Graduate Software Developer - 2025 & 2026

As a Graduate Software Developer at Optiver, you’ll work at the forefront of innovation, developing innovative solutions that enable us to respond to the financial markets at lightning-fast speeds. You’ll take ownership of critical projects, constantly innovating and optimising code to keep our firm competitive in the ever-evolving capital markets.

If you own superior problem-solving and enjoy exploring complex technical ideas, you are the ideal candidate for this role. Join us and be a part of a dynamic team where you can make a meaningful impact.

What you’ll do

Your onboarding and training

Kickstart your training in the Optiver Tech Academy, our global training program in Amsterdam. As part of the comprehensive training program, you’ll master the principles, systems and technologies used to build Optiver’s industry-leading trading systems, as well as discover how we work as a collective to build our world-class solutions. This opportunity will not only broaden your global network and equip you with cross regional knowledge, it will also empower you with the skills needed to excel in your career at Optiver.

Your responsibilities

From your first day on the team, you'll have the autonomy and responsibility to make decisions that create an immediate impact. Whether it's developing ultra-low latency exchange protocol encoders and decoders, or fine-tuning our automated trading strategies and pricing models, you’ll work closely with traders and other engineers to build simple, well-architected solutions that meet the needs of our business.

You’ll experience the excitement of a fast-paced development cycle – owning a tight feedback loop, testing and shipping your code to production. You could be working on a change to a trading system in the morning and see it run live by the afternoon. No two days are the same, and it’s up to you and your team to drive our success in the ever-evolving capital markets.

Find your niche in technology

We offer a range of opportunities in our technology teams. Discover the exciting projects that you could work on during your graduate program. 

• Read Nicole's story on working in our Statistical and Index Arbitrage team to develop position-taking strategies that predict price moves.
• Read Brenda’s story on delivering low-latency, high-throughput systems that improve our connectivity to the financial market.
• Read Richard’s story on navigating the world of automated trading – systems that make trading decisions.
• Read Marcus’ story on working in the risk and treasury team, where he monitors systems that manage and mitigate risk (e.g. trading risk).
• Read Lena’s story on production engineering, where they build tools and systems that enable us to trade smoothly.

What you’ll get

You’ll join a culture of collaboration and excellence, where you’ll be surrounded by curious thinkers and creative problem solvers. Driven by a passion for continuous improvement, you’ll thrive in a supportive, high-performing environment alongside talented colleagues, working collectively to tackle the most complex problems in the financial markets.

In addition, you’ll receive:

• A highly competitive remuneration package.
• The opportunity to work alongside best-in-class professionals.
• Training, mentorship and personal development opportunities.
• Gym membership, plus weekly in-house chair massages.
• Daily breakfast, lunch and an in-house barista.
• Regular social events, including an annual company trip.

Who you are

• Final year university student or recent graduate. If you are a pre-penultimate university student, discover our 2025 FutureFocus program and apply today
• An Australian or New Zealand Citizen, Australian Permanent Resident or able to provide evidence of full working rights.
• Studying a Computer Science, Software/Electrical/Mechatronic Engineering or similarly technical degree.
• Problem solver who will enjoy building high-performing, low latency designs that critically impact trading success.
• Curious to learn and comfortable exploring complex technical ideas.
• Have a range of out-of-classroom projects or extra-curricular activities that demonstrates your passion in technology, particularly software development.
• Excited to work alongside the best developers and traders in the industry, with the humility to continually upskill and improve yourself.
• Knowledgeable about object-orientated design and development concepts (experience with C++, Java or Python is required for our technical assessment).

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? Check out our Optiver Sydney Campus recruiting FAQs or get in touch with the team at careers@optiver.com.au.

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 re-apply when the next recruitment season begins in 2026.