Head of Research Operations & Strategy

Mercury; Portland (OR); On-site; USD 170,000 - 213,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity (stock options/RSUs)

Comprehensive benefits

Competitive compensation

Job summary

Mercury is seeking a Research Operations Lead to build and run a scalable program that enables Product, Design, and Marketing to conduct research with autonomy. This is a hands-on leadership role: set strategy, priorities, and mentor a small team while staying involved in core work.

You’ll own our research tool stack (Dovetail, Maze, Rally), manage vendor relationships and budget, and advance AI-enabled workflows for planning, conversations, and synthesis, while safeguarding privacy and

Qualifications

• 8+ years of hands-on research operations experience.
• 1-2 years of people management experience.
• Thought leader with proven impact in research enablement.
• Qualitative research experience with quantitative fluency.
• Ability to thrive in ambiguity and guide non-researchers.

Responsibilities

• Own strategy, roadmap, and operating model for Mercury's research program.
• Apply senior research judgment to high-stakes work and raise standards.
• Partner with design managers, designers, and PMs to integrate customer evidence.
• Own and improve the research tool stack and vendor relationships; manage budget.
• Lead AI-enabled workflows for research planning, conversations, and synthesis.
• Pilot new ways to engage with customers and surface learning across teams.
• Manage and coach one direct report while remaining hands-on.

Skills

Qualitative research

Quantitative fluency

Leadership

Strategic thinking

Stakeholder communication

Tools

Dovetail

Maze

Rally

Job description

Mercury is seeking a Research Operations Lead to build and run a scalable program that enables Product, Design, and Marketing to conduct research with autonomy. This is a hands-on leadership role: set strategy, priorities, and mentor a small team while staying involved in core work.

You’ll own our research tool stack (Dovetail, Maze, Rally), manage vendor relationships and budget, and advance AI-enabled workflows for planning, conversations, and synthesis, while safeguarding privacy and