The Experience

The Research Operations team sits within the Experience Organization, supporting Product Research and Design across Salesforce. As a Principal Program Manager and Strategic Research Program Lead, you'll drive the evolution of Research Operations toward an AI-enabled model that redefines how we run research and engage with customers. You'll bring systematic, long-term thinking to a team that connects product builders with the people who shape what we build — and you'll have the opportunity to architect the infrastructure, tooling, and strategies that scale research operations for the future.

What You'll Actually Be Doing

• Apply systematic, long-term strategic thinking to research operations — building repeatable mechanisms, infrastructure, and AI solutions that drive efficiency at scale, moving away from reactive, one-off request handling.

• Design, build, and execute comprehensive operational and participant recruitment strategies tailored for new or immature product lines and highly specialized, hard-to-find niche personas. Convert existing but inactive contacts into active, well-profiled participants.

• Serve as the steady hand in high-visibility, fast-moving initiatives — effectively translating vague or evolving research requirements into structured, actionable program plans.

• Lead, influence, and coordinate across multiple internal teams, cross-functional partners, and executive stakeholders to ensure research operations align with broader business objectives.

• Define and maintain operational health metrics for the research participant pipeline, including database growth, lead conversion rates, recruitment cycle times, and self-service adoption to surface trends and inform strategic decisions.

• Deeply analyze telemetry, platform usage, and sales data to proactively identify untapped participant sourcing opportunities, keeping the research pipeline ahead of product needs.

You're Our Person If...

• You have 8+ years of experience in Program Management, Research Operations, Technical Program Management, User Experience Research (UXR), or a closely related field within a fast-paced technology environment.

• You have experience working alongside Product Research, User Research, User Experience, Product Management, or Data Science teams.

• You have a proven track record of scaling operations or research programs from the ground up, and strong experience leading cross-functional projects.

• You have exceptional communication skills with a demonstrated ability to influence, align, and collaborate with cross-functional leadership and high-level stakeholders.

• You're comfortable working with data, with experience leveraging product telemetry, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), or sales data to drive strategic operational decisions.

• A related technical degree required.

Even Better If...

• You have familiarity with enterprise research and AI tools such as Qualtrics, UserTesting, Outset AI, ListenLabs, User Interviews, or Salesforce CRM.

• You're comfortable operating in AI-first workflows with a demonstrated interest in automation and self-service design.

• You have familiarity with compliance, privacy (e.g., General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)), and strict participant privacy protocols regarding research participants.

• You have a background in designing sourcing infrastructure for early-stage (0-to-1) products or highly technical target audiences.