Principal Research Operations Mgr
About The Position
Technology is at the heart of Disney’s past, present, and future. Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology is a global organization of engineers, product developers, designers, technologists, data scientists, and more – all working to build and advance the technological backbone for Disney’s media business globally. The team marries technology with creativity to build world-class products, enhance storytelling, and drive velocity, innovation, and scalability for our businesses. We are Storytellers and Innovators. Creators and Builders. Entertainers and Engineers. We work with every part of The Walt Disney Company’s media portfolio to advance the technological foundation and consumer media touch points serving millions of people around the world. The Principal Research Operations Mgr designs, scales, and optimizes the systems that enable high-velocity, high-quality UX research across the organization. This systems design role will architect and scale the research operations infrastructure within Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product and Technology division (DEEP&T). The role sits within our design team and will enable research systems that rely on a strong connection between UX research, experience design, product, legal, finance, procurement, and security.
Requirements
- 10+ years in ResearchOps, UX Research, Program Management, or similar operational role
- Demonstrated experience in both doing the day-to-day work of research operations while designing scalable systems
- Experience managing vendor contracts and research tooling ecosystems
- Experience working cross-functionally with Legal, Procurement, Finance, or Security.
- Bachelor’s degree required
Nice To Haves
- Building and scaling a ResearchOps function and team in prior role
- Budget forecasting and financial modeling.
- Governance and compliance framework design
- Building operational strategy aligned to product or research roadmaps
- Managing or mentoring others (formal or informal)
Responsibilities
- Design and evolve ResearchOps infrastructure (tools, vendors, governance, budgeting, knowledge management)
- Assess the current state of the organization, identify systemic challenges, and create the plan to connect fragmented workflows into cohesive, scalable systems
- Continually reassess structures and processes to help scale Research Operations alongside UXR
- Design new processes for participant recruitment and conduct participant recruitment
- Consolidate and rationalize research tools and vendors
- Establish standardized workflows and governance frameworks
- Establish best practices and documentation standards
- Develop and mentor junior ResearchOps team members (if applicable)
- Support responsible distribution of research across the organization where appropriate.
- Develop annual operational roadmaps aligned to research and product strategy
- Forecast research operations capacity and budget needs
- Define and track operational OKRs (e.g., study throughput, cost per study, vendor performance, designer and researcher time saved)
- Partner with Legal, Finance, Procurement, IT, and Security to streamline research approvals and compliance
- Influence investment decisions related to tools, panels, and vendors
- Translate operational constraints into executive-ready insights
Benefits
- A bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to the full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the level and position offered.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Principal
