The Maven Securities Interview Process

Maven trades options across London, Malta and Singapore, and mental arithmetic under pressure decides the process before markets knowledge does.

Maven Securities is an options market maker with trading floors in London, Malta, Singapore and several other locations, and its interview process centres on mental arithmetic and options pricing intuition tested under a strict clock, closer in style to Optiver or IMC Trading than to a systematic research shop. Candidates who have only prepared for research-style probability puzzles are frequently surprised by how much of the Maven process is timed calculation rather than open-ended discussion.

Because Maven's core business is quoting two-sided markets in options across multiple exchanges and time zones, the firm hires traders who can compute an implied move, a delta, or a rough Greeks adjustment in their head faster than a competing desk can. This changes what the interview rewards: a candidate who can multiply three-digit numbers quickly and correctly under time pressure will often outperform one with a stronger academic record but slower arithmetic.

The firm's multiple trading locations mean a candidate should ask early which office they are interviewing for, since the London, Malta and Singapore desks run largely separate hiring pipelines with different visa considerations, covered below, even though the technical bar is consistent across all three.

The first stage is typically an online numerical reasoning and mental math test, timed tightly enough that most candidates cannot finish every question, which is by design: the test measures speed and accuracy under pressure rather than completion. Candidates preparing for this stage benefit heavily from timed drilling on practice, particularly the mental math and sprint-style modes, since the arithmetic style Maven tests, percentages, quick multiplication, rough square roots, maps closely onto what those drills cover.

A short written or video assessment sometimes follows, asking a candidate to explain a market-making concept in their own words, which filters for basic options literacy before any live interview is scheduled.