Career Kickstarter: Women in Tech 2027

Ready to accelerate your engineering career in just one week?

At Optiver, our engineers are at the forefront of technological innovation, developing and refining the advanced systems that keep us competitive in global markets. The problems we solve are complex, requiring not only technical skill but also diverse perspectives and creative thinking.

Understanding the power of diverse perspectives, we’ve created the Career Kickstarter: Women in Tech, designed to empower and transition aspiring female-identifying engineers into an impactful engineering career. In this five-day program, you’ll gain hands-on experience, collaborate with some of the industry’s leading engineers, and develop the critical technical skills necessary to thrive in a high-performance environment. You’ll also get an introduction to the trading concepts that matter from an engineering perspective, so no prior knowledge of trading or financial markets is required.

Top performers will be considered for a direct offer to join Optiver as a Graduate Software Engineer.

More than a learning experience — this is an opportunity to see if your skills and goals are a match with one of our full-time engineering roles, with the possibility of an offer once the program is complete.

• When: April 12-16, 2027
• Where: Optiver’s Amsterdam Headquarters
• Application deadline: 23:59 on 10 January, 2027

WHAT TO EXPECT

• Technical skills workshops: Enhance your technical abilities and existing coding skills in our hands-on workshop sessions, where you'll receive expert guidance from Optiver’s engineers.
• Women-led panels: Gain insights from experienced engineers at Optiver, who will share valuable advice on building a successful career. Learn about the diverse paths they've taken and how to discover your own.
• Networking events: Engage with peers and professionals across Optiver through various networking opportunities designed to help you build meaningful connections within the industry.
• Technical lectures: Attend in-depth technical lectures, giving you the advanced knowledge and understanding of the technologies driving the industry. These sessions will also highlight the various career trajectories available at Optiver.
• AI-amplified development: Use the same AI tools, platforms and workflows as our engineering teams to navigate real codebases and datasets, test ideas and move faster - while applying your own judgment and owning the outcome.

PROGRAM PERKS

• Industry insights: Gain a deeper understanding of the industry and build the confidence needed to excel in a high-performance environment.
• Pathway to a career: Demonstrate your potential, and you could secure a full-time role at Optiver, setting the stage for a successful engineering career.
• Cultural immersion: Get a taste of Optiver’s incredible company culture and take advantage of our perks and benefits firsthand, including daily breakfast, lunch, coffee and more.
• Amsterdam up close: Picture your future career based in our vibrant city, sampling a taste of life in the historic Dutch capital.
• Hotel & travel: Enjoy a comfortable stay with fully covered accommodation and travel expenses, allowing you to focus on making the most of the program.

ELIGIBILITY

You’re curious, collaborative and excited to apply your problem-solving and engineering skills to real-world systems.

To join, you must:

• Female-identifying student;
• Be a current student or graduate (BSc, MSc or PhD) in Computer Science, Computer Engineering or a related technical field, with a graduation date between April 2025 and February 2028.
• Proficient in programming using common coding languages such as C++, Python, or Java;
• Be studying, or have graduated from, a university in the EU/EEA, UK or CH.
• You are able to demonstrate at the time of application that you have the requisite visa or other travel arrangements or authorizations in place in order to allow you to attend the program in person.
• Be able to start full-time as a Software Engineer directly after the program, or at the latest by February 2028.

No finance or trading experience required. Curiosity, problem-solving ability and a willingness to learn matter most.

WHO YOU ARE

• Passionate about creating simple and efficient solutions through clean code, well-architected systems and optimized workflows;
• Demonstrates a proactive problem-solving nature;
• Possesses an entrepreneurial attitude and an interest in the financial industry.

WHO WE ARE

Optiver is a tech-driven trading firm and leading global market maker. For over 40 years, Optiver has been improving financial markets around the world, making them more transparent and efficient for all participants. With more than 2,000 employees in offices around the world, we’re united in our commitment to improve the market through competitive pricing, execution and thorough risk management. By providing liquidity on multiple exchanges across the world, we actively trade on 70+ exchanges, where we’re trusted to always provide accurate buy and sell pricing – no matter the market conditions.

APPLY NOW

Does this sound like the future you’re looking for? Take up the opportunity and apply today!

Please note that the application process consists of three stages: an online assessment, a behavioral, and a technical interview.

The online assessment will be held between mid to late January 2027. The interviews will take place from late January to mid-February 2027. Further details and invitations to the next stages will be shared after applications close on 10th January 2027.

Diversity statement

Optiver is committed to diversity and inclusion.

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. Please let us know if you would like to request any reasonable adjustments by contacting the Recruitment team via the contact form, selecting “Reasonable Adjustments” as the subject of your inquiry.

For answers to some of our most frequently asked questions, refer to our FAQs.

For applicants based in India, our entry route is via the placement office internship hiring season (July/August).

Optiver has a global application re-apply policy for our internship, graduate roles and programmes. If you have completed an online assessment or interviewed for a technology internship, graduate role or programme at any Optiver location in the past 8 months, please note that you are not yet eligible to reapply. We welcome you to re-apply to after the 8-month cool off period.