Austin is home to Optiver’s custom trading system hardware research, design and manufacturing facility. We’re looking to expand our team with an Electronics Technician who has excellent lab skills and can assist with bring-up, testing, and manufacturing of state-of-the-art hardware. This position is an excellent match for generalists with a passion for hands-on work, are detail oriented, and who enjoy electronics. The role encompasses a wide range of responsibilities, including testing, rework, manufacturing, and lab management.

Who we are:

Optiver is a tech-driven trading firm and leading global market maker. As one of the oldest market making institutions, we are a trusted partner of 70+ exchanges across the globe. Our mission is to constantly improve the market by injecting liquidity, providing accurate pricing, increasing transparency and acting as a stabilizing force no matter the market conditions. With a focus on continuous improvement, we participate in the safeguarding of healthy and efficient markets for everyone who participates.

Based in ‘The Domain’ neighborhood, Optiver’s Austin office serves as the firm’s innovation nucleus, with a strong focus on quantitative research, software and hardware engineering initiatives. With tech innovation an integral part of our core business, the booming city proved an ideal backdrop for our heavy investment into machine learning, research infrastructure and big data computing. What’s more, with world-class music, food and art scenes, as well as countless scenic outdoor activities, the quality of life for Austin Optiverians is second to none.

What you’ll do:

As an Electronics Technician, you play a critical role in the realization of our designs from idea stage mockups all the way to production. In this position, you will collaborate closely with PCB, mechanical, and optical engineers to ensure that the systems we make are not only constructed to exact specifications but also function harmoniously within the trading environment. A few examples of things you’ll do:

• Design
  We have dedicated engineers focused on mechanical, PCB, software and optical parts of our trading systems. We move quickly and try new ideas and you will be a key member of the R&D team that helps rework, test, and incorporate ideas for improved manufacturability and testability of our custom systems. 
• Manufacturing
  Once we have a design it needs to be built. We do parts of this both in-house and with outside partners. Building complicated hardware from the ground up is not a simple task and your role will focus on making sure manufacturing runs smoothly by working with the engineering team and ensuring things come together as planned. This can range from working with Optiver’s supply chain team on sourcing critical parts, making cables, all the way to building electromechanical assemblies.
• Testing/bring up
  Any board or system that is manufactured or repaired needs to undergo testing to ensure it works as expected in production. Test setups can be complex high speed systems themselves and we’re looking at you to make sure this all works smoothly and efficiently. Activities here would be some of the following: voltage probing; using ECAD tools to view designs and help expose signals of interest for probing; and executing test plans and capturing signal integrity measurements.
• Repairs
  Not all components pass testing and sometimes that means they need to be repaired. If this can be done in-house we will ask you to take care of the soldering and hot air work. Knowledge of ESD best-practices and familiarity reworking BGAs and small passive components are essential skills for this role.

This job is on-site at our Domain office.

Who you are:

Requirements:

• 5 or more years working in industry as an electronics technician, or a technical degree in an electronics or related specialization.
• Experience with reading schematics, bring-up, testing, and debugging of high-density, high-speed PCBs.
• Possess a hands-on problem solving and a "can-do" mentality.
• Experience with mechanical integration of PCBs with custom enclosures
• Experience coordinating with external suppliers and contract manufacturers.

The following experiences are nice to have:

• Basic familiarity with Python and running scripts
• Familiarity with lab equipment like TDRs and Sampling scopes
• Experience with ECAD tools such as Altium (view schematics and layouts)
• Experience supporting post-silicon bring-up and debugging

What you’ll get:

• Work alongside best-in-class professionals from over 40 different countries.
• Performance based bonus structure that is unmatched anywhere in the industry. We combine our profits across desks, teams and offices into a global profit pool fostering a truly collaborative environment to work in.
• Ownership over initiatives that directly solve business problems.  

Alongside this you will get great other benefits such as 25 paid vacation days and market holidays, fully paid health insurance, daily breakfast and lunch, training opportunities, 401(k) match up to 50% and charitable match opportunities, regular social events and clubs, and many more.

At Optiver, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. Optiver recruits, employs, trains, compensates and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, physical or mental disability, or other legally protected characteristics.