Senior Compliance Officer – Institutional Sales & Trading Advisory

Are you looking for a role where your expertise and judgement can make a real impact? Do you enjoy working closely with the business, taking ownership and translating complex regulatory requirements into practical solutions? 

Join Optiver's Compliance team in London and play a key role in supporting our growing Institutional Sales & Trading business. You will work directly with stakeholders across the firm on a broad range of regulatory, conduct and financial crime matters, while contributing to the development of the Global Compliance framework as the business continues to evolve. 

What you'll do 

As a Senior Compliance Officer, you will join the Trading Advisory team in London, focusing on Institutional Sales & Trading. Working closely with the front office, you will advise on counterparty interactions, communications, trading activity, and the regulatory framework within which the business operates. 

You will build a strong understanding of the business and its trading workflows, independently own your advisory work, and become a trusted point of contact for the front office, proactively identifying and addressing emerging risks. You will also lead initiatives from start to finish and work closely with Compliance colleagues across Optiver's global offices. 

Your responsibilities will include: 

• Provide independent Compliance advice to Institutional Sales & Trading, applying your knowledge of trading workflows, counterparties, markets and applicable regulatory requirements. 
• Advise on sales and trading conduct, including counterparty interactions, communications, conflicts of interest, confidential information and cross-border activity. 
• Take ownership of financial crime assessments across counterparty onboarding, jurisdictions and trading activity, including AML and sanction risks, identifying appropriate controls and escalations. 
• Review external communications, marketing materials, presentations, and disclosures to ensure they are accurate, balanced, and compliant with applicable requirements.  
• Lead Compliance input into new products, counterparties, markets and strategic initiatives, partnering with the business and control functions to develop compliant solutions. 
• Assess relevant surveillance escalations and potential conduct concerns, and coordinate responses to regulatory and exchange enquiries, audits and information requests. 
• Monitor regulatory developments, maintain practical policies and guidance, deliver targeted training, and collaborate with global Compliance colleagues while supporting junior team members. 

Who you are

• You have significant relevant experience in Compliance, Legal, Risk or another control function within a financial institution, ideally within an investment bank or other institutional markets business, with exposure to a trading floor environment.  
• You have a strong understanding of the regulatory, conduct and financial crime risks in  institutional markets , including sales conduct, , conflicts of interest, confidential information, cross-border requirements, AML, sanctions, counterparty due diligence and jurisdictional risk, alogside experience advising front-office stakeholders directly. 
• You have a strong understanding of financial markets and are comfortable developing detailed knowledge of products, trading strategies and transaction workflows. Experience across equities, FX, fixed income, or commodities is a plus. 
• Experience working across multiple jurisdictions, particularly the UK, EU and/or US, and applying different regulatory requirements to cross-border activities is advantageous. 
• You can establish credibility with experienced institutional sales and trading professionals and build strong relationships across functions and geographies, while maintaining independent judgement and providing constructive challenges where necessary. 
• You take ownership of complex matters with limited oversight, lead initiatives from start to finish and drive issues through to a clear conclusion. 
• You are curious, analytical, and solutions oriented. You seek to understand how the business actually operates rather than applying regulation in isolation, and you turn complex regulatory requirements into concise, actionable advice. 
• You have experience guiding junior colleagues, delegating effectively, and providing constructive feedback that improves the quality of the team's work. 

Who we are

At Optiver, our mission is to constantly improve the market by injecting liquidity, providing accurate pricing, increasing transparency and acting as a stabilizing force no matter the market conditions. With a focus on continuous improvement, we participate in the safeguarding of healthy and efficient markets for everyone who participates. As one of the largest market making institutions, we are a trusted partner of 70+ exchanges across the globe.

What you'll get

You’ll join a culture of collaboration and excellence, where you’ll be 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, working collectively to tackle the toughest problems in the financial markets. 

In addition, you’ll receive: 

• A performance-based bonus structure, enabling all of our employees to benefit from our global profit pool. 
• 27 paid vacation days plus all UK public holidays. 
• Daily breakfast and lunch, along with support on commuting expenses. 
• Private medical insurance, pension scheme, and ClassPass fitness membership. 
• Training and continuous learning opportunities, including access to conferences and tech events. 
• International transfer opportunities for global career growth. 

How to apply
Apply directly via the form below. If you have any questions feel free to contact our Recruitment team via our recruitment inquiry form.

Please note:

• We do not require any assistance from third-parties including agencies in the recruitment of this role
• We cannot accept applications via email

Diversity statement

Optiver is committed to diversity and inclusion.