We are seeking an experienced Director of R&D Operations to join Cognism on a 12-month fixed-term contract (maternity cover), based in London. This is a hands-on senior role responsible for building, scaling and optimizing the operational infrastructure that enables our R&D organisation to operate at peak efficiency.

The successful candidate will establish best-in-class processes, implement robust tooling, foster cross-functional collaboration, and drive continuous improvement across our product and engineering teams. The role also provides light-touch technical program oversight to ensure that complex cross-functional initiatives are coordinated effectively, risks are managed proactively, and delivery remains aligned to strategic priorities.

The Role:

The Director of R&D Operations serves as the operational backbone of our innovation engine. You will work closely with the product and engineering leaders to streamline workflows, remove friction points, and create an environment where cross-functional teams can move quickly without sacrificing quality or alignment.

This role sits at the intersection of product strategy, technical excellence and operational efficiency. You will design and embed the systems, processes and governance that enable consistent delivery, predictable execution and strategic focus. Where required, you will also ensure appropriate program-level coordination across major initiatives, without shifting ownership away from accountable product and engineering teams.

Key Responsibilities:

Operational Strategy & Process Excellence

• Design and implement scalable processes that support product development, research and engineering workflows without creating unnecessary bureaucracy.
• Establish clear governance models, decision-making frameworks and escalation paths that increase decision velocity while maintaining alignment.
• Create standardised templates, checklists and playbooks for recurring processes (roadmap planning and communication, quarterly planning cycles, project kick-offs, retrospectives).
• Build measurement frameworks to track operational health metrics such as cycle time, team velocity, planning accuracy and cross-functional effectiveness.
• Partner with leadership to identify operational bottlenecks and implement targeted improvements with measurable impact.
• Introduce structured programme oversight for high-impact, cross-team initiatives, ensuring risk tracking, dependency management and transparent reporting.

Tools, Systems & Infrastructure

• Evaluate, select and implement tools and systems that enhance collaboration, visibility and execution (project management, documentation, communication, data analysis, roadmapping).
• Establish strong knowledge management systems to centralize documentation, decisions and institutional knowledge.
• Build dashboards and reporting systems that provide real-time visibility into R&D progress, delivery confidence and key business indicators.
• Ensure seamless integration between tools and platforms used across product, engineering and commercial teams.
• Provide ongoing training and enablement to maximize adoption and return on investment of new tools and systems.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Communication

• Design and facilitate communication cadences that keep teams aligned while respecting deep work time (stand-ups, syncs, all-hands, office hours).
• Build frameworks for cross-functional collaboration between Product, Engineering, Design, Data and Commercial teams.
• Create clarity around roles, responsibilities and decision rights to reduce conflict and accelerate resolution.
• Establish mechanisms for surfacing customer feedback and market signals to inform prioritization.
• Facilitate effective meetings, retrospectives and working sessions that drive insight and action.
• Support structured cross-functional program reviews to ensure major initiatives remain aligned, on track and appropriately resourced.

Capacity Planning & Resource Optimization

• Work with leadership to develop quarterly and annual capacity plans that align team resources with strategic priorities.
• Build models to track and optimise allocation of engineering, product and design capacity across strategic initiatives.

Data & Insights

• Build analytics and reporting that surface insights into product adoption, customer impact and business outcomes.
• Establish clear metrics for evaluating the success of major initiatives and programmes.
• Support leadership with ad hoc analysis and insight to inform strategic decisions.

Required Qualifications & Experience:

• 7+ years of experience in product operations, engineering operations, R&D operations or related roles within growth-stage or scale-up technology companies.
• Proven success designing and implementing operational processes that improved team velocity, decision quality or cross-functional collaboration.
• Experience supporting or coordinating complex cross-functional programs with multiple stakeholders and dependencies.
• Demonstrated expertise with tools and systems used in product and engineering organizations (e.g. Jira, Confluence, Figma, Amplitude, Tableau or equivalent).
• Strong understanding of product development methodologies (Agile, Scrum, Kanban, Shape Up or similar) and ability to adapt them to organisational context.
• Experience working across complex organizational structures.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills with the ability to influence without direct authority.
• Data-driven mindset with the ability to translate business challenges into measurable indicators and track progress against goals.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in B2B SaaS or data/intelligence platforms.
• Experience scaling operations through periods of rapid growth or organisational change.
• Familiarity with AI/ML product development workflows and challenges.
• Experience with OKR (Objectives and Key Results) frameworks.
• Background in change management or organisational development.
• Understanding of compliance, security or data governance in enterprise software.

What We’re Looking For:

Beyond technical capability, we are seeking someone who demonstrates the following:

• Systems thinker: You identify connections across teams and can diagnose root causes of operational friction.
• Collaborative builder: You earn trust through listening, curiosity and a genuine desire to improve how teams work together.
• Pragmatist: You balance rigour with momentum; you know when good enough is sufficient and when precision matters.
• Change agent: You operate comfortably in ambiguity, move quickly to test and learn, and adapt based on feedback.
• Customer advocate: You maintain strong empathy for the teams you support and make decisions with their needs in mind.
• Results-oriented: You set clear goals, measure progress and recognize achievement alongside your teams.

What Cognism Offers:

• The opportunity to build operational excellence in a scaling organization.
• High visibility and impact, with direct influence on our ability to innovate and serve customers.
• Professional development and coaching aligned with your leadership growth.
• A collaborative and inclusive culture committed to sustainable and balanced ways of working.

Contract Details:

• Position: 12-month fixed-term contract (maternity cover)
• Location: London, UK (hybrid arrangement available)
• Reporting to: CPTO
• Start date: Immediate