Graduate Trader

Ready to join a leading global market marker? Here’s your chance to discover what your world-class mathematical and analytical skills are made of. With a competitive edge and a finger on the pulse of global markets, you’ll be trusted to manage your diverse portfolio – as well as the risk that accompanies it. With your razor-sharp decision making skills, you thrive processing and reacting to a constant stream of live market data. Your success will be determined by your ability to take this information, and use it to strike the right balance between risk and reward.

Your trading activities will be supported by a collaborative team of brilliant researchers, engineers and analysts, with whom you’ll work closely to develop trading strategies that tackle complex market behaviours.

WHO WE ARE:

At Optiver, our mission is to 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 play an active role in the safeguarding of healthy and efficient markets for all participants. We tackle the toughest problems, challenge the status quo and always aim for excellence. As one of the largest market making institutions, we are a trusted partner on 70+ exchanges across the globe.

Our Amsterdam office is where it all began. Since our founding in 1986, Optiver’s Amsterdam office has developed 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.

WHAT YOU’LL DO:

Know nothing about trading or financial markets? Don’t worry – you bring the passion and we’ll provide the training to support you along the way.

Optiver is an industry leader across every product we choose to trade. We don’t just meet industry standard – we aim to set them by continually raising the bar for accurate pricing, execution and risk management. In order to remain at the forefront of market making, our teams must adapt, innovate and constantly improve. That’s where you come in.

We are looking for Graduate Traders to join Optiver’s trading floor – which is one of the most dynamic and exciting in Europe. As a Graduate Trader, you will price and trade financial products to fulfil our market making responsibilities, rapidly processing information from multiple sources and taking action to adjust parameters.

Upon starting as a Graduate Trader, you will be immersed into an intensive three-month training programme alongside other new recruits and employees from other departments within the organisation. Upon graduating from the training programme you will join one of our Trading teams. We believe hands-on experience is the best way to learn and that is exactly what we provide no matter what academic background you come from. 

WHO YOU ARE:

We value Graduate Traders who take the initiative to closely collaborate with our technology and research functions, contributing your perspective to further improve everything we do.

In terms of skills and qualifications, we are looking for:

• An academic degree in Mathematics, Physics, Computer Science, Engineering, Finance or equivalent
• Excellent numerical and analytical skills
• A proactive problem-solving nature
• Fast decision-making skills under pressure
• Competitive attitude and an eagerness to constantly improve yourself
• Excellent attention to detail
• Programming skills are not required, but definitely desirable

WHAT YOU’LL GET:

The chance to start your career working alongside best-in-class professionals from over 40 countries.

Alongside this you will get great secondary benefits such as 25 days paid vacation days, full paid first-class commuting expenses, training opportunities, discounts on health insurance, breakfast and lunch facilities, sport 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 Trader. Please provide us with a CV and letter of motivation in English. Unfortunately we cannot accept applications via email for data protection reasons. 

If your application is selected to proceed to the next round, you will be required to complete online assessments. By submitting your application you are confirming that you will be able to take the assessment within 14 days.

Kindly note that we do not require any assistance from third-parties including agencies in the recruitment of this role. If you have any questions feel free to contact our Recruitment team via recruitment@optiver.com.

*We accept one application per role, per year, across all office locations. If you have applied to this role across any of our offices in the last year and have been unsuccessful, you can reapply once your 12 month cooling period has concluded. Please note: If you reapply before the end of your cooling period, this will be considered your most recent unsuccessful application. For applicants based in India, our entry route is via the placement office internship hiring season (July/August).

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 accommodations during the process to ensure that you can best demonstrate your abilities. Please let us know if you would like to request any reasonable adjustments by contacting the Recruitment team via recruitment@optiver.com.