Senior Design Operations Program Manager

The Senior Design Operations Program Manager at Toast will be instrumental in driving our research operations strategy, creating processes that empower teams, and ensuring that customer-centric learning is deeply embedded throughout the product development cycle. Collaboration with product, design, and engineering teams will be key, as will developing training frameworks and knowledge-sharing systems to enhance the research culture.

Candidates for the Senior Design Operations Program Manager role should have at least 5 years of experience in research or design operations. A strategic mindset, the ability to influence senior leaders, and a demonstrated history of developing and scaling research practices in high-growth environments are essential. Effective communication and an ability to synthesize complex feedback into actionable strategies are also required.

Success for the Senior Design Operations Program Manager at Toast is measured by how effectively they drive alignment across teams, influence decision-making through integrated customer learning, and enhance research efficiency and accessibility. Their impact on creating a culture of research operation excellence and ensuring research insights lead to actionable outcomes is critical.

At Toast, the research culture that the Senior Design Operations Program Manager will foster is one where continuous learning from customers is the norm. This involves establishing proficient systems for participant recruitment, ensuring compliance, and providing teams with the resources and training they need to conduct research efficiently and effectively.

Yes, the role of Senior Design Operations Program Manager at Toast is fully remote within the US, providing flexibility while contributing to our mission of helping restaurants succeed. This allows team members to work comfortably while cultivating a thriving research operations environment.

When creating a research operations strategy, start by identifying the key challenges teams face in accessing and utilizing research insights. Collaborate with stakeholders to develop scalable processes and tools. Ensure that your strategy incorporates training and resources to empower teams and embed a customer-focused learning culture within the organization.

Discuss specific projects where you've successfully developed research processes that accommodated rapid growth. Highlight your ability to adapt tools and methodologies to fit evolving team needs, and provide examples of how your efforts led to actionable insights that supported business objectives.

Handling ambiguity requires a combination of strong communication and flexible problem-solving skills. Share your strategy for creating clarity in uncertain situations, such as establishing common goals, providing regular updates, and encouraging feedback from team members to foster an environment where everyone feels comfortable navigating uncertainty.

To foster a customer-centric culture, I would establish clear communication channels that emphasize user insights, run workshops that emphasize customer perspective, and create easy access to research findings for all teams. Empowering team members through education and resources would also be a key aspect to ensure that insight-driven decisions become habitual.

Integration of research insights into product development starts with collaboration. I would ensure regular cross-team meetings focused on discussing research findings and their implications for product strategies. Promoting the idea that insights should not only inform decisions but also drive timelines and roadmaps will be vital.

Detail your experience with compliance frameworks like GDPR or similar regulations, emphasizing how you ensured adherence while recruiting participants. Discuss the processes you’ve implemented to streamline recruitment, ensuring diverse and representative participant pools for research initiatives.

Evaluating new research tools involves setting clear performance indicators such as usability, adoption rates, and the direct impact on research output quality. I would collect feedback from users and track metrics over time to ensure the tools are effectively meeting team needs.

Fostering collaboration begins with creating shared goals and encouraging open lines of communication. I would recommend regular joint meetings and collaborative workshops to ensure that all teams are aligned and working collectively toward user-centric solutions.

Training equips team members with the necessary skills and knowledge to conduct effective research, while knowledge-sharing ensures that insights are accessible across the organization. Building a system that encourages continuous learning and sharing of best practices will enhance the overall research capability of the teams.

In a previous role, I implemented a centralized repository for research findings, which drastically improved access to insights. This resource reduced redundancy and helped teams to make informed decisions based on shared knowledge. The impact was a noticeable improvement in collaboration and alignment across product development efforts.