Our Software Engineers build proprietary trading systems which directly impact the financial markets. Our software engineering teams leverage technology to solve a variety of difficult problems.

Trading is an increasingly data-driven endeavor, and our Global Data team owns what is required for Optiver to be data-driven: reliable, high quality datasets. Meeting the bar for this task requires us to build software that operates flawlessly at a global scale to meet both the current and future data needs of the business.

Who we are:

At Optiver, 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. We tackle the toughest problems, challenge the status quo and always aim for excellence. As one of the largest market making institutions, we are a trusted partner of 70+ exchanges across the globe.

Optiver Chicago’s culture parallels the energetic city we’re immersed in. Home to the Chicago Board of Trade, Chicago Board Options Exchange, and Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Chicago has established itself as the derivatives trading capital of the US. Active on leading US exchanges, Optiver’s Chicago office trades a wide range of products from listed derivatives to cash equities, ETFs, bonds and foreign exchange.

Technology at Optiver:

At Optiver we pride ourselves on being real engineers, not just coders. Our engineers work closely with traders to identify the business problems we face and determine how they should be solved. We apply a disciplined and scientific approach. We engineer simple, well-architected solutions that meet the dynamic needs of our traders. Our passion is to solve problems which really matter to the business, and we take pride in the quality of our solutions.

What you’ll do:

• Build software that reliably processes, validates, catalogs, and generally makes useful extremely large datasets at a global scale
• Interface with both raw datasets and end users to reliably connect them together to create data pipelines that provide incredible business value for Optiver
• Deeply understand not only the datasets you produce, also but the trading/algorithm use cases for the data
• Collaborate closely with members of trading, research, and other engineering teams
• Gain and develop an in-depth understanding of trading theory and practice

What you’ll need:

• Ability to design systems and write elegant code in both C and Python
• Capability to effectively interface with data users and understand complex trading algorithms and global financial markets
• Strong engineering instincts and a deep understanding of computer science fundamentals
• Prior experience with trading/markets is a plus but is not required if you have the passion for learning about these topics

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.  

Additionally, you’ll get great other benefits such as 25 paid vacation days and market holidays, fully paid commuting expenses and 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.

Please note, this is for experienced applications only. If you’re interested in graduate and intern positions, please instead apply to our 2023 Graduate Software Engineer or 2023 Software Engineer Intern opportunities.