Senior UX Designer

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Senior UX Designer

Company: MarketAxess

Location: New York, New York, United States

Job Type: Full-Time

Category: UX/UI Design, Product Design, Financial Technology

Date Posted: 2026-05-26T15:43:06

Experience Level: 7+ years

Remote Status: Hybrid

🚀 Role Summary

• Design and develop user experiences for complex, data-rich trading platforms within the fixed-income market.

• Drive the transformation of a desktop trading platform, focusing on clarity, coherence, and user adoption.

• Collaborate closely with Product and Engineering teams throughout the active build phase to ensure seamless integration of design.

• Leverage generative AI tools to accelerate design processes, explore innovative workflow options, and synthesize user feedback.

• Contribute to the evolution of future workflows and broader platform experiences, ensuring a unified and scalable customer journey.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is positioned within a fast-moving, AI-driven, and highly collaborative environment, requiring a hands-on, delivery-oriented approach to product design and user experience. The emphasis on "Take Us There" suggests a significant impact on the company's digital transformation journey.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Architect and design intuitive, high-fidelity user interfaces and prototypes for complex data grids and real-time trading workflows, with a focus on minimal whitespace and dark themes.

• Translate intricate user needs and complex business requirements into clear, scalable, and production-ready design solutions.

• Collaborate with clients and internal stakeholders to ensure product workflows align with user intent, reduce friction, and enhance usability.

• Define workflows, states, transitions, and edge cases prior to development to minimize ambiguity and rework for engineering teams.

• Champion a user-centered design process by conducting research, synthesizing findings, and iterating on designs based on user feedback and usage signals.

• Contribute to a unified desktop strategy by ensuring alignment with shared workflows, platform consistency, and overall customer experience improvements across the trade lifecycle.

• Advance the internal multi-theme design system in Figma, ensuring reusable patterns, visual consistency, and developer-ready handoffs for both dark and light modes.

• Support go-to-market strategies by contributing to workflow demos, explaining user experiences, and identifying adoption risks.

• Drive UX maturity across the organization by refining design processes, facilitating workshops, and advocating for design best practices.

• Mentor and support junior designers, fostering a collaborative and growth-oriented team environment.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a deep integration with development cycles, emphasizing the need for designers to be proactive in defining requirements and ensuring "UX readiness" before and during active build phases, rather than solely in a pre-build discovery capacity.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While not explicitly stated, a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Design, Human-Computer Interaction, or a related field is typically expected for senior UX roles.

Experience:

• 7+ years of UX design experience in enterprise software environments.

• 3+ years of experience designing fixed-income or trading applications, demonstrating a deep understanding of financial markets and trading workflows.

Required Skills:

• Expert-level proficiency in Figma for prototyping, design system contribution, and developer handoff.

• Demonstrated ability to design for complex data grids and dense UI components within enterprise-level applications.

• Strong understanding of desktop applications and desktop interoperability frameworks such as OpenFin, Interop.io, Electron, or FDC3.

• Experience in designing for multi-theme (dark and light modes) and scalable design systems across multiple products.

• Excellent communication, facilitation, and stakeholder engagement skills with the ability to articulate design decisions clearly and persuasively.

• Comfort operating in fast-paced, ambiguous environments with high complexity, demonstrating strong problem-solving capabilities.

• Ability to define workflows, gather cross-functional requirements, and effectively communicate design specifications.

Preferred Skills:

• Familiarity with AI, including proficiency in leveraging generative AI tools for wireframe creation, design variation exploration, rapid prototyping, and concept validation.

• Experience utilizing AI for user research to uncover behavioral patterns, predict user needs, and identify friction points for evidence-based design decisions.

• Experience applying AI-driven accessibility and quality checks to audit and validate UI designs against established standards.

• Strong understanding of prompt engineering for AI to generate and maintain design documentation, specifications, and component guidelines.

• Experience with customer experience (CX) approaches, considering end-to-end workflows and cross-application journeys.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on AI integration is a significant differentiator for this role, requiring candidates to not only possess traditional UX skills but also to be adept at incorporating AI into their design workflow for efficiency and enhanced insights.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Showcase a minimum of 3-5 complex enterprise software design projects, with a strong preference for financial trading platforms or data-intensive applications.

• Clearly articulate your role and contributions within each project, highlighting ownership of the end-to-end design process from discovery to delivery.

• Demonstrate expertise in designing dense, data-rich interfaces, complex data grids, and intricate workflows.

• Include examples of high-fidelity prototypes created in Figma, showcasing interaction design and user flow.

• Present case studies that detail user research methodologies, problem identification, design solutions, and the impact of your designs.

Process Documentation:

• Detail your approach to user research and discovery, including how you gather requirements, identify user pain points, and validate assumptions.

• Explain your workflow for translating complex requirements into actionable design specifications, including wireframes, user flows, and prototypes.

• Provide examples of how you collaborate with Product Managers and Engineers throughout the development lifecycle, from sprint planning to QA.

• Illustrate your experience in defining and documenting workflows, states, transitions, and edge cases for development teams.

• Showcase your contribution to or experience with design systems, including component design, pattern development, and ensuring consistency across themes (dark/light).

📝 Enhancement Note: Candidates should prepare to demonstrate their ability to integrate AI into their design process and portfolio. This includes showcasing how AI was used for ideation, research, or validation, and how they leveraged AI prompt engineering for documentation or system consistency.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: The estimated salary range for this position in New York City is $150,000 to $225,000 USD annually. This range is based on the provided job description, the senior level of the role, and industry benchmarks for UX Designers in major metropolitan financial hubs. Actual compensation may vary based on factors such as specific skills, experience, and location.

Benefits:

• Hybrid work environment with flexibility.

• Complimentary lunch and snacks provided when working in the office.

• Competitive Paid Time Off (PTO) package, including vacation, personal days, sick leave, and charity days.

• Generous parental leave policy (up to 20 weeks fully paid).

• 401(k) plan with a dollar-for-dollar employer match up to $17,500.

• Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) offering discounted MarketAxess common stock.

• Annual wellness stipend of up to $1,000 for gym memberships, home office equipment, and similar expenses.

• Onsite healthcare services available at the Hudson Yards location.

• Comprehensive tuition assistance and professional development opportunities, including live/on-demand learning, role-specific training, and guest speakers.

• Core benefits package including highly competitive medical, dental, and vision insurance programs.

Working Hours: The standard working hours are assumed to be 40 hours per week, typical for a full-time role. The hybrid work arrangement suggests flexibility in daily schedules, though specific team needs and project deadlines will dictate the exact hours required.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range provided is an estimate based on the explicit mention in the job description for NYC-based roles. The benefits listed are directly extracted from the "What You Can Expect from Us" section of the job description.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Financial Technology (FinTech), specifically focusing on electronic trading platforms for fixed-income securities. MarketAxess operates within a crucial but historically less digitized segment of the financial markets, driving innovation and efficiency.

Company Size: MarketAxess is a large enterprise, indicated by its significant global client base and comprehensive benefits package. This suggests a structured environment with established processes but also opportunities for impact within specialized teams.

Founded: MarketAxess was founded in 2000, giving it over two decades of experience in the electronic trading space, positioning it as a mature and established player undergoing significant digital transformation.

Team Structure:

• The UX Design Team is part of a larger Product and Engineering organization focused on transforming the desktop trading platform.

• This role is embedded within specific Product and Engineering teams, implying close, daily collaboration with cross-functional counterparts.

• The reporting structure likely involves a UX Design Lead or Manager, with the Senior UX Designer expected to mentor junior team members.

Methodology:

• Emphasizes a customer experience lens, focusing on end-to-end workflows, user goals, and adoption readiness.

• Utilizes a discovery phase to validate assumptions and uncover user behaviors through feedback and iterative testing.

• Integrates AI into the design process for concept generation, workflow exploration, feedback synthesis, and rapid prototyping.

• Works within agile methodologies, engaging in sprint cycles, refinement sessions, and QA reviews.

• Focuses on building and evolving a multi-theme design system to ensure consistency and scalability across products.

Company Website: https://www.marketaxess.com/

📝 Enhancement Note: The company's mission to digitally transform a large financial market, coupled with its emphasis on AI and a hybrid, collaborative environment, suggests a forward-thinking culture that values innovation and practical execution from its design team.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is explicitly designated as "Senior UX Designer." This level typically signifies a seasoned professional capable of handling complex design challenges independently, mentoring junior colleagues, and contributing to strategic design initiatives. The responsibilities suggest a significant impact on product direction and user experience strategy within the fixed-income trading platform.

Reporting Structure: The Senior UX Designer will likely report to a UX Design Manager or Director and will be embedded within cross-functional Product and Engineering teams. This structure allows for direct influence on product development while maintaining a connection to the broader design community within MarketAxess.

Operations Impact: The Senior UX Designer will play a critical role in the digital transformation of MarketAxess's core trading platform. Their work will directly influence user adoption, efficiency, and the overall competitiveness of the platform in the fixed-income market. By translating complex financial workflows into intuitive user experiences, they will enhance transparency, accessibility, and efficiency for traders, directly impacting MarketAxess's market position and revenue.

Growth Opportunities:

• Leadership Development: Opportunity to mentor junior designers, lead design initiatives for key features, and potentially move into a Lead UX Designer or UX Manager role.

• Skill Specialization: Deepen expertise in financial trading platform design, advanced data visualization, and the integration of AI in design processes. Opportunity to become a subject matter expert in these areas.

• Strategic Influence: Contribute to the company's overall UX strategy and design system evolution, shaping the future of MarketAxess's user experience across multiple products.

• Industry Exposure: Gain extensive experience in the complex and evolving FinTech sector, specifically within the fixed-income trading domain.

• Cross-Functional Engagement: Develop strong partnerships with Product and Engineering, gaining a holistic understanding of product development and delivery in a large enterprise.

📝 Enhancement Note: The role's "Senior" designation, combined with the emphasis on AI and platform transformation, indicates significant growth potential in both technical design skills and strategic product influence within the FinTech industry.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: The role is based in New York City and operates within a "Hybrid Environment," meaning employees work a mix of in-office and remote days. This suggests a blend of structured collaboration and individual flexibility.

Office Location(s): The primary office location is New York, New York, United States. The mention of "Hudson Yards location" in the benefits section likely refers to their office space.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Environment: The hybrid model encourages in-office days for team collaboration, workshops, and direct interaction with Product and Engineering teams. The free lunch and stocked snacks further support an engaging in-office experience.

• Tools and Technology: Access to advanced design tools like Figma is essential. The role also requires proficiency with desktop interoperability frameworks, suggesting a sophisticated desktop application ecosystem. The integration of AI tools is a key aspect of the workspace technology.

• Team Interaction: The embedded nature of the role means daily interaction with product managers, engineers, and QA professionals. Opportunities for mentorship and knowledge sharing with other designers are also present.

Work Schedule: The standard working hours are typically 40 hours per week. The hybrid arrangement allows for flexibility in managing personal time and work location, while project demands and team collaboration needs will shape the daily schedule.

📝 Enhancement Note: The hybrid model, coupled with onsite amenities like free food and healthcare, points to a company that invests in its employees' well-being and fosters an environment conducive to both focused work and collaborative innovation.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A review of your resume and portfolio to assess experience, skills, and alignment with the role's requirements, particularly in enterprise UX, financial trading platforms, and AI integration.

• Design Challenge/Case Study: You may be asked to complete a take-home design exercise or present a detailed case study from your portfolio. This will likely focus on solving a complex problem related to data-rich interfaces, trading workflows, or a similar challenge. Expect to discuss your process, rationale, and how you might leverage AI.

• Hiring Manager/Team Interviews: Interviews with the hiring manager and key members of the Product and Engineering teams. These will delve into your experience, problem-solving approach, collaboration style, and understanding of financial markets. Be prepared to discuss your experience with AI tools and their application in design.

• Senior Stakeholder/Panel Interview: A final interview with senior leadership, focusing on strategic thinking, leadership potential, and cultural fit. This may also involve a deeper dive into your portfolio and your vision for user experience.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Strategically: Select 3-5 projects that best showcase your expertise in enterprise UX, financial trading platforms, complex data visualization, and workflow design. Ensure at least one project highlights your experience with AI in design.

• Tell a Story: For each project, clearly articulate the problem, your role, the design process (including research, ideation, and iteration), the solutions you developed, and the measurable impact or outcomes. Use visuals effectively.

• Highlight AI Integration: Explicitly detail how you used AI tools in your design process, what prompts you used, and what benefits it provided (e.g., speed, exploration, insights).

• Demonstrate Figma Proficiency: Showcase your ability to create high-fidelity prototypes and contributions to design systems within Figma.

• Address Dark Theme & Dense UI: Be prepared to discuss your approach to designing for dark themes and dense, data-rich interfaces, as this is a specific requirement.

• Prepare for Workflow Discussion: Be ready to discuss your methods for defining, documenting, and collaborating on complex workflows with engineering teams.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand the Domain: Research MarketAxess, its platform, and the general landscape of fixed-income trading. Understand the challenges and complexities involved.

• Practice AI Prompting: Familiarize yourself with how to effectively prompt AI for design-related tasks, such as generating initial concepts, exploring variations, or synthesizing information.

• Focus on Process: Be ready to articulate your end-to-end design process, emphasizing user-centered methodologies, iterative design, and collaboration.

• Quantify Impact: Whenever possible, use data and metrics to demonstrate the success of your designs.

• Prepare for Collaboration Questions: Be ready to discuss how you work with Product Managers, Engineers, and other stakeholders, especially in a hybrid and fast-paced environment.

📝 Enhancement Note: Candidates should proactively prepare to discuss their experience with AI tools and methodologies, as this is a key differentiator for this role and will likely be a central theme in portfolio reviews and interviews.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Figma: Essential for high-fidelity prototyping, design system development, and collaborative design. Expert-level proficiency is required.

• Generative AI Tools: Proficiency in leveraging AI for concept generation, workflow exploration, feedback synthesis, and rapid prototyping. Specific tools are not named but the capability is crucial.

• AI for User Research: Experience using AI to uncover behavioral patterns, predict needs, and identify friction points.

Analytics & Reporting: While not explicitly detailed, a Senior UX Designer would typically engage with analytics tools to understand user behavior and measure the impact of design changes. This might include tools for user session recording, A/B testing analysis, and product analytics platforms.

CRM & Automation: Not directly applicable to the core UX design function, but understanding how user feedback and product usage data are captured and managed within CRM or product management systems could be beneficial for context.

Desktop Interoperability Frameworks:

• OpenFin: A leading operating system for financial desktop applications.

• Interop.io: A framework for inter-application communication.

• Electron: A framework for building desktop applications using web technologies.

• FDC3: A standard for desktop application interoperability.

📝 Enhancement Note: The requirement for proficiency with specific desktop interoperability frameworks like OpenFin is a critical technical skill for designing in this financial desktop environment. The emphasis on generative AI tools signifies a modern approach to design workflow.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Customer-Centricity: A strong focus on understanding and serving the needs of traders and clients, ensuring products are intuitive, efficient, and align with real-world usage patterns.

• Innovation: Embracing new technologies like AI to accelerate design processes, explore novel solutions, and drive the digital transformation of the financial market.

• Collaboration: Working hand-in-hand with Product and Engineering, fostering a team environment where ideas are shared freely, and cross-functional input is valued.

• Excellence & Rigor: Maintaining high standards for design quality, consistency, and user experience, particularly in dense, data-rich financial environments.

• Continuous Improvement: Actively seeking opportunities to refine processes, evolve workflows, and advance the overall UX maturity within the organization.

Collaboration Style:

• Embedded & Integrated: The UX Designer is embedded within Product and Engineering teams, fostering a close, daily working relationship.

• Cross-Functional: Collaboration extends beyond the immediate team to include clients, product managers, engineers, and QA, ensuring a holistic approach to product development.

• Feedback-Driven: A culture that encourages open feedback loops, iterative design, and validation through user research and testing.

• Mentorship & Knowledge Sharing: Senior designers are expected to mentor junior team members, and there's an emphasis on sharing best practices and advancing design system knowledge.

📝 Enhancement Note: The culture appears to be a blend of established financial industry rigor and forward-thinking technological adoption, particularly with AI. The emphasis on collaboration and customer focus suggests a dynamic and user-oriented environment.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Complexity at Scale: Designing for dense, data-rich financial trading environments with minimal whitespace requires meticulous attention to detail and a deep understanding of user needs under pressure.

• AI Integration Nuances: Effectively leveraging generative AI in a professional design context, including prompt engineering, ethical considerations, and ensuring quality output, presents an ongoing learning curve.

• Cross-Functional Alignment: Ensuring consistent UX vision and execution across multiple product and engineering teams, especially in a hybrid work model, requires strong communication and facilitation skills.

• Evolving Design Systems: Maintaining and evolving a multi-theme design system across various products to ensure consistency, scalability, and developer efficiency.

• Market Transformation: Contributing to the digital transformation of a historically analog market, which involves navigating established user behaviors and driving adoption of new electronic workflows.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Advanced AI in Design: Deepen expertise in leveraging AI for all stages of the design process, from research and ideation to prototyping and validation.

• Financial Domain Expertise: Gain in-depth knowledge of fixed-income trading, market dynamics, and the specific needs of financial professionals.

• Design System Leadership: Contribute significantly to the growth and strategic direction of MarketAxess's design system.

• Mentorship & Leadership: Develop leadership skills through mentoring junior designers and potentially leading design initiatives.

• Cross-Disciplinary Learning: Work closely with product and engineering, gaining valuable insights into software development lifecycles and technical constraints.

📝 Enhancement Note: The role offers a unique opportunity to tackle complex design challenges within a critical financial market while being at the forefront of integrating AI into design workflows, presenting significant avenues for professional growth and specialization.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you designed a complex, data-dense interface for a financial trading platform. What were the key challenges, and how did you address them?" (Focus on your process, decision-making, and specific design solutions for grids and dense UIs.)

• "How have you leveraged AI tools in your design process? Provide a specific example, including the prompts you used and the impact on your workflow or outcome." (Be ready to discuss generative AI for ideation, research synthesis, or prototyping.)

Company & Culture Questions:

• "What interests you about MarketAxess and our mission to transform the fixed-income market?" (Research the company's mission, recent news, and competitive landscape.)

• "How do you approach designing for both dark and light themes within a design system, and what are the key considerations for consistency?" (Discuss your experience with design systems and multi-theme development.)

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure for Impact: Begin with an executive summary of your most relevant project (e.g., financial trading platform). Clearly state the problem, your role, and the key outcomes.

• Deep Dive into Process: For each selected project, walk through your user-centered design process. Emphasize research, problem definition, ideation, iteration, and final solution.

• Showcase AI Integration: Specifically highlight any projects where AI was used. Explain the "how" and "why" of its application, detailing prompts and benefits.

• Data-Rich & Workflow Focus: Be prepared to discuss your design decisions for complex data grids, dense UIs, and intricate user workflows. Explain your rationale for layout, information hierarchy, and interaction patterns.

• Figma & Design System Expertise: Demonstrate your proficiency with Figma by showcasing interactive prototypes and explaining your contributions to design systems.

• Quantify Results: Where possible, present metrics or qualitative feedback that demonstrate the success and impact of your designs.

📝 Enhancement Note: Candidates should prepare to speak extensively about their experience with AI tools in design, their ability to handle complex financial data interfaces, and their collaborative approach with engineering teams. A well-structured portfolio presentation that highlights these aspects will be crucial.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Senior UX Designer position:

• Submit your application through the MarketAxess careers portal via the provided URL.

• Portfolio Customization: Tailor your portfolio to prominently feature your experience in enterprise software, financial trading platforms, complex data grids, and your proficiency with Figma. Ensure at least one project clearly demonstrates the integration and impact of AI in your design process.

• Resume Optimization: Update your resume to highlight 7+ years of UX experience, 3+ years in financial trading applications, and specific skills like Figma, AI tool utilization, and desktop interoperability frameworks. Use keywords from the job description.

• Interview Preparation: Practice articulating your design process, especially for complex financial workflows and data-rich interfaces. Prepare to discuss your experience with AI tools, your collaboration style with engineering, and your approach to design systems. Rehearse presenting a case study from your portfolio.

• Company Research: Thoroughly research MarketAxess, its mission, its role in the financial markets, and recent developments. Understand their commitment to digital transformation and AI integration.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and operations industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with the hiring organization before making application decisions.