Research Program Manager, Reality Labs Business Operations

Reality Labs is a team at Meta that is responsible for developing and building the next computing platform centered around people. Reality Labs includes everyone working to make this computing platform a reality - including those answering important research questions that bring forward our products of tomorrow and those working on products available today like Meta Quest and Ray-Ban | Meta. Research Program Managers build and scale global research programs to strengthen the impact of our research teams. We drive efficiency, cultivate relationships, increase knowledge sharing, and build capacity within our organization to enable Researchers to do their most impactful work. As Research Program Manager, Reality Labs Business Operations, you will work in conjunction with the existing Reality Labs Research Operations team and the larger Global Research Organization team to identify overlaps and synergies between research programs and practices across RL UXR pillars (horizontal and vertical teams) enabling increased research effectiveness. In this role, you will define, establish, and maintain global operational and team-wide programs as well as create, manage, and scale processes to support the growing team. You'll utilize a full range of organizational skills and track record of communicating with clients and customers in order to help our team operate at their highest and most effective level.

• Define and manage strategic initiatives that improve team efficiency and impact, establishing operational systems and outcomes
• Proactively identify and partner with stakeholders on internal processes, templates, and guidelines to improve team optimization and documentation
• Partner with team leadership on establishing effective knowledge management, team communication, information distribution, and cross-team collaboration
• Partner with cross-functional teams such as Sourcing and Vendor Engagements to enable and implement customized Reality Labs User Experience Research procurement processes
• Manage relationship with select group of preferred vendors, building the business-specific operations and processes needed to stand up the engagement and streamline intake
• Support research planning and allocation by helping track, align and advise on contracting processes
• Proactively manage expectations: define clear program roadmaps, provide frequent program updates, identify and communicate risks and adjustments, and ensure commitments are delivered
• Support research execution by driving operational enhancements and identifying research process overlaps and synergies across RL UXR pillars
• Manage relationships with cross-functional partners, such as Design, Legal, and Procurement/Sourcing
• Provide approaches that meet team needs, including moving fast and making progress or navigating obstacles efficiently
• Serve as a link to the Global Research Operations team, leveraging new processes or best practices when relevant and collaborating on programs specific to the team's needs
• Facilitate relationships between teams, move initiatives forward
• find resources
• escalate and raise concerns to appropriate owners early
• and resolve open issues that prevent progress

• 8+ years of experience as a project or program manager
• Experience with establishing programs and leading them end-to-end while scaling for growth
• Experience building relationships with peers and executive stakeholders and collaborating with cross-functional teams across multiple locations
• Experience leveraging data to inform decisions and drive change
• Track record of operating under your own initiative, embracing ambiguity, demonstrating proactivity, being detail-oriented, and delivering results in a highly organized manner
• Experience being successful in a productive, time-sensitive environment that requires time management, task prioritization, flexibility, and experience identifying problems and proactively work towards solutions
• Demonstrated experience in interacting with and influencing researchers, cross functional stakeholders, management, and external partners with the experience adapting communication style to suit different audiences
• Demonstrated experience in navigating ambiguous situations
• Experience managing short- and long-term projects and initiatives, anticipating project issues and resolving them, connecting resources to research needs, and removing barriers

• Experience working directly with User Experience researchers, product designers, and/or content strategists
• Experience with vendor management and contract negotiation
• Demonstrated experience in (1) organization and (2) prioritization approaches and frameworks