[This posting is NO LONGER OPEN.  However, you may want to keep an
 eye on future openings at this organization.]

Octanti Associate GmbH is looking for excellent hackers. 

The job is extending equity derivative systems at a bank in Munich. This job
requires relocation to Munich. German language skills are absolutely
unnecessary. 

Much of the current work involves modifying a legacy system so that it can
be used with dynamic languages, particular Common Lisp. New projects will be
as independent of the legacy system as is technically and practically
feasible. For performance reasons (and due to the advanced state of Common
Lisp implementations), these will likely be done in Common Lisp.

We expect, in the next year, to do interesting work with parallel
programming and partial evaluation (and likely CAML).

This job requires a lot rigorous methods (e.g. program transformation),
abstract thinking and problem solving, working with other systems (e.g.
Excel, legacy systems), and lots of hacking. Much of the existing code is
C++. In production, where the users use the legacy system, there is no
development environment.

This is a very unique and challenging job -- a very stimulating and
rewarding one -- for someone who likes programming and computation. In order
to do our job (e.g. help traders make money) we must use advanced techniques
in a difficult environment. But advanced techniques are used only when they
are likely to pay off -- things are very much "worse is better."

Particularly difficult: we make lots of small changes to our systems, and
these must not break anything. We have to make (informal) proofs of
correctness -- appropriate to the risks -- to make sure that things will
very likely work. Also, we have limited ability to control our
software/hardware environment.

Good experience would include: embedded systems work, compiler work,
numerically intensive programming, parallel processing, correctness proofs,
extending systems like Scheme-48 or working in PreScheme.

We have a lisp-flavored ad at www.franz.com.

If you are interested, please send me information about yourself: 

heath.putnam@octanti.com
