Senior Data Engineer

WHO WE ARE

Optiver is a global market maker founded in Amsterdam, with offices in London, Chicago, Austin, New York, Sydney, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taipei and Mumbai. Established in 1986, today we are a leading liquidity provider, with close to 2,000 employees in offices around the world, united in our commitment to improve the market through competitive pricing, execution and risk management. By providing liquidity on multiple exchanges across the world in various financial instruments we participate in the safeguarding of healthy and efficient markets. We provide liquidity to financial markets using our own capital, at our own risk, trading a wide range of products: listed derivatives, cash equities, ETFs, bonds and foreign currencies.

In Asia Pacific, Optiver was one of the first global market makers to establish a presence in the region, with the incorporation our Sydney office in 1996. Since then, we have expanded our footprint by establishing offices in Taipei (2005), Hong Kong (2007), Shanghai (2012) and Singapore (2021). The business in Mumbai is newly established and deemed to be an integral part of the APAC strategy, with an anticipation of significant growth over the coming years.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

Optiver Mumbai is looking for a seasoned Data Engineer to be the first data engineering hire in our India office, responsible for supporting and advancing data needs for our local research team. You’ll collaborate closely with researchers in India and the Data Platform team in Sydney to productionise workflows, optimise data processing at scale, and manage infrastructure costs efficiently. This role requires deep experience with Spark and Databricks, combined with a drive to work independently and deliver impactful results. You will be part of a high-impact team in a dynamic and challenging environment, and will play a pivotal role in designing and implementing data solutions to support our research objectives. You’ll be responsible for ensuring the seamless operation of data pipelines, enabling efficient data access, and optimising our platform to align with cost and performance targets. You’ll partner with cross-functional teams to ensure data-driven insights are leveraged in real-time across the organisation. This is a unique opportunity to pioneer data engineering in our India office, working alongside talented researchers and engineers who are driving Optiver’s data and analytics strategy forward.  

Other responsibilities include:

• Data Pipeline Design & Development: Architect, build, and manage scalable data pipelines using Spark, Databricks, and proprietary tooling, ensuring high availability, scalability, and optimised performance.

• Workflow Productionisation: Collaborate with the research team to transform experimental workflows into production-ready data pipelines that meet performance and reliability standards.
• Cost Optimisation: Partner with the Data Platform team to monitor and optimise resource usage, adjusting configurations to balance performance and cost-effectiveness.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Liaise with the Data Platform team in Sydney to maintain alignment on data strategy, tools, and best practices.
• Monitoring & Tuning: Implement monitoring tools and fine-tune systems for optimal throughput, latency, and reliability, ensuring data is readily accessible and performant.
• Documentation & Standards: Develop and maintain clear documentation of data pipeline architecture, processes, and best practices.
• Mentorship & Guidance: Serve as a mentor to emerging data engineering talent in the team and provide technical guidance as the team scales.

WHO YOU ARE

Optiver needs our first India-based Data Engineer to be someone with:

• 5+ years in data engineering with a focus on scalable data technologies (e.g., Spark, Lakehouse).
• Proficiency in distributed data processing and building robust data pipelines, with hands-on experience in Spark and Python.
• Demonstrated ability to lead projects autonomously, prioritise tasks, and deliver high-quality results.
• Proven success collaborating with research and platform engineering teams to support data-driven projects.
• Strong problem-solving abilities with a focus on efficient, scalable, and cost-effective solutions.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills to convey complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, or a related fields.
• Other preferred qualifications include familiarity with cloud-based architectures (e.g. AWS), large-scale relational database experience (e.g. PostgreSQL) and/or experience with real-time data streaming technologies (e.g. Kafka).

 
WHAT YOU'LL GET

• The chance to work alongside diverse, intelligent, and driven peers in a rewarding environment.
• Competitive remuneration, including an attractive bonus structure.
• Training, mentorship and personal development opportunities.
• Competitive benefits.

As an intentionally flat organisation, we believe that great ideas and impact can come from everyone. We are passionate about empowering individuals and creating diverse teams that thrive. Every person at Optiver should feel included, valued and respected, because we believe our best work is done together.

Our commitment to diversity and inclusion is hardwired through every stage of our hiring process. 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.