High Performance Computing (HPC) Intern (Summer 2027 - Chicago)

Optiver • Chicago, IL

22h • Onsite

About The Position

As an HPC Engineer Intern, you’ll work side-by-side with your mentor and teammates to build and optimize the infrastructure that powers a global trading firm. Your projects will be scoped based on real business needs and your mentor will be fully invested in helping you design scalable, high-performance systems that are built to last. You’ll contribute to meaningful projects that support large-scale research, machine learning, and data analysis pipelines, and you’ll see your work drive real impact across trading teams. We operate in one of the most fast-paced and competitive environments in the tech industry. That means no two days are the same, and every day brings new, exciting technical challenges to solve. Our internship is designed for fast thinkers with a critical mindset and a drive to solve tough problems. You’ll experience what it’s like to be a full-time HPC engineer at a leading trading firm — working on projects that push the limits of high-performance compute, parallel processing, and resource efficiency. Mentored by Optiver engineers, our program gives you the opportunity to deep dive into trading fundamentals, from theoretical concepts to financial markets, strategies, and the infrastructure that powers them, collaborate closely with best-in-class engineers, traders, and business teams to design, test, and deploy solutions, work alongside the Delta One team to build and improve the compute infrastructure that powers their research and trading workflows, work on improving large-scale compute environments, including highly parallelized on-premise clusters and cloud infrastructure, support and optimize Linux-based systems, storage, and networking components, contribute to automation for job scheduling, monitoring, and system configuration (e.g., Python-based tooling), evaluate hardware, software, and cloud solutions to improve performance and scalability, and tackle complex, real-world problems to enhance your critical thinking and problem-solving skills, push your limits and accelerate your growth in a fascinating and high-performing environment.

Requirements

• A student pursuing a bachelor’s, master’s, or PhD in Computer Engineering or a related field
• On track to graduate between December 2027 to June 2028, with junior standing or higher
• Passionate about building reliable systems, writing clean code, and continuous improvement
• Proficient in programming languages such as Python, C++, or similar
• Familiarity with Linux systems and an interest in distributed systems, networking, or infrastructure
• A student with strong engineering instincts and a solid understanding of computer engineering fundamentals
• Interest in how AI and ML workloads shape modern compute infrastructure, from GPUs to large-scale distributed systems
• Driven by an entrepreneurial mindset and curious about how technology powers the financial industry
• A natural problem-solver with a sharp, analytical approach to tackling challenges
• A collaborative teammate comfortable working with developers, traders, and business teams

Responsibilities

• Deep dive into trading fundamentals, from theoretical concepts to financial markets, strategies, and the infrastructure that powers them
• Collaborate closely with best-in-class engineers, traders, and business teams to design, test, and deploy solutions
• Work alongside the Delta One team to build and improve the compute infrastructure that powers their research and trading workflows
• Work on improving large-scale compute environments, including highly parallelized on-premise clusters and cloud infrastructure
• Support and optimize Linux-based systems, storage, and networking components
• Contribute to automation for job scheduling, monitoring, and system configuration (e.g., Python-based tooling)
• Evaluate hardware, software, and cloud solutions to improve performance and scalability
• Tackle complex, real-world problems to enhance your critical thinking and problem-solving skills
• Push your limits and accelerate your growth in a fascinating and high-performing environment

Benefits

• The opportunity to work alongside best-in-class professionals from over 40 different countries
• A highly-competitive internship compensation package
• Optiver-covered flights, living accommodations, and commuting stipends
• Extensive office perks, including breakfast, lunch and snacks, regular social events, clubs, sporting leagues and more

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Intern
• Education Level: No Education Listed