Life at Smarkets
Our values, how we work, and why people stay.
Our values
These values shape how we hire, give feedback, and make decisions.
01
Give a Shit
Care beyond your job description.
You spot a colleague stuck and help before they ask. When something breaks late at night, you're already fixing it not because you're on-call, but because you care.
02
Make Others Better
The best teams elevate everyone.
You write code that's easy for the next person to understand. You review PRs thoughtfully. You share context, document decisions, and help new joiners ramp up fast. Collaboration isn't a buzzword; it's how we ship.
03
Be a Pro
High standards, continuous improvement.
You go beyond expectations. You read the research. You care about correctness, performance, and clarity. You train and practice to hone your craft and maximize your potential.
04
Bring the Energy
Positive intensity drives performance.
You show up with focus and drive. You make people excited to work with you. You push through hard problems without dragging the room down. Energy and attitude shape how teams perform.
05
Push to Win
Seek out challenges. That's how we grow.
You lean into hard problems instead of avoiding them. You want to be the best and bring your team along. We compete against much larger companies. We win by being sharper, faster, and more determined.
How we work
Bias to action
We value debate and challenge, but decisions should move the work forward. Strong opinions matter most when paired with pragmatism and speed.
Customer focus
Everyone uses the product, we place real bets, watch how friends and family use it, and read every review. Staying close to the customer experience is how we build better.
In-person by default
At least 3 days in the office a week. We designed our space for focused work and collaboration. Remote tools bridge the gaps, but the core work happens together.
High-autonomy teams
Small teams, real ownership. You build it, you ship it, you own it.
Own the full stack
We build our core systems in-house, including the matching engine, market maker, risk systems, and frontends. See our technology →
Competitive compensation
Benchmarked against top-tier tech companies and reviewed regularly. Equity participation means you share in the company's growth.
How we celebrate
Work is important. So is not working.
We work hard. We also know how to turn it off. We eat together every day, with lunch prepared by our in-house chef. It allows teams to connect across functions. It's a regular chance for people across the business to talk about work, life, and what happened in the markets that week.
Every quarter we host all-hands meetings, every month we host town halls where teams present their wins. We celebrate major launches and recognize great work. Summer parties, Christmas dinners, and an internal hackathon round out the year.
We compete: poker nights, sports watch parties, gaming tournaments. We travel together for off-sites. We occasionally commit to questionable karaoke.
The work matters, and so does enjoying the people you work with.
Benefits
What you get, beyond the work itself. Benefits below cover London. For Malta and US employees, refer to the relevant job description.
Compensation
Competitive salaries
Reviewed regularly against top-tier tech benchmarks.
Stock options
Your share in what we build.
Pension match up to 6%
We match your pension contributions up to 6% of salary.
Time & flexibility
25 days annual leave plus bank holidays
Unpaid leave
Hybrid model
At least three days a week on site.
Growth
£1,000 learning budget
Invest in yourself annually, books, courses, conferences.
Knowledge sharing
Regular sessions where teams share learnings and deep-dives.
Life & wellbeing
Enhanced parental leave
For primary and secondary caregivers.
EAP
Employee assistance program for all staff.
Private healthcare
Comprehensive private medical cover.
Team building
Daily breakfast and lunch prepared by our in-house chef. Quarterly budget for team activities. Regular socials, summer party, boardgame night, and annual company-wide strategy day.