Research Operations Lead

Research Operations Lead

Full time | hybrid (Victoria, London: c. 4 days in office, 1 day from home)

We are a specialist consulting firm working primarily in the social care sector. Our work is research led and insight driven, with a strong emphasis on primary research, structured analysis and high quality delivery.

We are seeking a Research Operations Lead to take ownership of how research is planned, executed, captured and reused across our projects. This is a hands on role with line management responsibility, sitting at the centre of project delivery, data management and process improvement.

The role

You will lead our team of research analysts who deliver mystery shopping, commissioner interviews and desk based research across multiple concurrent projects. You will be responsible for ensuring that data and learnings are consistently captured, quality controlled and organised so they can be used effectively during live projects and retained for future work.

You will work closely with our small but growing data automation team, helping to design, maintain and improve workflows that support research delivery and data reuse. You will act as a bridge between operational needs and technical capability, ensuring automation is well targeted, robust and genuinely useful to project teams.

You will also be the central point for tracking changes in key external data sources and reporting frameworks, and for proactively adapting internal data structures and processes to maintain data integrity and project readiness.

This role reports directly to the Managing Director.

Key responsibilities

Research delivery and operations
Plan and prepare research inputs ahead of project kick off, including briefings, call lists, scripts, templates and background materials.
Oversee the day to day delivery of mystery shopping and commissioner interviews across live projects.
Ensure research outputs are accurate, complete, well structured and delivered on time.

Data management and knowledge retention
Own the firm’s approach to filing, structuring and storing research data, transcripts and insights.
Ensure learnings from projects are captured in a consistent way and made accessible for future use.
Maintain high standards of version control, auditability and documentation.

Line management and resourcing
Directly line manage a team of research analyst contractors.
Recruit, onboard and performance manage contractors as required.
Set clear expectations around quality, timelines and professional standards.

Automation and process improvement
Work alongside the data automation team to design and improve workflows, including in n8n.
Build, adapt, troubleshoot and document n8n flows where appropriate, working within agreed technical structures.
Translate operational needs into clear technical requirements, and communicate the realistic scope and limitations of automation back to project teams.
Continually identify opportunities to improve efficiency, consistency and scalability of research delivery.

Quality and professionalism
Act as a guardian of research quality and operational discipline across the business.
Balance autonomy with oversight, allowing different working styles while retaining clear visibility over progress, risks and delivery.
Be a calm, reliable point of coordination between project teams, analysts and automation colleagues.

About you

You are likely to be a junior manager or lead with strong operational instincts and a genuine interest in how data and processes support high quality consulting work. You are comfortable being hands on, but also confident managing others, setting standards and making pragmatic decisions in a fast paced, project driven environment.

Experience and skills
Experience managing research operations, analyst teams or similar delivery functions.
Proven ability to line manage contractors and uphold professional standards.
Strong data management skills and a clear view on how information should be structured and reused.
Working knowledge of n8n, including building, adapting and maintaining flows, and collaborating effectively with developers.
Ability to communicate clearly with both technical and non technical colleagues, ensuring shared understanding of scope, priorities and constraints.
Highly organised, detail oriented and process driven, with the agility to reprioritise as project needs shift.

Interests
Interest in data, systems and continual improvement.
Interest in how research translates into insight and decision making.
Interest in automation, ai or adjacent tools as they relate to improving operational workflows.
Interest in social care, public services or regulated sectors is helpful but not essential.

Non negotiables

Comfortable working primarily from the office in Victoria, London c. four days per week.
Able to take ownership and follow things through without close supervision.
Strong attention to detail and low tolerance for sloppy data or undocumented work.
Professional, calm and reliable in a client facing consulting environment.
Comfortable working within agreed processes and technical structures where appropriate.

Not a fit if you are

Looking for a purely strategic or hands off role.
Uncomfortable managing performance or giving clear feedback.
More interested in data science than operational data management.
Expecting a fully remote role.
Disorganised, reactive, or reliant on others to impose structure.

What success looks like

Within six months, research delivery is smoother, data is easier to find and reuse, automation is better aligned to real operational needs, external data changes are anticipated rather than reacted to, and project teams trust the research function to run reliably in the background.