Year-Round Intern - CX
The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC)
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Job summary
The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) is offering a year-round internship in Chicago, focused on UX/CX research and design. You will contribute to real projects within the ETS UX/CX team, gaining hands-on experience with user research, journey mapping, dashboard reporting, and cross-functional collaboration.
Open to undergraduate and graduate students through December 2028, the role emphasizes ownership of artifacts and practical skills in a hybrid work setting.
Qualifications
- Rising senior or 2nd-year graduate student graduating 2027/2028.
- Pursuing degree in HCI, UX Design, Information Science, Psychology, Business, Marketing, Communications, or related field.
- Portfolio or coursework samples demonstrating research/design/analysis strongly encouraged
Responsibilities
- User Research Support: plan and conduct user interviews and surveys with internal employees.
- Journey Mapping and Service Blueprinting: support workshops and document current-state journey maps and service blueprints.
- Listening Post Maintenance: deploy and monitor feedback instruments, track response rates, flag data quality issues, summarize themes.
- Dashboard and Reporting Support: update CX dashboards and prepare summaries for team review.
- UX Research and Design Contribution: support usability testing and design feedback sessions for internal tools.
- Backlog and Documentation: maintain Jira backlog items and organize project artifacts.
Skills
Education
Tools
Job description
THIS POSITION IS NOT ELIGIBLE FOR VISA SPONSORSHIP*****
THIS POSITION IS NOT ELIGIBLE FOR VISA SPONSORSHIP*****
INTERNS AND SEASONAL INTERNS ARE ELIGIBLE ONLY FOR PAID SICK LEAVE ACCRUED BASED ON HOURS WORKED. NO OTHER BENEFIT INCLUDING TECHNOLOGY STIPEND APPLY TO INTERNS OR SEASONAL INTERNS*****
Chicago
Year-round intern (1,000 hours max, January 2027–December 2027)
OCC operates under a Hybrid Work Program which, absent an approved exception, requires employees to work from an OCC office at least 3 days per week. To maximize in–person collaboration, Tuesday and Wednesday are considered anchor days, and all employees are expected to work in the office both days. Employees meeting performance expectations are generally permitted to select 2 other days per week to work remotely if desired. When working remotely, employees are generally expected to work from the state in which they reside, absent an exception approved by Human Resources. Additionally, OCC generally does not permit employees to work while traveling internationally.
A World Class Clearing Organization
The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) is the world's largest equity derivatives clearing organization. Founded in 1973, OCC is dedicated to promoting stability and market integrity by delivering clearing and settlement services for options, futures and securities lending transactions. As a Systemically Important Financial Market Utility (SIFMU), OCC operates under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. OCC has more than 100 clearing members and provides central counterparty (CCP) clearing and settlement services to 21 exchanges and trading platforms.
OCC also provides free and engaging educational resources about the benefits and risks of options through its Options Industry Council (OIC).
OCC is building a culture that empowers continued learning, authentic innovation, and constant creativity.
OCC is looking for interns who are eager to learn, humble enough to ask questions, and ready to think critically about complex problems. The OCC Internship Program equips students with the real-world skills needed to transition successfully into a career in financial services. As an intern, you will contribute to meaningful projects, applying your skills and knowledge to real challenges facing the business. Your time with us is a real opportunity to make a genuine impact on the future of OCC!
OCC's Year‑Round Internship Program is a 12-month opportunity running from January through December and is open to both undergraduate and graduate students who are actively enrolled at a college or university. Interns work up to 20 hours per week during the school year and up to 40 hours per week during the summer, subject to a 1,000-hour cap. The role is based in a hybrid work environment, and overtime is not permitted.
Within ETS, the UI/UX and CX practice is responsible for understanding and improving the internal employee experience with technology: conducting user research, facilitating journey mapping and service design, and driving improvements grounded in data and direct employee feedback. Within Ovation, the team manages research and UX Design for the internal/external facing system.
This intern will contribute alongside the CX Strategist and UX Strategist/Research/Design. They will support active research initiatives, help build and maintain listening post infrastructure, assist with journey mapping and service blueprint workshops, and contribute to UX research and design activities that shape how users experience internal and external technology services. This is a hands‑on role with real ownership, not observational shadowing.
This intern will work embedded within the ETS UX/CX team on projects. The goal is for the intern to leave with owned artifacts and real facilitation experience.
- User Research Support: Assist in planning and conducting user interviews and surveys with internal employees to understand their experience with ETS services and tools. Help synthesize findings into affinity diagrams, experience summaries, and personas.
- Journey Mapping and Service Blueprinting: Participate in and support the facilitation of journey mapping workshops. Contribute to the documentation and refinement of current‑state journey maps and service blueprints.
- Listening Post Maintenance: Help deploy and monitor feedback instruments across ETS touchpoints (Help Desk, onboarding, self‑service). Track response rates, flag data quality issues, and summarize emerging themes on a regular cadence.
- Dashboard and Reporting Support: Assist with pulling and organizing CX data, updating dashboard visualizations, and preparing summaries for team and stakeholder review.
- UX Research and Design Contribution: Support UX research activities including usability testing, navigation testing, heuristic review, or design feedback sessions related to internal tools and employee‑facing interfaces.
- Backlog and Documentation: Maintain Jira backlog items tied to CX improvement work, document meeting outcomes, and keep project artifacts organized and current.
Rising senior or second-year graduate student, graduating December 2027 or May/August 2028.
Candidates actively pursuing a degree in Human-Computer Interaction, UX Design, Information Science, Psychology, Business, Marketing, Communications, or a related field. Coursework or project experience in user research, service design, human-centered design, or customer experience is strongly preferred.
- Master's Degree student preferred
- Familiarity with digital whiteboarding or design collaboration tools such as Miro, Mural, FigJam, or Figma
- Basic proficiency in Excel or Google Sheets for data organization, survey analysis, or reporting
- Exposure to survey design or data collection tools (Microsoft Forms, Google Forms, Qualtrics, or SurveyMonkey) Exposure to user research tools (Hotjar, Optimal Workshop, etc.)
- Familiarity with journey mapping, personas, or other UX/CX research artifacts through coursework or project work
- Basic experience with project or task management tools (Jira, Trello, Asana, or similar) is a plus
- Familiarity with presentation tools (PowerPoint) for communicating research findings
- Experience with qualitative research and facilitation.
- Demonstrated interest in human-centered design principles, with the ability to apply empathy‑based thinking to research and problem‑solving
- The ability to synthesize findings and present them clearly
- Organized and detail‑oriented, able to track multiple tasks and maintain documentation accurately
- Collaborative working style with a genuine interest in how people interact with technology
- Intellectual curiosity about IT systems, enterprise tools, and internal service delivery
- Portfolio, coursework samples, or class projects that demonstrate research, design, or analysis work are strongly encouraged in the application
The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) is the world's largest equity derivatives clearing organization. Founded in 1973, OCC is dedicated to promoting stability and market integrity by delivering clearing and settlement services for options, futures and securities lending transactions. As a Systemically Important Financial Market Utility (SIFMU), OCC operates under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. OCC has more than 100 clearing members and provides central counterparty (CCP) clearing and settlement services to 19 exchanges and trading platforms. More information about OCC is available at www.theocc.com.
- The salary range listed for any given position is exclusive of fringe benefits and potential bonuses. If hired at OCC, your final base salary compensation will be determined by factors such as skills, experience and/or education.
- In addition, we believe in the importance of pay equity and consider internal equity of our current team members as part of any final offer.
- We typically do not hire at the maximum of the range in order to allow for future and continued salary growth. We also offer a substantial benefits package as noted on www.theocc.com/careers
- All employees may be eligible for a discretionary bonus. Discretionary bonuses are based on various factors, including, but not limited to, company and individual performance and are not guaranteed.
$25.00 - $25.00
This position is eligible for an annual discretionary incentive compensation award, for which the target range is listed above (see Incentive Range). The amount of such award, if any, will be based on various factors, including without limitation, both individual and company performance.
OCC is an Equal Opportunity Employer
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