Operations Manager (R&D)

About the role

You will own the end to end coordination of research and development workflows, ensuring that experiments, projects, and deliverables move predictably from idea to implementation. You will act as the primary process owner for R&D operations, designing and maintaining the routines, checklists, and documentation that keep complex technical work aligned and auditable. You will manage relationships with internal stakeholders and external vendors, coordinating logistics, resource allocation, and capacity planning so that the team can focus on execution. You will leverage ERP systems and collaboration tools to create transparency, tracking every task, decision, and dependency with clear escalation paths. You will drive continuous improvement by analyzing bottlenecks, proposing process changes, and implementing fixes that reduce cycle time and increase reliability. You will document standard operating procedures so that any team member can step in, understand the current state, and maintain continuity. You will communicate status clearly to both technical and non technical audiences, turning complex operational data into concise narratives that support decision making. You will partner with product, engineering, and finance teams to align R&D activities with business objectives, ensuring that resources are used efficiently and risks are managed proactively.

Key facts

What you'll do

Coordinate end to end execution of R&D projects, defining scope, timelines, and responsibilities to keep initiatives on track.

Own process management for research and development, designing workflows, standard operating procedures, and checklists that drive consistency and efficiency.

Manage relationships with internal stakeholders and external vendors, coordinating logistics, resource planning, and capacity allocation across the R&D pipeline.

Utilize ERP systems such as ITE, 1C, and SAP to track progress, monitor inventory, and report key metrics transparently to leadership.

Leverage collaboration tools including Jira and Confluence to document work, capture decisions, and maintain a clear audit trail for all R&D activities.

Plan and coordinate cross functional events, such as experiments, reviews, and workshops, ensuring that all dependencies are identified and managed.

Analyze operational performance, identify bottlenecks, and implement process improvements that reduce cycle time, increase predictability, and improve quality.

Maintain clear escalation paths and risk logs, ensuring that issues are surfaced early, ownership is assigned, and resolutions are tracked to completion.

Document every process and decision related to R&D operations so that team members can step in quickly and maintain continuity with minimal disruption.

Support hiring and onboarding for the R&D function by coordinating interviews, preparing role specific tasks, and ensuring smooth integration of new team members.

Prepare regular status reports and dashboards that communicate progress, risks, and dependencies to both technical and non technical stakeholders in a concise format.

Champion a culture of continuous improvement by encouraging feedback, running retrospectives, and embedding lessons learned into standard operating procedures.

Requirements

You have a minimum of 8 years of experience as an operations manager, with a strong background in a technological company or a highly regulated environment.

You are fluent in using ERP systems such as ITE, 1C, and SAP to manage processes, track data, and produce reliable reports.

You have hands on experience with collaboration and project management tools such as Jira and Confluence to maintain visibility and transparency.

You are comfortable coordinating complex logistics, managing vendors, and planning capacity across multiple workstreams.

You possess strong analytical skills and are able to diagnose process failures, design corrective actions, and measure the impact of improvements.

You are highly organized, pragmatic, and comfortable operating in a fast moving, ambiguous environment where priorities can shift quickly.

You communicate clearly and concisely, both in writing and verbally, and are able to translate technical details into actionable plans for diverse audiences.

You are reliable, proactive, and disciplined in tracking tasks, meeting deadlines, and ensuring that owners are clearly assigned for every responsibility.

Nice to have

Experience supporting military personnel or handling documentation related to military mobilization and contracts.

Practical notes

Employment is through a Ukrainian labor contract.

Typical interview steps

Operations interviews usually include a process scenario, an analytics question, and behavioral rounds. Candidates may be asked to improve a workflow or plan an event. Attention to detail and clear communication are tested throughout. Interviewers often ask how you would fix a process that is failing. Walking through diagnosis, a plan, and measurement is the winning structure.

Good to know

Questions to ask

Useful questions for the interview: what a typical week looks like, how work is assigned, what tools the team uses, and how feedback works. Asking how the role has changed recently and what the team wishes it had known when joining is also reasonable. Questions about the manager's priorities are especially valued.

Career growth

Operations careers grow from coordinator to manager, director, and chief operating officer roles. Some people specialize in supply chain, facilities, or program management. Success depends on reliability and on improving the systems you own. Operations careers reward reliability and continuous improvement. Operators who quantify the impact of their fixes move into leadership fastest.

About the company

's mission? "

4.150 words: "Describe a system you built that made your company move faster.