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Design Systems, Design Lead

Chicago

JOIN US ON OUR MISSION TO BECOME THE #1 RETAIL TRADING PLATFORM IN THE WORLD

Welcome to the dynamic world of NinjaTrader! As an industry-leading trading platform and futures broker, we're on a mission to empower traders to take control of their financial destiny. How do we do it? We provide cutting-edge products and services that enhance the trading journey. Whether a seasoned pro or just starting out, NinjaTrader equips traders with award-winning software and brokerage services to navigate the world's leading financial markets with confidence.  

Our growth story is nothing short of exhilarating. Over the last 20 years, NinjaTrader has been dedicated to understanding and supporting traders on their journey toward trading triumph. In the last five years alone, our user base has grown by 400% to over 1.9 million users and we have become the number one rated futures brokerage worldwide. 

But we're not stopping there. We're constantly evolving, pushing boundaries, and modernizing the futures industry. Our commitment to innovation means users will always have access to dynamic tools, real-time support, and a community of like-minded traders.  

So, why work at NinjaTrader? Here, you're not just part of a team; you're part of a movement. We empower employees to reach new heights in their careers by providing a dynamic culture focused on social connection, professional development, and employee recognition initiatives. Sounds too good to be true? Take it from our employees. 

Join us as we redefine what's possible in trading, advocate for our customers, and continue our journey toward becoming the world's top retail-focused trading platform in the world.  

What you'll do:

We’re looking for our first Design Systems Design Lead—a visionary and systems-oriented designer ready to build the foundations of design consistency and scalability across our products and touchpoints.

As the Design Systems Design Lead, you will own the creation, evolution, and adoption of NinjaTrader’s design system. This is a hands-on role with strategic impact. You’ll partner with designers across multiple product teams, engineers, and other collaborators to ensure a unified experience across our ecosystem.

You’ll establish the principles, patterns, tooling, and governance models that guide building and scaling high-quality, consistent interfaces. You’ll also lead the charge in driving adoption, measuring impact, and evangelizing design systems as a core part of our product development process.

In this role you will:

Define & Build

  • Build over our existing design system to scale it to a cross-platform design system serving all user touchpoints — tokens, components, documentation, and interaction guidelines

  • Establish and maintain accessibility, visual consistency, and usability standards across all digital touchpoints

  • Design reusable UI components and patterns that serve multiple products and platforms (web, mobile, desktop)

Drive Adoption

  • Partner with product designers, researchers, writers, and engineers to integrate the system into design and product workflows

  • Facilitate onboarding, training, and documentation that make it easy to use and extend the system

  • Establish governance models for evolving the system collaboratively across teams

Measure & Evolve

  • Define success metrics for adoption, usability, and quality

  • Continuously evaluate system performance and gather feedback to iterate and improve

  • Stay current with best practices and innovations in design systems and advocate for scalable, forward-looking approaches

 

What you'll need:

Experience & Expertise

  • 7+ years of experience in product or systems design, including at least 2 years focused on design systems

  • Deep knowledge of UI/UX best practices, design tokens, accessibility standards, and responsive design

  • Demonstrated success in launching or scaling a design system within a digital product environment that spans across multiple products

  • Experience leading 1–2 visual and product designers to build and manage all aspects of the Design System and closely partnering with Engineering partners on Design System

Skills & Tools

  • Proficiency in tools like Figma, Storybook, and other design system platforms

  • Strong understanding of front-end development principles (you don’t need to code, but you speak dev)

  • Experience working in cross-functional teams with designers and engineers

Mindset & Approach

  • Systems thinker who can see both the forest and the trees — balancing design consistency with flexibility

  • Clear communicator who can explain the “why” behind the system

  • Self-starter who thrives in ambiguous, build-from-scratch environments

  • Collaborative and diplomatic — able to advocate for standards while enabling creativity

 

Compensation:

The salary range for this role will be $180,000 - $200,000 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.

 

Our Core Benefits Include:

  • Hybrid Schedule with Extra Remote Flexibility (Totaling over 55% remote time)
  • Generous PTO
  • 7 Paid Holidays Annually + 5 Conditional Holidays Annually
  • 1 Service Day Annually
  • 401k with 3.5% Company Match
  • Health, Vision, Dental Coverage
  • Life and Disability Insurance Covered 100% by NinjaTrader
  • Flexible Spending Accounts for Transit and Parking
  • Gym Membership

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

We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender, gender identity or expression, or veteran status. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.

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