Research Manager

IFG - International Financial Group; Granby; Remote; CAD 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company is seeking a Research Operations (ResOps) program manager to enhance research processes and support UX research teams. This remote position offers candidates a chance to be part of a dynamic environment focused on improving consumer products. Ideal candidates will have a strong background in human-computer interaction and proven experience in managing research operations.

Qualifications

• 5+ years overall experience in the field.
• Field experience preferred; strong knowledge of UX research methods.

Responsibilities

• Manage relationships with vendors and navigate the contracting process.
• Identify opportunities to enhance research insights.
• Contribute to improving research operations infrastructure.

Skills

Collaboration skills

Management of complex processes

Research tools experience

Proactivity

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Human-Computer Interaction

Bachelor's Degree in related field

Tools

Qualtrics

Dscout

UserTesting

Job description

Job Title : Research Operations (ResOps) program manager

Location : 100% Remote : Canada : PST hours

Duration : 18 months

Typical Day in the Role

• Key projects : This role will contribute to budget and spend management, supplier licensing, and general team support.
• Typical task breakdown and operating rhythm : The role will consist of 50% meetings (primarily for information gathering on spending and upcoming needs, tools, roadblocks, etc.) and 50% heads down

Compelling Story & Candidate Value Proposition

• Unique Selling Points : Unlike many roles that focus on enterprise software, this role is centered on consumer products, which may be more appealing to candidates interested in consumer-facing technology. The role offers exposure to UX research, which could be beneficial for candidates interested in exploring or transitioning into a UX research career.

Candidate Requirements

• Years of Experience Required : 5+ overall years of experience in the field.
• Degrees or certifications required : Bachelor's Degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Human Factors Engineering, Computer Science, Technical Communications, Information Science, Information Architecture, User Experience Design, Behavioral Science, Social Sciences, or related field AND 5+ years ResOps experience. Field experience most important for this team.
• Best vs. Average : please reference the preferred qualifications in the job description!
• Performance Indicators : Performance will be assessed based on quality of work and meeting deadlines efficiently. Proactivity in seeking out what can be done next instead of just executing on direction.

Top 3 Hard Skills Required + Years of Experience

1. Minimum 3+ years experience with collaboration skills; Ability to work effectively across disciplines such as PM, Data Science, Engineering, and Product Design

2. Minimum 3+years experience with managing and navigating complex and sometimes antiquated processes within large organizations

3. Minimum 3+years experience with research tools like Qualtrics, Dscout, and UserTesting

• Proactivity is really important to this team. Candidate should be proactive in identifying needs and implementing solutions, rather than passively following directions

Hard Skills Assessments

• Expected Dates that Hard Skills Assessments will be scheduled : potentially would start on 6 / 6, otherwise would start the following week
• Hard Skills Assessment Process : The assessment process will include two rounds. One with the sponsor and a second with 1-2 FTE. Likely will be for 45 minutes each.
• Required Candidate Preparation : N / A

Research Operations

If you’re passionate about how technology can improve people’s lives, like exploring new ideas and product possibilities, and lead with a growth mindset, we want to hear from you!

The MSFT AI Design & Research team is a creative community of designers, researchers, prototypers, and writers on a mission to create and deliver holistic, AI-powered customer experiences across apps and the web. Between Copilot, Edge, Bing, MSN, and apps, we’re creating end-to-end experiences for assistance, shopping, search, ads, news, sports, and gaming. Our diverse team works collaboratively and moves fast to build useful, usable, and delightful experiences for billions of customers worldwide. Learn more about our team here.

We are seeking a Research Operations (ResOps) program manager for our team to help our UX Researchers do the most impactful work possible. For this role we’re looking for someone who can help our team improve our research processes, manage our relationships with vendors, navigate the contracting process, and bring more velocity and happiness to the team. Someone who is unblockable and finds creative new approaches when obstacles come up. Someone who always puts people and the team first, no matter how challenging things get. Someone who is energized by making everyone around them better.

If this sounds like you, please apply!

Your responsibilities will include :

• Engage, partner, and collaborate with research team members and leadership and key stakeholders to proactively identify opportunities to leverage programming and AI automation to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and the impact of research insights for our team.
• Communicate operational goals and strategy. Design and launch programs that reduce process friction and enhance researcher impact and satisfaction.
• Define, measure and manage strategic initiatives that improve team efficiency and impact, establishing operational systems and outcomes.
• Contribute to overall research operations infrastructure, updating processes and tools and initiating improvements where needed.
• Proactively manage expectations : define clear program roadmaps, provide frequent program updates, identify and communicate risks and adjustments, and ensure commitments are delivered.
• Support knowledge management by helping centralize, document, and maintain internal processes and resources, tracking of research deliverables and capacity, etc.
• Drive year over year tooling and supplier management contracts, management, administration and pricing and forecasting to ensure we have the best platforms and tools to conduct user research.

Required / Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Human Factors Engineering, Computer Science, Technical Communications, Information Science, Information Architecture, User Experience Design, Behavioral Science, Social Sciences, or related field AND 5+ years ResOps experience
• 5+ years relevant domain experience within technology sector

Preferred Qualifications

• Extensive knowledge of UX research methods.
• Excellent collaboration skills across disciplines - PM, Data Science, Engineering, and Product Design. Enthusiasm to partner on key goals and evolve the program based on feedback.
• Superb communication skills to convey complex ideas and insights across cross-disciplinary audiences, along with strong presentation, project management, and process management skills.
• Experience leading horizontal initiatives and scaling ResOps impact spanning across multiple cross-disciplinary teams.
• Understanding of trends in generative Artificial Intelligence (AI)
• Passion for learning new technologies and understanding the needs of users across a wide range of technical abilities.
• Deep understanding of user research tools like Qualtrics, Dscout, and UserTesting and experience in emerging AI research tools.
• Experience with business applications and enterprise product research.
• Experience scaling research through enablement.
• Experience leveraging data to inform decisions and drive change.
• Track record of operating independently and taking initiative, embracing ambiguity, demonstrating creativity, being detail-oriented, and delivering results in an organized manner.

Please let me know if this is something you would love to do, and help me with your updated resume. Feel free to reach out at if you have any questions.