Sr. UX Researcher

What you'll do:

In this role, you will lead research initiatives that bridge the gap between complex trading workflows and intuitive product design. You will apply a variety of research methodologies, from generative to evaluative, to uncover user needs, validate solutions, and optimize the trading experience. Your insights will directly influence the design and development of NinjaTrader's Futures Trading platform, ensuring it meets and exceeds the expectations of expert and new traders.

In this role you will:

• Strategically select and apply research methods based on project needs
• Generative research to explore trader behaviors, workflows, and pain points
• Concept validation to refine ideas before development
• Evaluative research to assess the effectiveness of design solutions
• Behavioral and quantitative research to track user patterns and validate findings at scale
• Conduct deep research into trader psychology, decision-making under pressure, and automation workflows, ensuring the platform supports both expert and new-to-futures traders
• Collaborate with designers, product managers, and engineers to translate insights into user-centered solutions
• Develop personas and journey maps to align stakeholders on trader goals and pain points
• Advocate for research-backed decision-making, ensuring UX is grounded in user needs rather than assumptions
• Present findings in compelling ways through reports, workshops, and data-driven storytelling
• Partner with market researchers and data analysts to triangulate user insights with behavioral data and market trends
• Establish and refine research frameworks, processes, and best practices to scale research impact across teams

What you'll need:

• 5+ years of UX research experience in complex environments (fintech, trading, enterprise software, or similar domains)
• Expertise in a broad range of research methods, knowing when and how to apply each based on the research objective
• Experience conducting usability studies and optimizing workflows for high-stakes decision-making environments
• Ability to synthesize qualitative and quantitative insights to tell a clear and compelling user story
• Proficiency in UX research tools and behavioral analytics
• Strong collaboration skills, with the ability to work across design, product, data, marketing, and engineering teams to drive user-centered solutions
• Excellent communication and storytelling abilities, with experience presenting insights to senior stakeholders

Bonus points for:

• Experience with futures trading platforms or other financial markets
• Background in behavioral economics or cognitive psychology
• Experience working in fast-paced, agile environments
• Familiarity with trading platforms, real-time data visualization, risk management tools, or trading concepts is a huge plus

Compensation:

The salary range for this role will be $155,000 - $175,000 USD. In addition, this position will also receive an annual target bonus of 12%. Bonus pay at NinjaTrader is based on individual performance (50%) as well as company/team performance (50%).

Salary and bonus earnings are only two components of the total compensation package offered by NinjaTrader. NinjaTrader offers a 401K plan through ADP under which the company will match up to 3.5% of employee contributions. Annual paid time off allowance accrues at a rate of 18 days per year (some positions may qualify for more) plus seven paid holidays. Additional details on our total compensation package and benefits are listed below.

Location:

This role is based in Chicago, IL. *There may be remote flexibility for exceptional candidates in the following states: California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C.

Hybrid:

For Chicago-based employees, we follow a hybrid work schedule: In-office Tuesday through Thursday, with remote work on Mondays and Fridays. In addition to these weekly remote days, we offer:

• 20 additional flex remote days annually
• 5 Company Wide Office-Optional weeks tied to major holidays