Key Skills

Job Description

About Covolt Smart energy deserves smart people. Covolt is a fast-growing, technology-driven player in the energy market, operating at the intersection of data, algorithmic decision-making, and real-time trading. We develop and operate systems that translate energy and market data streams into autonomous trading decisions within the short-term power markets, including Day Ahead, Intraday, and ancillary services such as FCR and aFRR. Intraday price movements, day-ahead price signals, imbalance markets, and flexibility and reserve markets serve as the input for our algorithms. These systems independently determine whether to trade, in which direction, at what volume, at what price, and at what time, and automatically execute these decisions. The principle is clear: people develop the intelligence, algorithms make the decisions. Within multidisciplinary teams, data scientists, developers, and trading specialists collaborate on decision models, algorithms, and systematic trading strategies that create structural value in dynamic energy and commodity markets. We are looking for an Algorithmic Trader Developer who will actively contribute to developing, testing, implementing, and optimizing this algorithmic decision-making. About the Role You develop the logic. The algorithm trades. As an Algorithmic Trader Developer, you work at the intersection of trading, data, algorithms, and technology. Together with data scientists and developers, you develop the decision models and algorithms that independently determine when, where, how, and how much to trade within the short-term power markets. This is explicitly not a role where you continuously place orders manually yourself. You build the system that makes the trading decisions. You translate trading hypotheses, market insights, and data into algorithmic decision logic. These models are tested, validated, and integrated into production, where they independently make and execute real-time trading decisions. Particularly within the Intraday market, our systems combine market data, order books, price movements, forecasts, production and consumption data, and external signals to build a real-time view of the market. The algorithms determine, for example: Whether a trading opportunity exists. Whether or not a trade should be executed. In which direction and at what volume. At what moment and at what price an order should be placed. When a position needs to be adjusted or closed; How risk, liquidity, and execution are taken into account. The key question is not just “What’s happening in the market?”, but above all: “What decision should our algorithm make right now?” What does your job actually entail? You're building the intelligence behind autonomous trading" - David Rijsman - CTO Your responsibilities include: Developing and optimising algorithmic trading strategies across Day-Ahead, Intraday, FCR, and aFRR. Developing decision models that independently determine in real time which trading action should be taken. Designing signal logic, pricing logic, and execution logic. Developing models for trade/no-trade decisions, position sizing, timing, and order placement. Analyzing real-time market data, order book data, forecasts, and external signals. Investigating market structures, price movements, volatility, liquidity, and order flow. Developing and testing predictive models and statistical trading signals. Translating trading hypotheses into production-ready decision logic. Building and improving real-time data pipelines and analytics tools. Integrating algorithms with trading systems, APIs, and execution engines. Conducting backtests, simulations, and scenario analyses. Validating strategies for P&L, risk, robustness, execution quality, and scalability. Analyzing slippage, latency, execution issues, and market anomalies. Monitoring and optimising algorithms within the live trading environment. Identifying new market inefficiencies and translating them into new trading strategies. Contributing to the continued development of the algorithmic trading stack. Working with traders, data scientists, and developers throughout the full strategy lifecycle. Iterating quickly between research, development, backtesting, and live trading. You are therefore not just developing a model that makes a prediction, but a system that uses that prediction to independently make decisions and execute trades. This challenge is a match if you have the following qualities You are analytically strong, technically curious, and energized by developing systems that can make and execute decisions autonomously. You are interested in understanding why a market moves, how to model that behavior, and how to translate that information into an algorithmic trading decision.You are able to structure complex problems, formulate hypotheses, and translate them into models, algorithms, and concrete trading strategies. You understand that a good model ultimately needs to do more than be accurate — it must create value in a live trading environment. In addition, you have: A university degree (MSc or equivalent) in Econometrics, Data Science, Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, Engineering, or a comparable technical discipline. Strong analytical, quantitative, and conceptual skills. An affinity with algorithmic trading, financial markets, and quantitative modelling. Strong programming skills, preferably in Python. Experience with data analysis, statistics, and developing models and algorithms. An understanding of software development, version control, and testing. Experience with APIs, databases, and real-time data streams is a plus. Experience with backtesting, simulation, or trading strategy development is a strong plus. An interest in how decision models and algorithms can make autonomous trading decisions. An affinity with energy markets, particularly Day-Ahead, Intraday, FCR, and aFRR, is a strong plus. An independent, proactive, and results-oriented mindset. The ability to communicate technical and quantitative concepts clearly with traders, developers, and data scientists. Your Impact You build the algorithms that determine when Covolt trades. At Covolt, impact isn't about reports but about what happens in the market as a result. As an Algorithmic Trader Developer, you develop systems that continuously analyze the market and can make trading decisions without manual intervention. You directly contribute to: developing new trading signals and decision models; improving autonomous trading decisions; optimising timing, pricing, and position sizing; improving execution and reducing slippage; risk management and portfolio performance; identifying new trading opportunities; translating market data into automated trading actions. You are not just building a trading strategy. You are building a system that applies the strategy autonomously. What do we offer you? Freedom, responsibility. Grow faster than the market. At Covolt, you have the opportunity to make an impact within an organization operating at the heart of the energy transition. You will get: A key role within a fast-growing and ambitious organization. Direct involvement in the development of algorithmic trading strategies. The opportunity to develop decision models that are actually deployed in live trading. A technically challenging environment at the intersection of trading, data, algorithms, and software. Plenty of room for personal initiative and professional autonomy. The opportunity to rapidly take ideas from concept to backtest and then into production. Career advancement opportunities in line with Covolt's growth. Flexibility through hybrid work. Access to training, education, and professional development programs. A competitive salary with attractive secondary benefits. 27 vacation days (based on full-time employment). An additional day off on your birthday. 8% vacation allowance. A personal pension and financial planning program. An informal yet ambitious working environment. Friday afternoon get-togethers and regular team events. Working at Covolt Speed, ownership, and algorithmic decision-making as the foundation Covolt is building a future-proof energy system that brings together data, technology, and flexibility. We believe in speed, ownership, and data-driven decision-making as the foundation for sustained performance improvement. Within this context, you will play a key role as an Algorithmic Trader Developer in developing the algorithms and decision models that enable Covolt to operate in rapidly changing short-term power markets. Our systems continuously process large volumes of market data. The challenge is to translate this information into systems that make decisions independently, quickly, and reliably. We design the logic. We test the strategy. We improve the algorithm. The algorithm executes the trades. That is what you will work on. Interested? Will you build the algorithms that actually trade? Are you ready to develop algorithms that independently determine when, how, how much, and at what price to trade in the dynamic energy market? Would you like to work at the intersection of algorithmic trading, data, software, and the energy transition? Please submit your resume and cover letter using the form below or by sending an e-mail to [email protected] or contact Mike van Nieuwenhuizen at +31 (0)6 468 21 858.

Core Responsibilities

Develop, test, and optimize autonomous algorithmic trading strategies and decision models for short-term power markets, translating market data and trading hypotheses into production-ready logic. Integrate and monitor algorithms in live trading systems, using backtests and performance analysis to improve execution, risk management, and trading outcomes.

Requirements

A master's degree or equivalent in a technical or quantitative discipline, strong analytical and quantitative skills, and programming ability—preferably in Python—are sought. Candidates should have experience with data analysis, statistics, models or algorithms, and software development practices; experience with backtesting, APIs, real-time data, or energy markets is an advantage.

Benefits

• Hybrid Work
• Training And Professional Development
• Competitive Salary
• Secondary Benefits
• 27 Vacation Days
• Birthday Day Off
• 8% Vacation Allowance
• Personal Pension Program
• Financial Planning Program
• Team Events