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About the Role
We are seeking an experienced financial markets lawyer to act as a trusted advisor, leading complex negotiations, advising senior stakeholders, and taking ownership of significant legal matters in a fast-moving environment with direct commercial impact.
Responsibilities
- Lead legal support for key business initiatives and act as the primary legal adviser to assigned trading desks.
- Advise traders and business stakeholders on legal issues arising from market making, exchange trading, listed derivatives, clearing, and related market infrastructure.
- Challenge stakeholders and help shape commercial outcomes through clear, pragmatic legal advice.
- Draft, review, and negotiate trading and commercial documentation, including futures and options clearing agreements; prime brokerage agreements; execution, brokerage, and market access agreements; exchange and market infrastructure documentation; market data, connectivity, and trading technology agreements; and other commercial agreements supporting the trading business.
- Provide pragmatic advice on market structure, trading regulation, market conduct, and legal risk affecting the European trading business.
- Work closely with compliance and risk teams to develop practical solutions that balance business objectives and legal risk.
- Support strategic projects, including new market launches, legal entity expansions, and growth initiatives.
- Manage external counsel where specialist jurisdictional or product expertise is required.
- Develop scalable legal processes, templates, playbooks, and technology-enabled solutions to improve the effectiveness of the legal function.
- Contribute to the continued development of Legal as a proactive, commercially focused business partner.
Requirements
- Qualified lawyer in England & Wales.
- 8–15 years' post-qualification experience, with most of that experience focused on financial markets, derivatives, or trading.
- Experience within the markets legal function of an investment bank or other financial markets participant.
- Experience at a leading international law firm with a recognized financial markets, derivatives, or trading practice is desirable.
- Demonstrable experience advising trading businesses on legal and commercial issues.
- Experience advising on trading regulation as part of a broader markets legal practice is required, including close partnership with front-office trading businesses.
- Strong experience negotiating complex financial markets agreements, including execution agreements, brokerage agreements, exchange documentation, clearing documentation, market access arrangements, market data agreements, or other trading-related contracts.
- A strong understanding of financial market infrastructure, including exchanges, central counterparties, clearing brokers, and execution models.
- The judgment and confidence to lead negotiations independently, balance legal and commercial risk, and provide pragmatic advice without close supervision.
- Outstanding drafting, analytical, and communication skills, with the ability to explain complex legal issues clearly to traders, technologists, and senior management.
- Ability to manage multiple high-priority matters simultaneously while exercising sound judgment in a fast-moving environment.
- Intellectual curiosity and a genuine interest in understanding the products, strategies, and markets that underpin Optiver's trading business.
- A collaborative, low-ego approach and a genuine enjoyment of working as part of a high-performing team.
- Build trusted relationships through sound judgment, responsiveness, and high-quality execution.
- Be approachable, pragmatic, and easy to work with.
- Experience at a proprietary trading firm or market maker is a plus.
- Experience supporting algorithmic or electronic trading businesses is a plus.
- Familiarity with MiFID II, UK MiFIR, and exchange rulebooks is a plus.
- Experience implementing scalable legal processes or legal technology is a plus.
- Experience supporting strategic business projects is a plus.
Skills
- Financial markets law
- Derivatives law
- Trading law
- Negotiation
- Legal advisory
- Commercial agreements
- Trading regulation
- Market structure
- Risk management
- Compliance
- Drafting
- Analytical skills
- Communication skills
- Project management
Location
- Europe
Work Type
- Full-time
Experience Level
- 8-15 years post-qualification experience
Education Level
- Qualified lawyer in England & Wales
Benefits
- Performance-based bonus structure
- 27 paid vacation days plus all UK public holidays
- Daily breakfast and lunch
- Support on commuting expenses
- Private medical insurance
- Pension scheme
- ClassPass fitness membership
- Training and continuous learning opportunities
- Access to conferences and tech events
- International transfer opportunities
About the Company
- Optiver's mission is to constantly improve the market by injecting liquidity, providing accurate pricing, increasing transparency, and acting as a stabilizing force.
- Optiver focuses on continuous improvement and the safeguarding of healthy and efficient markets.
- Optiver is one of the largest market-making institutions and a trusted partner of over 70 exchanges globally.
Equal Opportunity
- Optiver is committed to diversity and inclusion.