A day in the life of an IMC options strategy development team lead

DAY IN THE LIFE

Nevhan Ramadan is an options strategy development team lead at IMC.

FIELD OF STUDY

Bachelor of Science/Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical Engineering)(Computer Systems Engineering)(Computer Science)(Pure Mathematics) (Hons); Monash University; 2011

6.00am

9.00am

10.00am

I’m generally up at 6am for a morning gym session (membership subsidised by IMC!) before my baby daughter wakes up at around 7am.

I then look after her till about 8.30am when I’ll either log in and do a VC, chat with developers in Chicago (aren’t timezones fun!) or head into the office.

I’ll usually be in at around 9am. First up on the agenda is always a strong cup of coffee and breakfast. I then do a walk of the trading floor and catch up with traders before the markets open. Talking with traders is a really critical part of my job; being aware of what is going on in the markets and what problems they encounter helps me prioritise work for them. It gives me insights, which might inspire new solutions. By this time, I’ll look through chat logs from the previous night in case anything interesting happened in Europe or America. I’ll catch up with any emails.

Our development team works on a globally shared system. We tend to ‘move quickly and break things (safely)’. Being in tune with everything that is happening in the other offices means I can hopefully catch things before they might affect the traders I deal with locally.

12.00pm

1.00pm

3.00pm

5.00pm

We are generally out for lunch at around 12pm. We often head out of the office for a walk just across the street to North’s Sandwiches! We head back to the office and eat in the breakout area. Everyone here is really friendly. It’s a good way to meet people from different departments. It’s funny what little bits of information you pick up over lunch!

After lunch, I’ll likely have meetings with trading about a number of topics, discussing new ideas, and prioritising work. If I’m free of meetings, I’ll probably be coding away myself. I block out my calendars to ensure I get time when I need it, but being in management tends to fill up the calendar pretty quickly.

Luckily, this lines up with the lunch break of the Hong Kong Exchange, so I usually go for a walk with some of the traders I work closest with and grab coffee.

This is a great time to discuss ideas in a more casual setting. After I’ve refuelled, I will likely either finish off my own work or spend the afternoon reviewing code from the rest of my team – these days I’ll spend probably more time reviewing than writing my own code.

My wife and I both work, so one of us at this time has to head home to take care of the baby. We try and alternate schedules, so one of us is home earlier and one of us hangs back at work a while longer if needed.

6.30pm Staff in Amsterdam are just getting into the office to start their morning. Some nights I’ll have a VC with developers or traders in Europe.

7.00pm Baby is put down to sleep. I will have dinner and spend the rest of my night relaxing with my wife. No laptops allowed!