Senior Research Operations Manager [AQ-25044]

Aquent; Bentonville (AR); On-site; USD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Aquent is partnering with a globally recognized organization at the forefront of its industry, impacting millions through innovative products and services. You will lead a pivotal Research Operations team, shaping recruitment foundations and ensuring researchers have reliable access to the right participants across a vast ecosystem.

This role emphasizes privacy, vendor management, and measurable improvements in recruitment speed and quality.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience managing research participants or recruiting workflows in a complex environment.
• Proven ability to manage multiple projects concurrently, prioritizing effectively to meet deadlines.
• Experience working with and managing external vendors to achieve desired outcomes.
• Track record of handling sensitive participant data with utmost care and compliance.

Responsibilities

• Advise research teams on participant recruitment strategies across platforms.
• Manage end-to-end recruitment lifecycle: screener, quotas, scheduling, incentives, and communication.
• Oversee vendor relationships to ensure timely participant delivery and quality.
• Champion privacy, consent, and data handling compliance and ethics.
• Implement and monitor recruitment metrics: speed, cost, show rates, quality.
• Develop playbooks, templates, training, and office hours for recruitment practices.
• Forecast future research demand and plan incentives, access, and vendor support.

Skills

Research participant management

Vendor management

Data privacy

Project prioritization

Job description

Aquent is partnering with a globally recognized organization at the forefront of its industry, impacting millions of lives daily through innovative products and services.

This enterprise continually strives to understand its users better, driving forward-thinking initiatives that shape the future of commerce and user experience.

Join a team dedicated to excellence and making a tangible difference on a massive scale.

Are you a strategic thinker with a passion for optimizing research processes and empowering insights? We are seeking a dynamic leader to join a pivotal team, where you will significantly influence how user research is conducted across a vast ecosystem. In this role, you will be instrumental in building robust research foundations, ensuring that our product and design teams have seamless access to the right participants, ultimately driving impactful decisions that resonate with a global user base. Your expertise will elevate the quality and efficiency of research, directly contributing to the development of cutting-edge solutions that delight millions of users.

What You Will Do

• Advise research teams on optimal participant recruitment strategies, leveraging a diverse range of platforms and methodologies to meet study objectives.
• Manage the end-to-end participant recruitment lifecycle, including screener development, quota management, scheduling, incentive distribution, and communication, ensuring a seamless experience for both researchers and participants.
• Oversee vendor relationships, ensuring high-quality and timely participant delivery, and proactively resolving any challenges related to quality, feasibility, or timelines.
• Champion best practices for privacy, consent, and data handling, ensuring all participant interactions adhere to strict compliance guidelines and ethical standards.
• Implement and monitor key metrics such as recruitment speed, cost-efficiency, show rates, and participant quality to drive continuous process improvements and operational excellence.
• Develop comprehensive resources, including playbooks, templates, training programs, and office hours, to empower research teams with consistent and confident recruitment practices.
• Proactively forecast future research demand, anticipating needs for incentives, access to participant pools, vendor support, and platform resources to ensure readiness for upcoming initiatives.

Must-Have Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience managing research participants or recruiting workflows in a complex environment.
• Proven ability to manage multiple projects concurrently, prioritizing effectively to meet deadlines.
• Experience working with and managing external vendors to achieve desired outcomes.
• Track record of handling sensitive participant data with utmost care and compliance.

Nice-to-Have Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in Research Operations, UX Research, market research, participant recruiting, or research program coordination.

Client Description

Enterprise retailer

Other Requirements

MUST relocate (expenses paid) to Bentonville, AR within first few months of employment. This is a hard requirement.