At Optiver we pride ourselves on being real engineers, not just coders. Our engineers work closely with traders to identify the business problems we face and determine how they should be solved. We apply a disciplined and scientific approach. We engineer simple, well-architected solutions that meet the dynamic needs of our traders. Our passion is to solve problems which really matter to the business, and we take pride in the quality of our solutions.

Hardware Engineers at Optiver build hardware-based trading systems ranging from low latency algorithms to high bandwidth computation. They are responsible for owning all aspects of the development process from ideation to implementation creating bespoke solutions to our complex trading problems. Their systems have little room for failure which add to the stability of the market, not detract from it. Working in close collaboration with software engineers and traders, hardware engineers deeply understand our trading problems and create dynamic, well-architected systems that make an impact in a matter of days and weeks rather than months and years.

What you’ll do: 

• Accelerate network infrastructure and trading system components with high-speed hardware designs.
• Research new low-latency techniques and platforms and identify opportunities for integration with our trading system.
• Work in a multidisciplinary team of traders, software developers, and infrastructure engineers.
• Leverage the best hardware available or build in-house versions to ensure our FPGAs can interface with cutting edge server hardware.
• Manage relationships with 3rd party vendors.

What you’ll get:

You’ll join a culture of collaboration and excellence, surrounded by curious thinkers and creative problem-solvers. Motivated by a passion for continuous improvement, you’ll thrive in a supportive, high-performing environment alongside talented colleagues, collectively tackling some of the toughest challenges in the financial markets.

In addition, you’ll receive:

• The opportunity to work alongside best-in-class professionals from over 40 different countries
• A highly competitive compensation package
• Global profit-sharing pool and performance-based bonus structure
• 401(k) match up to 50%
• Comprehensive health, mental, dental, vision, disability, and life coverage
• 25 paid vacation days alongside market holidays
• Extensive office perks, including breakfast, lunch and snacks, regular social events, clubs, sporting leagues and more

Who you are:

• A Bachelor’s degree in CE, EE, CS, or related technical field.
• Experience designing, coding, testing, and verifying FPGAs and/or ASICs.
• Experience coding in VHDL, Verilog, SystemVerilog as well as C or C++.
• Experience with RTL synthesis, writing timing, area, and other relevant constraints.
• Experience with digital simulators and self-checking test benches.
• Experience supporting post-silicon bring-up and debugging a plus.
• Ability to work closely with software developers to rapidly deliver integrated systems.

Who we are:

At Optiver, our mission is to improve the market by injecting liquidity, providing accurate pricing, increasing transparency, and stabilising the market no matter the conditions. With a focus on continuous improvement, we prioritise safeguarding the health and efficiency of the markets for all participants. As one of the largest market making institutions, we are a respected partner on 100+ exchanges across the globe.

Optiver Chicago’s culture parallels the energetic city we’re immersed in. Home to the Chicago Board of Trade, Chicago Board Options Exchange, and Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Chicago has established itself as the trading capital of the US. Active on leading US exchanges, Optiver’s Chicago office trades a wide range of products from listed derivatives to cash equities, ETFs, bonds and foreign exchange

Our differences are our edge. Optiver does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, physical or mental disability, or other legally protected characteristics.

Optiver is looking to add FPGA Engineers to its Automated Trading Systems (ATS) team. ATS solve a variety of problems with high degrees of difficulty: managing scarce bandwidth resources, responding to market events with extremely low latency, and automatically pricing diverse sets of financial instruments with near-zero error tolerance. We build systems with little room for failure which add to the stability of the market, not detract from it. These systems must be simple, flexible, and well-architected so they can quickly be changed to meet the dynamic needs of our traders. We already have a team of great engineers, but we need more.

Optiver Hardware Engineers:

• Accelerate network infrastructure and trading system components with high speed hardware designs.
• Research new low-latency techniques and identify opportunities for integration with our trading system.
• Work in a multidisciplinary team of traders, software developers, and infrastructure engineers.
• Leverage the best hardware available, ensuring our FPGAs can interface with cutting edge server hardware.

What you'll need:

• A Bachelor’s degree in CE, EE, CS, or related technical field
• Experience designing FPGAs in VHDL or Verilog. We use VHDL.
• Experience coding in VHDL, Verilog, SystemVerilog, C, or C++
• Experience with digital simulators and self-checking test benches a plus
• Ability to work closely with software developers to rapidly deliver integrated systems.

Who we are:

Optiver is a tech-driven trading firm and leading global market maker. As one of the oldest market making institutions, we are a trusted partner of 70+ exchanges across the globe. Our mission is to constantly improve the market by injecting liquidity, providing accurate pricing, increasing transparency and acting as a stabilising 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.

Based in ‘The Domain’ neighborhood, Optiver’s Austin office serves as the firm’s innovation nucleus, with a strong focus on quantitative research, software and hardware engineering initiatives. With tech innovation an integral part of our core business, the booming city proved an ideal backdrop for our heavy investment into machine learning, research infrastructure and big data computing. What’s more, with world-class music, food and art scenes, as well as countless scenic outdoor activities, the quality of life for Austin Optiverians is second to none.

Are you excited by the idea of applying your hardware development expertise to power ultra-low-latency trading systems? Do you want to explore new architectures that push the limits of performance and help take some of our most sophisticated trading strategies to the next level? If so, we encourage you to read on! 

At CTC, we’re looking for a Senior FPGA Engineer to join our FPGA development team to do just that and more. As a member, you'll work closely with other specialists, traders, and quants to design and build the next generation of end-to-end trading systems. While helping craft our development environment and processes, you’ll architect solutions, influence design choices across teams, and see your work translate into real-time impact. 

Responsibilities

• Partner with a skilled team to define and implement a pragmatic architectural vision with a focus on ultra-low-latency and reliability. 
• Collaborate with senior technology leaders to continuously improve our trading platform design. 
• Build a deep understanding of trading workflows, quantitative models, and system performance needs while working with a multidisciplinary team. 
• Develop an implementation roadmap in partnership with Quant and Trading to deliver incremental improvements in trading performance and long-term architectural innovation. 
• Lead design implementation efforts, contribute to team code reviews, and champion best practices around performance, logic, standard methodologies and maintainability issues to ensure code-level consistency and scalability. 

Qualifications

• Proven experience and expertise with FPGA development. 
• Advanced proficiency using HDLs, with an emphasis on SystemVerilog or VHDL. 
• Comfortable working in Python and/or C++ for developing tools, testbenches, and integrations. 
• Demonstrated understanding of computer architectures. 
• Enthusiasm for applying modern, agile design and testing practices. 

Nice to Have 

• Experience in financial markets or trading environments. 
• Knowledge of common networking protocols like TCP/UDP and multicast.