Graduate FPGA Engineer (2027 Start)

Optiver
Amsterdam +1 more
On-site

Who this role is best for

Aimed at recent graduates in electrical engineering with FPGA experience who want to work in a collaborative, high-performance trading environment.

Best fit for

  • Recent graduates with academic FPGA design experience and a strong interest in financial systems
    — “University degree in Electrical/Electronic Engineering, Computer Engineering or similar, with outstanding academic achievements”
  • Candidates who thrive in multidisciplinary teams and understand the business impact of their hardware solutions
    — “Collaborate in a multidisciplinary team of traders, software developers, and infrastructure engineers”
  • Individuals who are eager to learn and adapt to cutting-edge AI and trading technologies
    — “Our FPGA engineers use AI to speed up verification, debugging, and technical research”

Things to consider

  • Limited reapplication eligibility if you've applied within the last 8 months
    — “If you have completed an online assessment or interviewed for a technology graduate or internship role at any Optiver location in the past 8 months”
  • Relocation and visa support is only available for expats, not all candidates
    — “Competitive relocation packages and visa sponsorship where necessary for expats”

How to stand out

  • Highlight your academic FPGA design projects and their real-world relevance in your resume
    — “Academic design experience with FPGAs or ASICs”
  • Showcase your ability to interface with trading systems and business operations
    — “Able to work closely with other engineers, traders, and business operations”
  • Emphasize your experience with VHDL, Verilog, or SystemVerilog in your application materials
    — “Academic experience in VHDL, Verilog, or SystemVerilog”
  • Demonstrate your willingness to learn and adapt through specific examples in your interview
    — “An open, collaborative, self-critical attitude and willingness to learn from your mistakes”
Pace · Fast PacedCollaboration · HighAutonomy · MediumDecision Impact · Team

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • Accelerate network infrastructure and trading system components with high-speed hardware designs.
Typical background
University degree in Electrical/Electronic Engineering, Computer Engineering or similar, with outstanding academic achievements.

Skills & requirements

Required

FPGA DesignASIC DesignVHDLVerilogSystemverilogNetwork InfrastructureTrading System ComponentsLow-latency TechniquesPlatform IntegrationCollaboration With Traders And Software DevelopersCustomized Low-level NetworkingCutting-edge Server Hardware

Stack & domain

FPGAASICVHDLVerilogSystemverilogNetwork InfrastructureTrading System ComponentsLow-latency TechniquesCutting-edge Server HardwareAINetworkingAlgorithmsTechnical ResearchDebuggingVerificationDesign OwnershipDecision SupportCollaborationTrading TheoryOptiver's Tech StackMentorshipPerformance-based Bonus StructureGlobal Profit PoolTraining OpportunitiesHealth BenefitsCommuting ExpensesOffice PerksSport And Leisure ActivitiesBi-weekly MassagesFriday Afternoon DrinksInternational Transfer OpportunitiesVisa SponsorshipExcellenceCuriosityProblem-solvingContinuous ImprovementSupportiveHigh-performingTalented ColleaguesTackling ProblemsOpenCollaborativeSelf-criticalWillingness To LearnUnderstandingWorking CloselyFinanceEngineering

About the role

Original posting from Optiver

As an FPGA Engineer, you’ll work side-by-side with teammates to build real-world applications that power a global trading firm. You’ll create solutions with nanosecond response times, highly parallelized algorithms, and customized low-level networking that solve business challenges effectively and efficiently. Collaborating closely with our business, you’ll have in-depth insight into a problem before developing the solution.

Optiver is building with cutting edge AI technology in the most competitive, data rich landscapes in the world: financial markets. Our FPGA engineers use AI to speed up verification, debugging, and technical research, while retaining full ownership of the designs and decisions it supports.

What you’ll do

Your onboarding

You will participate in Optiver’s comprehensive Global Academy and be equipped with the knowledge needed to make an impact the moment you join your team. The comprehensive training covers trading theory and Optiver’s tech stack to hone your skills for your role. In addition, you will be paired with a dedicated mentor who will empower you to take ownership of your work and make a difference.

Your responsibilities

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.

Collaborate 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. 

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. Motivated by a passion for continuous improvement, you’ll thrive in a supportive, high-performing environment alongside talented colleagues, working collectively to tackle the toughest problems in the financial markets.

In addition, you’ll receive:

A performance-based bonus structure, enabling all of our employees to benefit from our global profit pool

The opportunity to work alongside best-in-class professionals from over 50 different countries

25 paid vacation days in your first year, increasing to 30 from your second year onwards

Training opportunities, discounts on health benefits, and fully paid first-class commuting expenses

Extensive office perks, including breakfast, lunch and dinner, world-class barista coffee, sport and leisure activities, bi-weekly massages and Friday afternoon drinks

Training and continuous learning opportunities

International transfer opportunities for global career growth

Competitive relocation packages and visa sponsorship where necessary for expats

Who you are

University degree in Electrical/Electronic Engineering, Computer Engineering or similar, with outstanding academic achievements

Graduating between August 2024 and August 2027, with a maximum of 3 years of work experience

Academic design experience with FPGAs or ASICs

Academic experience in VHDL, Verilog, or SystemVerilog

An open, collaborative, self-critical attitude and willingness to learn from your mistakes

A desire to understand how the systems you build fit into our trading activities

Able to work closely with other engineers, traders, and business operations

How to Apply:

Apply directly via the form below for the position of Graduate FPGA Engineer. Please provide us with a CV in English. Unfortunately we cannot accept applications via email for data protection reasons.

If your application is selected to proceed to the next round, you will be required to complete online assessments. By submitting your application you are confirming that you will be able to take the assessment within 7 days.

Kindly note that we do not require any assistance from third-parties including agencies in the recruitment of this role. If you have any questions feel free to contact our Recruitment team via the contact form

Diversity statement

Optiver is committed to diversity and inclusion.

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. Please let us know if you would like to request any reasonable adjustments by contacting the Recruitment team via the contact form, selecting "Reasonable Adjustments" as the subject of your inquiry.

For answers to some of our most frequently asked questions, refer to our FAQs.

For applicants based in India, our entry route is via the placement office internship hiring season (July/August).

Optiver has a global application re-apply policy for our intern and graduate roles. If you have completed an online assessment or interviewed for a technology graduate or internship role at any Optiver location in the past 8 months, please note that you are not yet eligible to reapply. We welcome you to re-apply after the 8-month cool off period. 

Source: Optiver careers

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