Optiver has two types of technology teams. Market Facing teams are aligned directly with the trading team. The teams that develop software used across markets we refer to as Core teams.

Market Facing teams are the most closely aligned with our trading internal clients and generally have the most significant interaction. They’re in constant contact with the relevant trading teams to discuss, prioritise, and improve the system. The scope can be quite varied and ranges across the areas of better pricing, improving latency, and improving the robustness of our systems.

Core teams are responsible for writing software we use across multiple trading teams and markets and often has some overlap with market-facing as they develop solutions in the areas of pricing, risk in addition to algorithmic improvements around how we trade. These teams interact with traders, risk personnel and developers across all markets to deliver robust solutions that work for everyone.

A large amount of collaboration at Optiver means that development projects often involve talking to people across the business to design the right solution to tackle the problem.

We work on the sort of problems that come in the form of a black box. You’ll work with traders, risk personnel, and developers across all markets to understand what goes into the black box and what needs to come out. How you achieve that is up to you. 

Some developers solve this by adding a feature to an existing system. It might be by adding a strategy to one of our autotraders, adding extra monitoring, or adding functionality that improves our understanding of the market.

Alternatively, you could collaborate with others from design and development to testing and deployment, launching a new solution. It could range from high collaborative discussion sessions or a focused day of coding and testing. We give you a lot of responsibility for solving problems, but you’ll also always have the option of seeking advice from your peers, mentors and managers. The great thing is that every task you work on has an impact.

Teams work closely with one another at Optiver, which means you’ll always get to see your hard work come to life and know that everything you do makes an impact.

Optiver is a trading company with technology at the heart of what we do. Our technology enables us to take advantage of more opportunities and provide better prices more reliably to the market. Unlike many other tech companies, our system users are internal, so as a technologist at Optiver, you’ll find that your stakeholders’ needs align closely with yours.

You might be passionate about intelligent pricing algorithms, high-performance software, bespoke hardware design, networking or operational excellence. Whatever drives you, you’ll work alongside our traders to bring your technical talent to bear on some of the most exciting and challenging problems in the industry.

Working in the engine room of our business, you’ll see the impact of your ideas on the company’s success and the broader marketplace. We challenge our people to be the best they can be and offer genuine opportunities for the most in-depth technical expertise to be applied.

Optiver’s people are its greatest asset. We take ongoing growth and development seriously, making external avenues of learning (such as formal training and technical conferences) available to those who seek them out. By far, the best way to learn here is by doing. The challenges we face are tough, and the people we get to work with to solve them are some of the best in the world. Come equipped with your passion, curiosity and attention to detail, and you’ll find that you can’t help but get better at what you do.