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Lead UX Designer

IMC Trading · Chicago, IL · Systems & Infrastructure

Posted Sep 30, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026

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Likely interview questions for this role

Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.

About your past

Show me a design where you handled a lot of information on one screen. How did you keep it readable?

What they are checking: Experience with information-dense interfaces for expert users, which is the core of this role.

Tell me about a time engineers pushed back on a design because of performance. How did you resolve it?

What they are checking: Whether they collaborate with engineers on fast interfaces and adjust designs to real limits.

Tell me about a time you had real influence over how a product evolved, not just how it looked.

What they are checking: Whether they can lead UX at a strategic level, which this ground floor role asks for.

How do you mentor or raise the bar for other designers or engineers who touch the interface?

What they are checking: Leadership in spreading good UX practice across the firm, as the posting describes.

What would you do

How would you learn how a trader actually uses their tools during a busy market open?

What they are checking: Whether they rely on observation and research in context rather than asking users what they want.

Expert traders often say they want everything on screen. How do you decide what stays and what goes?

What they are checking: Whether they can balance power user demands with clarity instead of just adding features.

A senior trader insists on keeping an old workflow that you think slows them down. What do you do?

What they are checking: How they bring change to expert users who are skeptical and very busy.

About the work

What design principles matter most when someone has to act correctly in under a second?

What they are checking: Understanding of speed, accuracy and error prevention in tools used under pressure.

How would you set up a design system for a trading platform being rebuilt from the ground up?

What they are checking: Whether they can lead consistency across many tools, which a platform reinvestment needs.

How do you test whether a new design is actually faster or less error prone for traders?

What they are checking: Whether they measure outcomes like task time and errors instead of relying on opinions.

How do you design for keyboard-heavy use and custom layouts that power users expect?

What they are checking: Knowledge of interaction patterns that matter for people who use a tool all day.

Practice this interview out loud.

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The full job description

As published by IMC Trading.

At IMC, our trading tools are the environment traders and researchers live in all day. As a Lead UX Designer, you will help define how users understand the market, explore data, and make decisions in real time. This role combines deep workflow design with thoughtful, high quality user experience. IMC is making a significant reinvestment in its trading platform, rethinking core tools, workflows, and interaction patterns from the ground up. You will be on the ground floor of that effort, with real influence over how the platform evolves and how great UX shows up across the firm. You will work closely with traders, quantitative researchers, and engineers to design interfaces that are fast, intuitive, and well crafted. The goal is tools that feel natural under pressure, support complex decision making, and are genuinely good to use day after day. Your Core Responsibilities: • Collaborate with traders, quantitative researchers, and engineers to design interfaces that support core trading behavior • Develop a deep understanding of user needs, workflows, and day to day usage through research and observation • Translate complex requirements into intuitive, coherent, and visually clear designs • Design information-dense, high-reliability interfaces for expert power users, where speed, accuracy and clarity under pressure are critical • Balance efficiency with usability and visual quality across critical workflows • Lead the evolution of shared design systems and interaction patterns • Advocate for user centered design and usability testing throughout the product lifecycle • Partner with engineering to ensure designs are feasible, scalable, and well implemented • Navigate conflicting feedback and propose thoughtful tradeoffs aligned with user and business goals • Help define and drive a UX vision aligned with the platform’s future direction Your Skills and Experience: • Experience designing systems that are the central focus of a user’s entire day to day • A strong portfolio demonstrating both interaction design and visual craft • Experience working with complex or technical products in fast paced environments • Strong intuition for designing tools used under time pressure • Fluency in wireframing, prototyping, and communicating design intent • Ability to collaborate deeply with engineers and understand implementation constraints • Clear and effective communicator across disciplines • Pragmatic mindset that values simplicity, consistency, and quality The Base Salary range for the role is included below. Base salary is only one component of total compensation; all full-time, permanent positions are eligible for a discretionary bonus and benefits, including paid leave and insurance. Please visit Benefits - US | IMC Trading for more comprehensive information. Salary Range $200,000 — $225,000 USD About Us IMC is a research-driven trading firm where quantitative modeling, machine learning, and engineering shape how modern markets are traded. A stabilizing force in markets since 1989, we provide liquidity across trading venues, delivering the best outcome in value and risk management to investors. Using our own technology and capital, we build proprietary systems and algorithms that operate across global markets. Our researchers, traders, and engineers work as a collective, combining rapid experimentation, advanced infrastructure, and real-time feedback to turn insight into execution and execution into advantage.  

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