[Hiring] Research Operations Lead @Mercury

Role 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.

• 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.

Qualifications

• 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.

Benefits

• Total rewards package includes base salary, equity (stock options/RSUs), and benefits.
• Highly competitive salary and equity ranges within the SaaS and fintech industry.
• New hire offers based on experience, expertise, geographic location, and internal pay equity.
• Target new hire base salary ranges for this role:
• US employees in New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, or the San Francisco Bay Area: $189,400 — $236,700 USD.
• US employees outside of New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, or the San Francisco Bay Area: $170,400 — $213,000 USD.
• Canadian employees (any location): $179,000 — $223,700 CAD.