Graduate Software Engineer

When you start your career at Optiver, you will immediately play a crucial role at a leading electronic trading company. Work alongside some of the world's brightest Developers and Traders as you build and maintain industry-leading proprietary trading systems that directly impact global  financial markets. This is your opportunity to build high-performance software, develop trading algorithms, manage low-latency connectivity and everything in between. 

Optiver's 35+ year success lies in our humility and company-wide eagerness to continually challenge ourselves, improve and grow. Does this sound like the ideal environment for you? Then you might be the Graduate Software Engineer we’re looking for.

Who we are:

Optiver is a tech-driven trading firm and leading global market maker. As one of the oldest market making institutions, we are a trusted partner of 50+ exchanges across the globe. Our mission is to constantly improve the market by injecting liquidity, providing accurate pricing, increasing transparency and acting as a stabilising force no matter the market conditions. With a focus on continuous improvement, we participate in the safeguarding of healthy and efficient markets for everyone who participates.

Our Amsterdam office is where it all began. Over 35 years ago, Optiver’s business started with a single trader on the floor of Amsterdam’s European Stock Exchange. Since our 1986 founding, Optiver’s Amsterdam office has grown into one of the most dynamic and exciting trading floors in Europe. Our culture reflects the Dutch capital city’s progressive, innovative and inclusive nature. With its unique spirit, Amsterdam is the ideal hub for our teams to trade a wide range of products from listed derivatives to cash equities, ETFs, bonds and foreign exchange. 

Engineering systems at Optiver:

At Optiver, engineering is at the core of our trading strategies. Trading is a complex and unpredictable environment with frequent changes and a high load. Our systems have to be fast, reliable and precise. Our engineers continually refine, store, and analyse hundreds of terabytes of data, enabling us to automatically price large, diverse sets of financial instruments with extremely low error tolerance. Our infrastructure is a combination of 10 000 highly customised components and 600 different applications, which run on 1500 servers distributed globally. We deal with 14 000 releases and 35 000 changes per year.

What you'll do:

As a Graduate Software Engineer, you will take ownership of critical projects from the beginning. Solving complex problems and developing ultra-low-latency exchange protocol encoders and decoders, writing and fine-tuning our automated trading strategies and pricing models, as well as creating and extending user interfaces. Your goal is to find the simplest and cleanest solution to any challenge at hand.

If you enjoy a fast feedback loop and seeing the immediate impact of your work, Optiver is the place for you. You could be working on a change to a trading system in the morning and see it running live in the afternoon. Our collaborative culture means you’ll work closely with Traders and other Engineers to identify and solve problems that make a tangible impact on the business.

Who you are:

• You have an entrepreneurial attitude and an interest in the financial industry
• You want to step outside your comfort zone and face fresh challenges every day
• You always aim for continuous improvement in a rapidly evolving environment
• You enjoy working collaboratively within a team
• You have fast decision-making skills

In terms of skillset, we’re looking for:

• An academic degree in Computer Science, Engineering or equivalent
• The ability to write clean and simple code
• A proficiency in coding language such as C++, C# or Java
• A solid grasp of algorithms, memory and concurrency models, CPU-architecture, operating systems and relational databases
• Strong engineering ability and a solid understanding of computer science
• An analytical mindset and strong problem-solving skills

Please note: specify in your cover letter whether you are interested in our Amsterdam or London position, and keep in mind that we are able to sponsor visa for our Amsterdam position. Unfortunately, we are unable to do so for our London office.

No prior trading knowledge is needed, as you’ll take part in our six-month Tech Starters Program. With a combination of theoretical knowledge and hands-on practical experience, you’ll learn everything you need to know.

What you'll get:

• The chance to start your career working alongside best-in-class professionals from over 40 different countries.
• Our performance based bonus structure is unmatched anywhere in the industry. We combine our profits across desks, teams and offices into a global profit pool fostering a truly collaborative environment to work in.

Alongside this you will get great secondary benefits such as 25 paid vacation days, fully paid first-class commuting expenses, training opportunities, discounts on health insurance, breakfast and lunch facilities, sports and leisure activities, Friday afternoon drinks and even weekly in-house chair massages. Being highly international, we are accustomed to guiding expats through their relocation, offering competitive relocation packages and providing visa sponsorship where necessary

How to apply:

Are you interested in furthering your career on one of the most dynamic and exciting trading floors in Europe?

Apply directly via the form below for the position of Graduate Software Engineer. Please provide us with a CV and letter of motivation in English. Applications without a letter of motivation will not be reviewed. When we think there is a potential match, you will hear from us sooner than you expect. If you have any questions feel free to contact our Recruiter Serena Riccomagno via serenariccomagno@optiver.com.

If you are selected from your application to proceed to the next round for the position of Graduate Software Engineer, you will be required to take an online assessment.

Kindly note that we do not require any assistance from third-parties including agencies in the recruitment of this role.

Diversity Statement:

As an intentionally flat organisation, we believe that great ideas and impact can come from everyone. We are passionate about empowering individuals and creating diverse teams that thrive. Every person at Optiver should feel included, valued and respected, because we believe our best work is done together.

Our commitment to diversity and inclusion is hardwired through every stage of our hiring process. We encourage applications from candidates from any and all backgrounds, and we welcome requests for reasonable adjustments during the process to ensure that you can best demonstrate your abilities.