What first attracted you to Optiver?
I heard about Optiver through the career’s fair at my university. It sounded reasonably interesting so I decided that I might as well apply. I’m glad I got into the internship program as my experience was well above my expectations. Hence, I was more than happy to accept the graduate offer.
What does your role entail?
I work in the Compliance IT team. We work with the Compliance team (non-technical regulatory specialists) to improve their workflow and automate compliance needs. This involves many different types of work including normal C++ development, C# user interface development, data quality analysis and most importantly stakeholder consultation for design and specification of solutions.
What key skills are required?
Compliance IT, like much of Control IT, uses a wider range of skills than other areas in Optiver. This means that less in-depth knowledge of a particular area is required. However, it does not mean you need to be a jack-of-all-trades as we can leverage the diversity of skills in the team to access the expertise we need. That being said, business acumen remains critical to the role. The ability to communicate with stakeholders, extract requirements, challenge assumptions, understand the business case and design an appropriate solution is paramount in Control, especially since many of the key stakeholders have little to no technical knowledge.
What are some of the projects you are working on (non-confidential)?
The biggest project that the Compliance IT team is working on is an improvement to our Market Surveillance system. This system analyses our trading activity for any suspicious behaviour that could manipulate the market or breach exchange rules and reports any incidents to the Compliance team. Like everything we do at Optiver, we hope to be the best at this and to provide the best assurance possible to ourselves, exchanges, regulators and other market participants that all our trading activity is fair, legitimate and improves the market.
How do you start your day at Optiver?
The first thing I do when I arrive at Optiver is head upstairs to have my fruit salad breakfast. It’s nice and simple and makes me feel like I’m being healthy. I have a nice chat with my colleagues (trading and IT alike). Then I get my hot chocolate and head down to my desk. After I greet my team, I read the emails that I’ve received overnight and browse through my slack messages. Then, I’m ready to dive right into work.
What do you love about your work?
I love how, as a team and as a company, we are always willing to reprioritise and reorganise ourselves to ensure that the most important thing for the business is completed first. Everyone wants what’s best for the business, rather than just for themselves, and this shared goal makes me feel much more supported in my work. I can rely on others and they can rely on me.
What keeps you motivated?
My biggest motivation is a result of our abnormally quick deployment cycle. I love delivering products to people. It makes me happy when I can give people value and because I can keep delivering useful products quickly, this motivates me even further to continue developing and delivering.
Do you have interests outside of work that help you in your role?
No, I do not. At least not directly. I have quite a few hobbies going on, but none of them is related to software development. The only way that they would help in my role is by developing my teamwork and communication skills.
What’s your advice to potential applicants?
Optiver is looking for a reason to hire you, not a reason not to. Focus on your unique strengths and don’t worry about creating the perfect CV or giving answers in interviews that you think we want to hear. You may be surprised at how successful you can be – even if you think that you lack the required skills or results!