Research Operations Lead

Mercury; United States; Remote; USD 130,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Mercury is seeking a Research Operations Lead to build and scale our research program. You will run day-to-day operations, own the tool stack (Dovetail, Maze, Rally), and partner with Product, Design, and Marketing to ensure customer evidence informs decisions from discovery through post-launch analysis.

You will lead the research operations team, recruit and coach talent, and drive ethical guardrails, consent, and privacy while exploring AI-enabled workflows to improve speed and quality.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of hands-on research operations experience with measurable impact.
• 1-2 years of people management experience.
• Be a thought leader in the research ops space.
• Thrives in ambiguity where the discipline isn’t fully figured out.
• Excellent coach to non-researchers, building judgment and confidence.
• Uses AI in daily work and stays curious about useful applications.
• Communicates clearly with practitioners and senior stakeholders.
• Nice to have: qualitative research experience, quantitative fluency, fintech familiarity.

Responsibilities

• Define how research works across product, design, and marketing with autonomy.
• Own the customer research panel end-to-end, including sourcing and recruitment.
• Run day-to-day operations: scheduling, incentives, consent, privacy guardrails.
• Consult teams on research methods and turn feedback into insights.
• Partner with design and PMs to ensure evidence informs decisions from discovery to post-launch.
• Own the research tool stack (Dovetail, Maze, Rally) and manage vendor relations.
• Build AI-enabled workflows to prepare for conversations and synthesize feedback.
• Pilot new ways to get close to customers and manage one direct report.

Skills

Research operations

People management

Thought leadership

Ambiguity handling

Coaching non-researchers

AI workflows

Clear communication

Fintech context

Tools

Dovetail

Maze

Rally

Job description

The best teams don't treat customer understanding as a checkpoint. They build it into the work: learning how customers see the world, carrying that perspective into everyday decisions, and making better products because of it.

At Mercury, research is a democratized practice. Designers and PMs talk directly to customers, and Research Operations builds and runs the system that makes that fast, high quality, and ethical. We're looking for a Research Operations Lead to build and run that program as Mercury scales. You've done this before and have a clear point of view on how it should work. This is a builder and maker role, with most of your time spent running and improving the program yourself.

*Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., Members FDIC.

In this role, you will:

• Define how research works at Mercury: the processes, standards, and ways of working that let Product, Design, and Marketing run research with autonomy
• Own our customer research panel end to end, including customer databases, outreach, and continuous recruitment
• Run the day-to-day operations that keep research moving, including scheduling, incentives, consent, and privacy and ethical guardrails
• Consult across the team on research best practices, helping designers and PMs plan studies, choose methods, and turn feedback into insight
• Partner closely with design managers, designers, and PMs so customer evidence informs decisions from early discovery through post-launch usability and funnel analysis
• Own our research tool stack (including Dovetail, Maze, and Rally), along with vendor relationships, budget, and build-versus-buy decisions
• Build AI-enabled workflows that help teams prepare for customer conversations and synthesize feedback, while holding a high bar for evidence, privacy, and human judgment
• Pilot new ways of getting close to customers, such as rolling research programs and customer events like research dinners
• Manage and coach one direct report, setting priorities and supporting their growth while staying hands on in the work

You should:

• Have 8+ years of hands-on research operations experience and a track record of building or scaling a program with measurable impact
• Have 1-2 years of people management experience
• Be a thought leader in the space
• Thrive in ambiguity where the discipline isn't fully figured out
• Be an excellent coach to non-researchers, building their judgment and confidence
• Use AI in your daily work and stay curious about what's genuinely useful versus merely new
• Communicate clearly with practitioners and senior stakeholders

Nice to have: qualitative research experience, quantitative fluency, and familiarity with fintech.

Mercury values diversity belonging and is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. All individuals seeking employment at Mercury are considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, ancestr