Research Operations Lead

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 hands-on leadership role: you’ll set the strategy and priorities for research enablement, develop the team, and personally lead work where senior judgment matters most.

In this role, you will:

• Own the strategy, roadmap, and operating model for research at Mercury, enabling Product, Design, and Marketing to run research with autonomy

• Apply senior research judgment to complex or high-stakes work, using recurring gaps to strengthen the standards and guidance that raise research quality across Mercury.

• 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

• Own and improve Mercury’s AI-enabled workflows for research planning, customer conversations, and synthesis, maintaining high standards 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

• Make customer learning visible across Mercury, surfacing patterns that deepen teams’ understanding of the people they serve.

• 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

• Have qualitative research experience and quantitative fluency

• 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

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