Head of Research Operations

Knit

1d•$160,000 - $200,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Head of Research Operations leads Knit’s research operations strategy, organization, and operating model, overseeing programming, fieldwork, vendor management, and data quality assurance. The role is accountable for delivering consistent, high-quality research data with speed and efficiency as the company scales, and for strengthening customer retention and expansion, new business growth, and gross margins. The Head of Research Operations sets the function’s vision, priorities, roadmap, OKRs, KPIs, and operating cadence; leads and develops the Programming, Fieldwork, and Data QA teams; and owns organizational design, hiring, talent development, and performance management. The position improves data collection performance, feasibility, audience reach, quality controls, and delivery timelines while aligning team capacity with demand and revenue growth. Working closely with Product and Engineering, the role identifies and advances automation opportunities, translates operational needs into tooling priorities, and leads adoption and workflow transformation. The Head of Research Operations also partners with Research, GTM, and Product leadership to expand capabilities, markets, audiences, international operations, sample partnerships, and advanced research methodologies. The role manages the function’s budget, sample partner network, commercial terms, and resource allocation. The role has two direct reports—the Lead Survey Programmer and the Fielding and Partnerships Team Lead—and oversees a total of 10 offshore team members. The position is based in the USA, with New York City preferred. If located outside NYC, travel to NYC approximately once a month is expected.

Requirements

At least 7 years of experience in the insights and market research industry; the ideal candidate has worked in a market research tech agency leading research operations.
Proven track record building and scaling complex sampling operations across multiple research methodologies, including quick-turn, quantitative, and qualitative research.
Experience innovating and building automation and productization into processes to create efficiencies.
Cross-functional experience leading and enabling internal and external teams on research operations processes from idea through implementation.
Experience leading new organization-wide capabilities from scratch, rather than only participating in existing processes.
Strong people operations leadership at the functional and cross-functional levels, including adapting processes as operating tools evolve.
Experience with process mapping, organizational design, capacity management, staff forecasting, recruiting, hiring, onboarding, performance management, conflict resolution, and morale building.
Deep experience with survey programming tools such as Qualtrics and Decipher.

Nice To Haves

Experience in a market research technology agency leading research operations.
Experience across quick-turn, quantitative, and qualitative research methodologies.

Responsibilities

Set the strategy and own performance for Research Operations, including the function’s vision, priorities, roadmap, OKRs, KPIs, and operating cadence.
Make investments across speed, quality, feasibility, and cost, and hold the team accountable for measurable outcomes.
Lead Programming, Fieldwork, and Data QA teams; develop individual contributors and player-coaches; and establish clear ownership across functions.
Own organizational design, hiring, talent development, performance management, and alignment of headcount with demand and revenue growth.
Improve end-to-end data collection operations, including reducing time to final sample, strengthening data quality controls, and improving feasibility for niche audiences, complex studies, and varied sampling approaches.
Partner with Product and Engineering to identify automation opportunities and translate operational expertise into priorities for programming, fieldwork, feasibility, and data QA tooling.
Lead adoption of tools and workflow transformation within Research Operations, ensuring product investments improve productivity and scalability.
Partner with Research, GTM, and Product leadership to determine which capabilities, markets, and audiences to support, and own operational readiness and repeatable delivery models.
Expand international capabilities, develop sample partnerships, and enable programming, fieldwork, and QA requirements for advanced research methodologies.
Manage the Research Operations budget, sample partner network, and resource allocation; establish partner selection criteria, commercial terms, and performance standards.
Use demand forecasts and operational data to guide staffing, vendor, and automation investments and improve gross margins while maintaining delivery performance.
Travel to New York City approximately once a month if not located there.