Hiring nowAI research talent and programme operations

AI Research Operations Manager

Also called Research Ops Manager, AI

An AI Research Operations Manager keeps research teams moving by coordinating people, compute, data access and processes. The company gets fewer stalled experiments, steadier delivery and researchers who spend their time on research.

What they do

They map what each research project needs and when: people, compute, data access, review steps and sign-offs. They build the operating plan and keep it current as priorities shift. They run scheduling and resourcing conversations, chase dependencies before they become blockers, and set up simple routines for experiment tracking, handovers and documentation. They support reproducibility by making sure runs, datasets and configurations are recorded in a way others can follow. They also train researchers on new processes and gather feedback to improve them.

What a strong hire delivers

In the first months, a strong hire produces a clear research operating plan that the team actually uses. They identify the main recurring blockers and remove the worst ones. Resourcing and scheduling become visible and predictable. Reproducibility practices are agreed and adopted, handovers get cleaner, and researchers can say where their time used to go and where it goes now.

How you can tell they are good

Ask them to walk through a research or delivery process they improved. Look for specifics: what was blocked, how they found out, what they changed and what measurably got better. Ask how they persuaded busy researchers to adopt a routine. Strong candidates explain reproducibility in plain terms and know when process helps and when it just adds weight.

Why it is hard to fill

The title is new and used inconsistently. Many companies call this work programme management, chief of staff or lab operations. The best people combine operational discipline with enough technical understanding to be credited by researchers, and that mix is uncommon. Candidates from pure recruiting or generic programme backgrounds often lack research context, while researchers rarely want the operational work.

Where to find them

Look in research operations, programme management, workforce operations and technical recruiting. Strong candidates often come from university research offices, applied research labs, scale-ups with large engineering teams and frontier lab operations teams. Some are former researchers or research engineers who drifted towards coordination. Titles include research coordinator, technical programme manager, people operations lead and resourcing manager.

Indicative pay

Not enough published evidence yet to give a fair range for this role, which is common for work this new. We benchmark it for you as part of a search.

Interview questions for an AI Research Operations Manager

  1. Tell me about a time research or technical work stalled for operational reasons. What did you do?

    A strong answer names the specific blocker, how they diagnosed it and what changed afterwards. Look for ownership and a result. Worry if they only describe escalating, or talk in generalities without outcomes.

  2. How would you build a research operating plan for a team with competing priorities and limited compute?

    They should start by understanding projects, dependencies and constraints, then propose a visible, revisable plan with clear trade-off decisions. Worry about rigid, top-down schedules or no mention of researcher input.

4 more questions, with what a strong answer covers, are in the Role Kit.

Job description you can post

We are an AI company looking for a Research Operations Manager to keep our research work moving. You will coordinate people, resources and processes across research teams, so that researchers spend their time on research rather than on blockers. You will work closely with researchers and leadership.

What you will do

  • Build and maintain a research operating plan across active projects
  • Coordinate resourcing, scheduling and dependencies between teams
  • Spot and remove recurring operational blockers
  • Set up reproducibility support, including documentation and handover routines
  • Train and support researchers in new processes
  • Report on delivery reliability and time lost to blockers
  • Improve processes based on researcher feedback

What you will bring

  • Demonstrated experience running operations for research, engineering or technical programmes
  • Evidence of removing blockers and improving delivery reliability
  • Clear technical communication with researchers and non-technical colleagues
  • Experience introducing process changes that people adopted
  • Working knowledge of planning and scheduling systems
  • Understanding of why reproducibility matters in research

Nice to have

  • Background in recruiting or workforce operations
  • Experience in an applied research or lab setting
  • Familiarity with skills taxonomies and applicant tracking systems

Free to use and adapt. If it saves you time, a link back to this page is appreciated.

Skills that matter

  • Research operationsAdvancedCoordinate research resources and reproducible execution
  • Technical communicationAdvancedExplain evidence and limitations to relevant readers
  • Change management and trainingWorkingSupport adoption through learning and organisational change
  • Worker and community participationWorkingInclude affected workers and communities in decisions

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How we wrote this

Role definitions are our own editorial work, checked against occupational classifications, standards, research and employer pages. Titles vary by company, and this is a description of the work, not a job advert.

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