Design Program Manager, Research Operations
Leads research operations programs and builds AI-powered tools, agents, and automations that improve how research and design teams work. The role requires 5+ years of relevant experience, strong cross-functional communication, and the ability to scale internal products and workflows.
About the job
Responsibilities
- Lead and build programs for the Research organization, developing processes and resources that scale the use of user insights.
- Improve operating models and workflows by automating tasks, creating repeatable methodologies, and measuring impact.
- Design, build, and oversee autonomous, multi-agent workflows for researchers.
- Build custom tools, AI agents, automations, and skills for research workflows.
- Evaluate and implement tools with researchers and cross-functional partners.
- Identify patterns and scale successful tools and approaches across research and design teams.
- Partner with Research leadership and Design Operations to prioritize resources, manage risks, and resolve obstacles.
- Source and evaluate vendors; coordinate with Legal, Security, and Procurement on statements of work, business terms, budgets, onboarding, and payment.
- Coach and enable others to adopt new ways of working and explain technical concepts to non-technical audiences.
- Manage multiple workstreams and cross-functional relationships.
Requirements
- 5+ years of experience in design thinking, qualitative or quantitative research, user experience, or program management, including partnership with research teams.
- Hands-on experience building AI-powered tools, agents, automations, or workflows that improve processes for design, research, creative, or product teams.
- Experience coaching, teaching, or enabling others, with evidence of changes in how people work.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- Experience managing multiple workstreams and relationships concurrently.
- Product-builder mindset, including turning AI experiments into polished, production-ready products.
Nice-to-haves
- Experience with research and design tools such as Qualtrics, Sprig, Figma, Dovetail, or design system management tools.
- Experience with AI development tools and platforms such as Claude, Claude Code, Codex, custom agent frameworks, API integrations, or workflow automation tools.
- Experience with change management, organizational transformation, or large-scale enablement programs.
- Experience building and scaling internal tools, templates, or playbooks beyond an immediate team.
Skills
AI Agents, Workflow Automation, API Integrations, Claude, Claude Code, Codex, Qualtrics, Sprig, Figma, Dovetail, User Research, Program Management
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