Optiver

Optiver is a leading, global, independent trading firm dealing mainly in derivatives, shares and bonds. We were founded in 1986 as a market maker in equity options on the European Options Exchange and are now one of the largest derivative trading groups on the Australian, Asian and European exchanges with a growing presence in the USA.

About Us
Optiver is active in a broad range of arbitrage activities which are becoming more and more sophisticated in form. This is an area in which it is crucial to be innovative at all times. We trade all over the world, taking advantage of relative mispricings between related securities. Despite the large scale of our business, we bear comparatively little risk. Trading requires a superior understanding of the factors influencing security (derivative) prices, and an ability to respond swiftly to them. Many markets have changed from open outcry trading to screen trading which means it is no longer necessary to have a physical presence on the trading floor. This has led to a technological race and as a result, IT is more important to our core business than ever before.

Our IT Department focuses on the quality of the applications we develop. Applications must be reliable, scalable, and extremely fast. Some of the work is highly experimental, and we take an interactive approach to our projects. Some of the technologies we use are:

• C++ – Server applications
• C# – GUI development
• Oracle – Database development
• Python – Scripting.

We are a growing company that can offer you a definite career path with mentoring from our experienced staff members. As part of our focus on continuous improvement, we also offer extensive training to help you reach your full potential. Optiver has a culture of excellence and most importantly a focus on work life balance.

Who we are looking for
We comb the globe for self-motivated and ambitious people who will thrive in our environment. If you want success — real success — where you’re challenged, rewarded, mentored and developed, where the real you can finally emerge, and where you can do work that you actually look forward to, then you should work with us.

Traders
You will need to be a penultimate, final/honours year student or recent graduate with a distinction average in one of the listed disciplines. Outstanding numerical skills, a passion for finance and the markets, and a competitive streak are also required.

Developers and Unix Application Engineers
The ideal candidate for our graduate Developer or graduate Unix Application Engineer roles is a penultimate, final/honours year student or recent graduate with a distinction average in one of the listed disciplines.

A creative spirit and a passion for finding clever solutions are a must.