WHO WE ARE:

Optiver’s Sydney office is one of the primary players within Asian markets, trading a range of products. As an active participant on the Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Japan exchanges, we act as Optiver’s APAC head office. Since 1996, our Sydney location has gone from five traders to more than 300 driven, dedicated team members from all over the world. Set against the backdrop of one of the world’s most liveable cities, life at Optiver Sydney offers unlimited access to world-class activities. We’re surrounded by a plethora of bars, restaurants, cafes, shops, gyms and more. And with picturesque beaches and national parks right on our doorstep, there’s always something new to discover.

Financial models are ever-present components throughout the process of designing strategies and making trading decisions. Our traders, researchers and developers combine to achieve our goal of improving the market.  We now have an opening for an experienced Options Researcher in our Research team to bridge the gap between the complex mathematical models and our systems.

WHO YOU ARE:

• You have a proven background in maths, physics, comp sci, or engineering.
• You have a deep understanding of Options theory and pricing models.
• You have strong demonstrable experience coding with C++ and python.
• Experience with Git and Linux.
• You have significant experience within the financial markets from a direct competitor or large global financial services organisation such as an investment bank.
• You have an understanding, ideally through experience of problems tackled in Quant, Research, Developer and Trading Teams.
• You’re comfortable with using maths to solve problems and code to realise your solutions.
• You enjoy an iterative experimental approach using statistical models to improve forecasts. Taking a complicated problem and a sea of data to make predictions about the future is the bread and butter of the research team.
• You are pragmatic and results oriented. We’re not trying to get published or find the most elegant solution to our problems, we’re trying to be the best at something in a highly competitive market.
• You might not remember when to use an LU vs a QR decomposition, but you know how to find out, and you can use it in a pinch to solve a problem.
• You have a broad understanding of technology, you don’t see the Internet as a magical intractably complicated thing, or a set of components that you can recite some facts about, but genuinely understand the broad strokes of how it all fits together. You’re not expected to have experience in writing a DNS resolver, but you shouldn’t need to look anything up to provide a high-level description of how it works and why.
• You can reason about the consequence of design choices and see the merits of both working with python in a Jupyter notebook or writing a server process in C++ and can comfortably work in both domains. You’re able to drill into the details to deliver with accuracy, because sometimes the difference between 7 and 8 days of interest in a calculation is the difference between a good trade and a bad one.

WHAT YOU'LL DO:

You will work on practical pricing problems we are faced with, end to end in the options research team.

For example, if one of the exchanges we trade on were to launch a new type of derivative on a product we already trade, our team would be responsible for:

• Developing a way of pricing this contract in a way that’s consistently with our current pricing.
• Understanding and documenting any new risks that we might be exposed to that we otherwise wouldn’t be.
• Working out how to fit this into our automated pricing and risk management frameworks.
• Engaging with internal stakeholders through the technology, trading and control departments to ensure a smooth roll out.
• Look for weaknesses in our current models and analyses with mathematical rigour and data analysis.
• Maintain pricing models, analysis tools and documentation used throughout the business.

You may also be tasked with improving (or inventing) one of our forecasts, predictions that run on our vast arrays of inhouse data which are used by our trading team directly in their decision making. You would:

• Be working with other researchers.
• Explore adding new data sets, or cutting edge statistical/machine learning techniques
• Work closely with traders who are both domain experts, and will directly use your results to inform their trading.

WHAT YOU’LL GET:

• The chance to work alongside diverse, intelligent, and driven peers in a rewarding environment
• Competitive remuneration, including an attractive bonus structure and additional leave entitlements
• Training, mentorship, and personal development opportunities
• Gym membership plus weekly in-house chair massages
• Daily breakfast and lunch facilities
• Regular social events including an annual company trip

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.