond. Event and network work (Sustainability Week, the Sustainabable Network, the trading Game) develops stakeholder management, partnership building and public-facing communication skills that complement the analytical base. Mentorship comes mainly from working alongside a small transversal team across multiple countries, and the fact that the posting allows a location change after one year suggests exposure to more than one Euronext office is realistic. Expect informal training, on-the-job learning and a steep curve on financial markets vocabulary more than a formal certification programme.

The posting is explicit that this is aimed at someone in a gap year or at the very end of their studies, from a Tier 1 university, business or engineering school, with strong academic credentials. So the profile is early career, not a seasoned ESG professional: internships or short positions in ESG consulting, an ESG department or sustainable finance are framed as a plus rather than a requirement. On skills, the analytical bar is high. Excellent attention to detail, strong MS Excel and PowerPoint, and a good command of the financial sector matter because much of the work involves digging through regulation, competitor activity and reporting data, then packaging it clearly. English needs to be near-native in written and oral form given the multi-country team and the drafting involved. On temperament, the desired attributes point to someone with team spirit and outside-the-box thinking who genuinely enjoys communication, partnerships and events. That combination matters because the role swings between spreadsheet work and running rooms full of external stakeholders. A pronounced personal interest in sustainability topics is expected, and the ability to stay curious across policy, finance and community work is probably what separates a good fit from a great one.

Because this is a VIE, make your eligibility and timeline unmistakable at the top of your CV: your nationality or EU status relevant to the VIE scheme, your university, your year of study and your availability window. Reviewers screening dozens of student profiles will filter on this first, so removing that uncertainty earns you a longer read. The strongest applications will connect the two halves of the title. Show you can do sustainability analysis (coursework, internship output, a regulation you have tracked, a reporting exercise) and that you understand financial markets (why an exchange matters, what listing an ESG bond involves, familiarity with indices or derivatives). A short note on what you make of CSRD or the SBTi roadmap, written plainly, signals you read beyond the summary line. Given the event and network component, evidence of organising something (a conference, a student initiative, a partnership) is worth as much as another analysis bullet. In interview, prepare to discuss a specific ESG regulation or competitor initiative and what it means for an exchange, and to explain why Athens and a two year VIE fit your plans. Align your answers with the stated values (unity, integrity, agility, energy, accountability) using concrete examples rather than restating them.

The role sits at the intersection of Euronext's own corporate sustainability and its market-facing ESG products. On the corporate side, the team is co-implementing CSRD reporting and delivering the SBTi 1.5 degree roadmap, so a VIE contributes to disclosure quality, emissions pathway tracking and the rating-agency view of Euronext. That is governance and environmental reporting work with a firm deadline structure. On the market side, the focus is promotion of ESG financial products: indices, bonds, derivatives and equities with sustainability characteristics, plus thought leadership on sustainable finance. Supporting the Sustainable Network and Sustainability Week means helping issuers and investors navigate those products, which positions the role close to the demand side of ESG rather than only internal compliance. Social and community dimensions appear through the Euronext Foundation and the trading Game, which is an educational initiative. So the sustainability focus is genuinely broad: regulation and reporting, sustainable finance product strategy, client and stakeholder engagement, and a slice of financial education. How time splits across these probably depends on the regulatory calendar and on which events fall in the VIE's two year window.

The breadth is the first challenge. A single role spanning regulation monitoring, CSRD reporting, event management, a network and an educational game means constant context switching, and a VIE may need to be useful in several areas without being deeply expert in any of them at the start. Prioritising when everything looks urgent is a real skill test. Second, regulation moves faster than internal processes. Tracking ESG rules across multiple European jurisdictions and turning them into qualified updates for colleagues and clients requires reading dense texts and judging relevance, which can be slow, ambiguous work with little immediate feedback. Reporting deadlines add pressure, and CSRD data collection often depends on colleagues in other teams who have their own priorities. Third, there is the structural reality of a two year mobility programme inside a large group, with a possible location change after year one. Building relationships, learning Euronext's internal map and gaining visibility takes time, and just as that investment matures the assignment may move. The flip side is unusual exposure, but it demands adaptability and comfort with being new more than once.

Days likely split between analytical blocks and coordination. A morning could go to reading regulatory updates or competitor announcements and drafting a short brief for the team, then checking reporting data for CSRD or a rating questionnaire in Excel and flagging gaps with the relevant colleague. Because the team is transversal and multi-country, a fair share of time goes to calls with offices in Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Milan or Lisbon. In the run-up to Sustainability Week or a Sustainable Network session, the centre of gravity shifts to logistics and partnerships: confirming speakers, preparing decks, aligning messaging with communications, and chasing details across departments. The trading Game adds a different rhythm, closer to programme design and participant support, often tied to the Foundation's calendar. There is variability by season. Reporting cycles and regulatory milestones create concentrated periods of drafting and data work, while event periods are more outward-facing and collaborative. A VIE should expect a mixed week rather than a fixed daily routine, and to be the person who holds several small threads together.

Two years inside Euronext's ESG department is a strong foundation for a career in sustainable finance. The combination of CSRD reporting experience, regulatory monitoring and exposure to ESG products maps well onto later roles in exchanges, asset managers, banks, rating agencies or ESG consultancies, where people who understand both disclosure and financial instruments are in demand. The visibility that comes with the Sustainable Network, Sustainability Week and the trading Game is a distinct advantage: these are public-facing initiatives where a junior person can build a network of issuers, investors and internal stakeholders quickly. That kind of relationship capital rarely accrues to a purely back-office analyst. Internally, the possibility to change location after one year means the VIE can broaden their view of the group beyond Athens, which can support a lateral move into another team or geography once the programme ends. There is no guaranteed promotion path described, so the realistic growth story is skill accumulation, network and a credible track record of delivery on cross-border ESG projects.

The immediate circle is the ESG team itself, a transversal group working across several Euronext locations, plus colleagues in the geographies where the sustainability strategy and reporting land. Because ESG runs through the organisation, the VIE likely interacts with investor relations, communications, legal and compliance, and the teams responsible for indices and product development. Externally, the Sustainable Network and Sustainability Week bring issuers, investors and partners into regular contact, so there is genuine stakeholder-facing work rather than pure internal support. Rating agencies loom in the background as a demanding audience for Euronext's sustainability reporting, and the Euronext Foundation and its trading Game connect the role to educational partners and participants. A smaller but important set of relationships sits inside the group's own offices and CSD entities in Denmark, Italy, Norway and Portugal, where sustainability data and initiatives are often co-owned. The skill this role asks for most repeatedly is keeping many parties informed without adding noise, in English, across time zones and seniority levels.