FutureFocus - Trading & Research 2025

Ready to kickstart your career in one of the world's leading tech-driven trading firms?

Join FutureFocus, our immersive five-day program designed to ignite your potential as a future trader, researcher or developer at Optiver.

Dive into the fundamentals of trading, gain unique insights into Optiver’s cutting-edge trading systems and build the key skills that our traders, researchers and developers use every day.

Plus, if you've excelled in the program, you could receive a direct offer for our 2026/27 Summer Internship Program.

• Eligible for pre-penultimate university students (graduating in 2027 and onwards)
• Program dates: 28 April – 2 May 2025
• Application close: 21 February 2025 (5pm)
• Where: Optiver Sydney office*

*Note: If you reside outside of Sydney, Optiver will cover your travel and accommodation costs.

What you'll do

Led by ex-traders and ex-engineers, our renowned in-house education team will guide you through the intricacies of market making. You will be immersed in a mix of hands-on and classroom learning, empowering you to thrive in the world of trading and technology.

As part of the FutureFocus program, you’ll have the opportunity to:

• Kickstart your journey in trading or research, as you learn the fundamentals of trading theory. You’ll also learn how to build trading strategies and deploy them in a virtual market.
• Immerse in our dynamic trading floor and see our cutting-edge systems in action. You'll discover unique insights into our in-house trading systems and understand how we remain at the forefront of the global financial markets.
• Connect with recent graduates and hear their personal experiences.
• Receive mentorship and support from our in-house trainers and senior traders, who are committed to ensuring you have the guidance and support needed to succeed.
• Experience Optiver's culture and enjoy our incredible perks, including daily breakfast, lunch and coffee, weekly massages and more.

Who you are

• A pre-penultimate university student, graduating in 2027 and onwards. All degree backgrounds are considered.
• An Australian or New Zealand Citizen, Australian Permanent resident, or individuals on an Australian student visa.
• An inquisitive thinker, with a passion for quantitative problems and working in collaborative, dynamic environments.
• Holds superior quantitative and logical reasoning skills, and enjoys working on an array of problems, with a strong focus on results.
• Excited to test yourself in one of the most dynamic areas of the financial market.

Applying for the program

The FutureFocus program offers two streams: Trading and Research or Technology. To help you choose the stream that aligns with your interests, please find more information below. Please note that you can only apply for one stream.

Trading and Research

Our Traders make trading decisions based on market conditions and other factors. They’re driven and have a flair for analytical problem solving. Check out Will’s ‘Day in the life’ story to learn more.

Our Researchers collaborate closely with traders and developers to build and improve our trading strategies. They'll often work with huge amounts of data and use statistical and machine learning algorithms. Check out Dom's ‘Day in the life’ story to learn more.

Technology

Our Software and FPGA Developers play a critical role in executing successful trades. Driven by the desire to find the simplest solutions to the most complex problems, they design and build high performance systems that solve real business problems. Check out Brenda’s ‘Day in the Life’ story to learn more.

Interested in the technology stream? Apply here.

Ready to kickstart your career with Optiver? Apply for FutureFocus to ignite your potential today.

Optiver is committed to diversity and inclusion, and it is hardwired through every stage of our hiring process. 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.

Questions? Get in touch with our team at careers@optiver.com.au.