Optiver FPGA Engineers create solutions with nanosecond response times, highly-parallelized algorithms, and customized low-level networking that help the firm deploy successful trading strategies across the world’s largest financial markets. Our engineers are tightly integrated with our business so that we can solve challenges effectively and efficiently; we deeply understand the business problem before developing the solution.
WHAT YOU’LL DO:
Get ready for ten weeks immersed in the fast-paced, dynamic world of market making. As Optiver’s FPGA Engineer Intern, you'll fully own projects that directly impact Optiver's world-class trading systems. You will experience tight feedback loops and ship your code to production alongside our senior Engineers and Traders. You’ll work side-by-side with your mentor to build latency-critical applications, parallel systems and networking interfaces, giving you a chance to make a direct impact on a leading trading firm, while launching your career in engineering. You’ll tackle real issues that will test your critical thinking and problem-solving acumen, and each day will bring new challenges that require fresh perspectives. It's an unrivalled opportunity to accelerate your knowledge and make your mark on Optiver's business.
You will also have the chance to join industry lectures to learn about trading and our other departments to gain a complete understanding of Optiver and our business. Don't worry, you won't be expected to have previous knowledge of the financial industry! You'll be educated and upskilled by our world-class trainers in order to hit the ground running.
Examples of potential projects that you could be working on:
- Supporting new networking protocols – think 25G and 100G interfaces
- Developing applications in close collaboration with our Traders to improve our trading strategies and success rates – where did that nanosecond go?
- Improve the resource usage of our current systems – why use 8 bits when 3 will do?
- Make your mark on our future trading systems by trailblazing new domain areas – from high-precision timestamping to new proprietary inter-system communication protocols
WHO YOU ARE:
- Student working toward a Master's degree in Electrical/Electronic Engineering, Computer Engineering or similar, with the ability to work full-time upon graduation in 2027
- Someone with strong engineering instincts and academic experience in digital design with FPGAs or ASICs
- Experienced in writing hardware in VHDL, Verilog or SystemVerilog
- Passionate for clean code, simple well-architected systems and continuous improvement, with a desire to understand how the systems you build fit into our trading activities
- Able to collaborate with developers, traders and business operations
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.
WHAT YOU’LL GET:
- A 10 week summer internship working alongside best-in-class professionals from over 40 different countries
- Highly competitive compensation package
- Optiver-covered travel to Amsterdam and a fully furnished apartment in the city center
- Awesome social events and outings
- A range of benefits including free breakfast, lunch and dinner, bi-weekly massages, a bicycle to explore Amsterdam and much more
- Most importantly, the possibility to receive a full-time offer upon completion of internship
HOW TO APPLY:
Apply directly via the form below. For answers to some of our most frequently asked questions, refer to our Campus FAQs. If you have any questions feel free to contact our Recruitment team via our recruitment inquiry form.
For applicants based in India, our entry route is via the placement office internship hiring season (July/August).
*We accept one application per role per year. If you have previously applied to this position during this season and have been unsuccessful, you can reapply once the next recruitment season begins in 2025.
DIVERSITY STATEMENT:
Optiver is committed to diversity and inclusion.
Top Skills
What We Do
Optiver’s story began over 30 years ago, when we started business as a single trader on the floor of Amsterdam’s options exchange. Today, we are at the forefront of trading and technology as a leading global electronic market maker, focused on pricing, execution and risk management.
Why Work With Us
People at Optiver love challenges, welcome collaboration, and strive to be better tomorrow than they are today. Improving the market is an extraordinary challenge that requires a carefully crafted approach. Optiver provides a collaborative working environment to tackle these challenges. In fact, it is this way of working that sets us apart.
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