Optiver is looking for a Procurement Manager to help enable and advance the business’ technology strategy in an operationally sound and cost effective manner. The Procurement function, within the IT Operations umbrella, drives strategic initiatives to ensure Optiver is buying goods and services in the most efficient way at the most competitive prices. We firmly believe in balancing a safe, orderly production environment with profitability and sustainable growth.

The team focuses on operational excellence and continuous improvement, which equips them with the ability to drive these wide-ranging initiatives forward consistently with efficiency and diligence while collaborating with all areas of the business. As a member of the Procurement team, you will individually drive a wide variety of cost optimization projects, from the first strategy session through project completion – all while working hand-in-hand with trading, development, and IT operations teams. If you are interested in gaining experience in both the business and technical sides of a market making trading firm while leveraging and developing Procurement expertise, this role will provide that opportunity.

What you’ll do:

• Strategic Sourcing – Identify opportunities by spend category to continually optimize spend across the organization. Partner with trading, development, and IT to understand upcoming requirements and build forecasts/models to understand and optimize future spend. Create and run competitive sourcing events (RFx) to solicit best pricing and terms from vendors – including working with internal stakeholders to design scopes, create cost and savings models, and coordinate internal and external participation and communication
• Process Development – Design and implement continuous updates to the Procurement process in an effort to make the end-to-end process more efficient and mature. Find new opportunities to streamline and automate day-to-day process. Identify inefficiencies and build project plans to address and improve the internal purchasing experience
• Vendor Relationship Management – Build long-term relationships with key suppliers. Conduct regular vendor performance reviews to identify areas to improve service and transparency with highest spend vendors. Work with vendors to remediate any issues in the supply chain that may impact goods and service fulfillment. 
• Contract and Pricing Review & Negotiation – Negotiate pricing on net-new contracts and renewals to ensure Optiver continues to receive discounts competitive to market. Review business terms to ensure quote/contracts from vendors match contracting standards. Ensure price competitiveness of quotes by soliciting bids from other vendors and reviewing against past purchases of similar goods and services
• Daily Procurement Operations – Oversee day-to-day purchasing – working with A/P, Legal, technical teams, and vendors to purchase routine hardware, software, and services in a standardized fashion. Track renewals of recurring spend to facilitate timely contract review and execution. Lead proactive communication with internal stakeholders with updates on expected timelines and progress of purchase requests

What you’ll need:

• Education: Bachelor’s Degree 
• 7+ years of experience in Procurement, supply chain, operations, finance or management consulting
• Industry experience working in a technical environment – ex: financial services, consulting, or tech 
• A high aptitude for understanding the technical components we buy to support our trading and corporate infrastructure, along with high curiosity of how those purchasing decisions tie back to increasing firm profit
• Ability to relentlessly question issues at hand until you have identified the root problem
• Comfort and experience gathering and analyzing datasets and building financial models in MSFT Excel 
• The ability to multitask and drive multiple projects simultaneously in a fast-paced environment
• Strong risk awareness and the ability to identify imminent risks
• Ability to identify and resolve operational inefficiencies
•  Ability to work autonomously
• Ability to take abstract problems and turn them into concrete solutions
• Strong communication, organizational, and analytical skills
• Attention to detail, diligence, and a high personal bar for performance expectations
• Legal authorization to work in the U.S. is required; we will not sponsor individuals for
  employment authorization for this job opening

Who we are: 

Optiver is a leading global electronic market maker specializing in pricing, execution and risk management. Working together, our traders and software engineers design proprietary systems and execute strategies to provide liquidity and increase market efficiencies.

Put simply, we improve the markets. That’s not merely an aspiration, but our reason for being. It requires intelligence, obviously. But in this industry, that’s table stakes. We’re seeking people who up the ante with nerve, with guts and, most importantly, with heart. We’re looking for the bold. Does that describe you? Then opt in.