# Valkyrie Trading Interview Guide (2026): A Lean, Chicago-Based Derivatives Shop Source: https://www.techinterview.org/companies/valkyrie-trading-interview-guide/ Updated: 2026-08-23 · techinterview.org Valkyrie Trading is a Chicago-based proprietary trading firm, founded in 2011, that trades only its own capital in derivatives, options, and futures markets rather than managing outside money. It is a small shop by industry standards — roughly 50 employees — and hires software engineers to build the C++/C# systems that price, model, and manage risk in real time. The interview process is leaner and less standardized than what you'd see at Jane Street or Citadel: expect an automatic online assessment, a coding round, and a final round that mixes technical questions with straightforward behavioral conversation. Public reporting on the exact stages is thin, so treat the later rounds as variable by role and interviewer. Valkyrie Trading, LLC was formed in Chicago in 2011 to build automated trading systems for derivatives markets. Unlike a hedge fund or asset manager, Valkyrie has no outside investors or clients — it trades only its own capital across securities, futures, and options, which means the firm's engineers and traders are building infrastructure for the firm's own risk book rather than a client-facing product. The company is headquartered at 425 S. Financial Place in Chicago's financial district, a few blocks from the CME and CBOE. Valkyrie is small. Company profiles put headcount around 50-55 people, and its careers page typically lists a handful of open roles at any given time — Junior Software Engineer, Trade Support Engineer, Derivatives Trader, and Quantitative Researcher are the recurring postings. That size matters for how you should read this guide: Valkyrie doesn't have the years of accumulated interview-loop folklore that Jane Street or Citadel Securities do. Fewer candidates go through the process, fewer people write it up afterward, and the loop itself is more likely to vary by team and by who's interviewing you that week. ## Process Based on candidate reports on Glassdoor and Wall Street Oasis, Valkyrie's process runs leaner and less scripted than the big-name prop shops. There's no evidence of the multi-week, five-and-six-round marathon you'll find documented for firms like Optiver or Hudson River Trading. What does show up consistently across reports: - An online assessment that goes out automatically once you apply. For engineering roles this has been described as a timed multi-problem coding test (one candidate reported a 2.5-hour assessment with four coding challenges); for trading and quant roles it leans on sequences, probability, and expected-value questions. - A live coding or technical phone screen, which for engineering candidates follows a fairly standard data-structures-and-algorithms format similar to what you'd prep with the site's [algorithm patterns cheat sheet](/algorithm-patterns-cheat-sheet/). - A final round, sometimes held over Zoom and sometimes on-site, that mixes behavioral questions with technical follow-ups. Trading candidates have described a market-making game in this stage; engineering candidates should expect system design or code-review style discussion instead. Glassdoor's aggregate data puts the average time-to-hire around 18 days, though Junior Software Engineer candidates reported a slower process, closer to a month, likely because the role only opens intermittently. Given how few data points exist publicly, treat any specific round count as a rough sketch rather than a fixed script — a firm this size adjusts its process per req. If you want general behavioral prep that applies regardless of exactly how many rounds Valkyrie runs, the site's [behavioral interview guide](/post/3233460379/behavioral-interview-questions-2026-star-method-amazon-leadership-principles-and-winning-answers/) covers the STAR method and how to build a story bank you can adapt on the fly. For the quant and probability side of the loop, the broader [quant finance](/category/quant-finance/) section on this site has firm-agnostic prep on expected value, mental math, and market-making intuition that maps directly onto what candidates report seeing here. ## What they actually ask - Standard coding-interview problems (arrays, strings, trees, graphs) delivered as a timed online assessment before you talk to anyone - Multi-threaded and concurrent programming questions, since the job description for the Junior Software Engineer role specifically calls out experience with multi-threaded server-client applications - C++ or C# fundamentals — the firm's engineering postings name these as the primary languages, with comfort in both Windows and Linux environments expected - Probability and expected-value brainteasers, particularly for anyone interviewing on the trading or quant research track - Sequence and pattern-recognition puzzles, reported repeatedly in the online assessment stage for trading roles - A market-making or trading simulation game in the final round for trading candidates, testing how you price risk and react under pressure - Behavioral questions about why trading, why a small firm, and how you handle ownership of a project end-to-end — the job postings emphasize "full ownership" from design through maintenance ## Levels and comp (2026) Valkyrie doesn't publish a leveling ladder the way larger firms do — postings are simply titled Junior, Mid-Level, or Senior for a given track (Software Engineer, Derivatives Trader, Quantitative Researcher), without the L1-L5 style structure you see at bigger tech-adjacent employers. Job listings for the Junior Software Engineer role have stated a specific base salary with a discretionary annual bonus on top, and Levels.fyi's small sample of self-reported data for Valkyrie software engineers in the Chicago area shows total compensation packages spanning a wide range depending on level and bonus outcome. Because the sample sizes on both Levels.fyi and Glassdoor are small for a firm this size, treat any number you see there as directional rather than a guarantee, and check both sources close to when you're actually negotiating rather than relying on this guide for a figure. ## Prep priorities - Get comfortable with core data structures and algorithms first — the online assessment is a real filter, and it looks like a conventional coding test rather than a puzzle-based screen - Practice multi-threading and concurrency concepts in C++ or C#, since the engineering job descriptions call this out directly rather than treating it as a nice-to-have - Brush up on probability, expected value, and mental math even if you're interviewing for an engineering role — these show up across the firm's assessments regardless of track - If you're on the trading or quant track, review options pricing basics and practice a market-making exercise so the format isn't new to you in the room - Prepare two or three concise stories about owning a project end-to-end, since the firm's postings repeatedly emphasize full ownership from design through maintenance rather than working inside a large team structure - Don't assume Valkyrie's process mirrors what you've read about Jane Street or Citadel — a smaller firm with fewer open reqs interviews less formulaically, so go in ready to answer directly rather than pattern-matching a memorized script ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What does Valkyrie Trading actually trade? Valkyrie trades derivatives, futures, options, and other securities using its own capital. It has no outside investors or clients, so all the risk on the book belongs to the firm itself, not to fund investors. ### How big is Valkyrie Trading? Company data puts headcount around 50-55 employees, making it considerably smaller than the well-known Chicago prop shops like DRW or Jump Trading. It's a single-office firm based in Chicago's Financial Place, without the multi-city footprint bigger firms have. ### What programming languages does Valkyrie Trading use? Engineering job postings name C++ and C# as the primary languages, with candidates expected to work comfortably across both Windows and Linux environments. Multi-threaded, server-client application experience is explicitly called out as a requirement. ### Does Valkyrie Trading offer internships? The firm's own careers page has stated it is not offering fall, spring, or summer internships for a given academic year, while pointing candidates toward shorter programs like a trading boot camp instead. Availability changes year to year, so check the current careers page directly before assuming an internship track exists. ### Is Valkyrie Trading's interview process similar to Jane Street or Citadel Securities? Not closely. Those firms run long, heavily standardized loops with years of candidate write-ups behind them. Valkyrie is a much smaller shop, and the public record — a handful of Glassdoor and Wall Street Oasis reviews — describes a shorter, less formalized process: an automatic online assessment, a coding or technical round, and a final round that blends behavioral and technical questions. Expect more variation interviewer to interviewer than you would at a larger, more process-driven firm.