Optiver has appointed Lance Braunstein as global chief technology officer (CTO), effective 1 May.
In addition, Braunstein will join as a member of the executive committee and partner, based in New York.
He joins from BlackRock, where he most recently served as head of Aladdin engineering, holding responsibility for the design, product management, development and operation of the firm’s investment management technology platform.
Before that, Braunstein served as chief information officer at E-Trade, where he developed an options trading platform.
Elsewhere in his career, Braunstein held senior technology-related positions at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.
“I’m excited to join the team and I look forward to continuing the tradition of engineering excellence that has long been central to Optiver’s success,” said Braunstein.
“This is an opportunity to evolve the resilience, scale and performance of Optiver’s platform, while leveraging emerging technologies to innovate at a moment of significant growth for the firm.”
As part of the newly-created role, Braunstein will drive a unified global strategy spanning various business lines and regions, working alongside regional CTOs.
He will report directly to Jan Boomaars, chief executive at Optiver.
“As a global market-making firm, technology is at the core of what we do,” said Boomaars.
“Lance’s leadership will help us further enhance our agility, drive greater efficiency, and foster continued innovation in our mission to improve the market.”