A319 First Officer reported an engine failure in flight. The flight crew ran the QRH and ECAM actions; then performed an in-flight shut down of the affected engine and returned to the departure airport.

Narrative

Departed Runway XX left at ZZZZ. First Officer's leg normal takeoff. Radar vectors to the north; assigned to climb to flight level 300. Passing 26;000 ft. heard a loud rumbling. FO stated my aircraft. Leveled the aircraft off just above 27;000 ft. Did global assessment of the instruments. ECAM read; engine; vibration; high. First step says throttle idle. As we were confirming the number one throttle; the ECAM changed to engine shut down. Numerous distractions at this point; including ATC calling and calls from the flight attendants. Got radar vectors back toward the field and a descent to 20;000 ft. Ran the procedure. Elected not to attempt a restart even though we had windmilling RPM; good oil quantity; no vibration and a very low EGT. ECAM actions complete. Ran the QRH engine shut down checklist. I proceeded to the non-routine landing considerations while the FO set up for the VOR Runway XXL at ZZZZ. Coordinated with ATC to have Airport Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF) standing by. Briefed the flight attendants on the passengers that we would be returning to ZZZZ; and the safety vehicles would follow us to the gate. Briefed and flew the XXL at ZZZZ. Briefed that we would be slightly overweight at landing and I would monitor my decent rate a touchdown. We landed approximately 2;500 pounds overweight. Normal landing; rolled to the end of the runway; where we were met by ARFF. Made a PA to reassure the passengers and taxi to the gate.The mechanical failure of the engine was the root cause of the situation. There was a startle factor. Also; some confusion was caused by the ECAM changing midstream. Distractions included ATC and the flight attendants. Some of the calls and chimes from the aft of the aircraft I believe were accidental. It was the First Officer's second trip after IOE. Our training allowed us to handle this issue correctly.