Campus Recruiter - Research

Optiver’s biggest asset are our people. They’re the individuals solving the most challenging problems that drive our business forward. The Campus Recruitment team is instrumental to getting the best and brightest individuals into the firm. As a Campus Recruiter, you will be responsible for hiring into our Internship and Graduate programs, as well as attracting top talent to our early engagement initiatives. Have an innovative idea? You will have both the freedom and resources to make it happen – we believe in autonomy, ownership and providing a platform for everyone to make an impact. We know our best work is done together, so you’ll collaborate with other Campus Recruiters across the globe.

What you’ll do:

Our Recruitment team is formed of specialists that work across our three key areas: Trading, Technology and Quantitative Research. The core focus of our Campus Recruiters is to identify, attract, and secure top talent from our target markets for our early careers’ programs and opportunities. As a Campus Recruiter, you will be aligned to the Quantitative Research (QR) team and act as a utility player to see through campus roles. Your key responsibilities will include:

• End-to-end ownership of campus recruiting for QR roles, including building the attraction strategy, sourcing candidates, managing pipelines, and driving the close. These roles span multiple locations (Chicago, Austin, and New York) and degree levels (Bachelor’s, Master’s, and PhD).
• Independently develop innovative recruitment strategies supported by data-driven insights to find the best QR talent
• Collaborate with Brand and Marketing to elevate Optiver’s brand as a research-forward company for grad talent.
• Proactively keep a pulse on market trends that influence graduate hiring, the QR market and our target universities to proactively improve our hiring approach
• Travel to university campuses and partner events, including international conferences, to attract top research talent and strengthen Optiver’s brand presence
• Represent Optiver at campus events, info sessions, career fairs and conferences to attract top talent
• Support the development and delivery of presentations for a variety of audiences, including students and internal stakeholders
• Confidently work with stakeholders, challenging ideas that don’t align with the core strategy and sharing informed opinions
• Act as a utility player to support travel and hiring for other campus business areas as needed such as Trading, Technology and Business Operations.

Who you are:

• Bachelor’s or Master's degree.
• 3-5+ years of recruiting experience, preferably in a high-growth company within trading, tech, or a related industry.
• Comfortable using PowerPoint to build and edit clear, professional presentations – advanced design skills not required, but a solid grasp of the basics is important.
• Comfortable with basic Excel functions (e.g., organizing data, simple formulas) to support reporting and tracking efforts.
• A clear, polished communicator with exceptional written and verbal skills.
• A team player with a proactive and solutions-oriented mindset.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Self-starter who thrives in a fast-paced environment, able to balance competing priorities with strong follow-through.
• Passionate about leveraging data to shape recruiting strategies and decisions.
• Eager to understand how campus recruiting impacts the broader business and excited about shaping early talent pipelines.
• Willing to travel to travel for recruiting events.
• Legal authorization to work in the U.S. is required. We will not sponsor individuals for employment authorization for this job opening.
• This is an in-office role based in Chicago, IL.

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 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.

At Optiver, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. Optiver recruits, employs, trains, compensates and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, physical or mental disability, or other legally protected characteristics.