Quantitative Research Intern (Summer 2023 - Chicago)

Our Research team is looking for a summer intern to help continually improve our core derivatives pricing and trading strategies. Our Quantitative Research team works closely with traders and software engineers to create and improve pricing models, volatility surfaces, yield curves, and other quantitative elements of our automated trading systems. They find solutions to pricing problems, test those solutions with historical pricing parameters and live market data, and then modify various parts of our trading system and see these new models operate in the real world.

Our researchers collaborate closely with traders and engineers to advance the capabilities of our business and improve our market-making fundamentals. We apply our quantitative expertise and scientific training to solve tough, interdisciplinary problems. We take pride in seeing the real-time impact of solutions that allow us to stay ahead in a highly competitive industry.

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.

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.

Who you are:

• Currently enrolled in a PhD program in mathematics, computer science, statistics, physics, or a related field with a Winter 2023 or Spring 2024 anticipated graduation date
• Experience using Matlab, R, python, or other analytical tools for quantitative research
• Experience analyzing large data sets
• Strong research, analytical, valuation, and modeling skills

What you’ll get:

• Work alongside best-in-class professionals from over 40 different countries.
• Performance based bonus structure that is unmatched anywhere in the industry. We combine our profits across desks, teams and offices into a global profit pool fostering a truly collaborative environment to work in.
• Ownership over initiatives that directly solve business problems.  

Alongside this you will get great other benefits such as 25 paid vacation days and market holidays, fully paid commuting expenses and health insurance, daily breakfast and lunch, training opportunities, 401(k) match up to 50% and charitable match opportunities, regular social events and clubs, and many more.