Description
Ready to accelerate your engineering career in just five days?
At Optiver, engineers build the systems powering millions of trades a day across the globe: from core low-latency platforms, machine learning research pipelines, to real-time execution workflows. The challenges are complex, the impact is immediate, and the learning never stops.
Career Kickstarter: Tech is a five-day, all-expenses-paid program designed for students eager to explore the engineering challenges of building mission-critical trading systems that keep global markets moving. Hosted at our Amsterdam headquarters, you’ll work through hands-on coding sessions, system design workshops and a collaborative engineering project that mirrors the work of our engineers. You’ll also get an introduction to the trading concepts that matter from an engineering perspective, so no prior knowledge of trading or financial markets is required.
Top performers will be considered for a direct offer to join Optiver as a Graduate Software Engineer.
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When: 23 - 27 November, 2026
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Where: Optiver’s Amsterdam Headquarters
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Application deadline: September 13, 2026 at 17:00 CET
Can’t make these dates? We expect to run more Career Kickstarter programs in spring 2027. Register your interest to be notified when new dates and applications are announced.
What you’ll do
A week of building, learning and engineering at scale. Throughout the program, our full-time Education Team will be there to mentor you, offering guidance and feedback designed to accelerate your development.
Learning and skill development:
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Hands-on engineering: Work on a real engineering project that challenges you to design, build and iterate as part of a real engineering team.
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Technical exploration: Join lectures and panel sessions with senior engineers to explore potential career paths and understand how real systems are designed, built and improved.
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Systems thinking: Take part in system design workshops to learn how high-performance systems are architected, optimised and scaled.
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AI-amplified development: Use the same AI tools, platforms and workflows as our engineering teams to navigate real codebases and datasets, test ideas and move faster - while applying your own judgment and owning the outcome.
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Pathway to a career: Demonstrate your potential during the program, and you may be considered for a direct offer to join Optiver as a Graduate Software Engineer.
Culture and perks:
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Industry insights: Gain a deeper understanding of the industry and build the confidence needed to excel in a high-performance environment.
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Cultural immersion: Get a taste of Optiver’s incredible company culture and take advantage of our perks and benefits firsthand, including daily breakfast, lunch, coffee and more.
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Amsterdam up close: Picture your future career based in our vibrant city, sampling a taste of life in the historic Dutch capital.
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Hotel & travel: Enjoy a comfortable stay with fully covered accommodation and travel expenses, allowing you to focus on making the most of the program.
Who you are
You’re curious, collaborative and excited to apply your problem-solving and engineering skills to real-world systems.
To join, you must:
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Be a current student or graduate (BSc, MSc or PhD) in Computer Science, Computer Engineering or a related technical field, with a graduation date between May 2025 and August 2027.
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Be proficient in industry-standard coding languages such as C++, Python, or Java, with a strong understanding of underlying computer architecture and system operations
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Have a solid grasp of algorithms, memory and concurrency models, CPU-architecture, operating systems and relational databases
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Be studying, or have graduated from, a university in the EU, EEA or UK.
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Be able to demonstrate at the time of application that you have the requisite visa or other travel arrangements or authorisations in place to allow you to attend the program in person.
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Be able to start full-time as a Software Engineer directly after the program, or at the latest by September 2027.
No finance or trading experience required. Curiosity, problem-solving ability and a willingness to learn matter most.
Apply now
Does this sound like the future you’re looking for? Take up the opportunity and apply today!
Please note that applications close on 13 September 2026.
The selection process consists of two stages, with further details shared after the deadline. The timeline will broadly be as follows:
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Online assessment: Held in the second half of September.
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Technical interview: Candidates who progress following the online assessment will be invited to the next stage, scheduled through mid-October.
More interested in making fast, data-driven decisions in live markets? Explore Career Kickstarter: Trading.
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 internship, graduate roles and programmes. If you have completed an online assessment or interviewed for a technology internship, graduate role or programme 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 to after the 8-month cool off period.
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