Research Operations Principal

Location: Spain - Barcelona

About Our Organization

Dow Jones is a global provider of news and business information, delivering content to consumers and organizations around the world across multiple formats, including print, digital, mobile and live events. Dow Jones has produced unrivaled quality content for more than 130 years and today has one of the world’s largest news-gathering operations globally. It is home to leading publications and products including the flagship Wall Street Journal, America’s largest newspaper by paid circulation; Barron’s, MarketWatch, Mansion Global, Financial News, Investor’s Business Daily, Factiva, Dow Jones Risk & Compliance, Dow Jones Newswires, OPIS and Chemical Market Analytics.

Dow Jones is a division of News Corp (Nasdaq: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV).

About Dow Jones Design & Research

Our Design & Research org brings together world-class designers and researchers with a unified purpose: to connect people to the news and information that matters most. We're the strategic force that transforms deep user understanding into exceptional product experiences across our entire portfolio—from The Wall Street Journal to Factiva.

Our integrated approach ensures that research insights directly shape design decisions, while design explorations reveal new research opportunities. Together, we're building coherent, accessible experiences that honor our 135-year legacy while pushing us boldly into the future. We're a globally distributed team spearheading a digital transformation at Dow Jones, newly staffed by industry leaders from Google, LinkedIn, The New York Times, and more. Through our combined expertise in design craft and research rigor, we ensure that millions of users can depend on our platforms for truth in a world full of noise.

About the Role

We're seeking a Research Operations Principal to build and scale the operational infrastructure that powers world-class research at Dow Jones. This is a pivotal role at a pivotal moment: our Design & Research org is executing an ambitious agenda to scale customer-centricity across the Tech organization, embed AI into research workflows, and operationalize UX measurement across our B2B product portfolio and we need a systems thinker and operator to make it happen.

This role is not a coordinator position. You will own and drive three high-visibility programs directly tied to our FY27 D&R OKRs: scaling self-service research to non-researcher teams, standing up a UX measurement program across B2B products, and piloting AI research tooling and new research methods across the organization. You will work with minimal supervision, partner closely with the VP of Product Research, and build infrastructure that outlasts any single project.

The Research Operations Principal will report directly to the Head of Strategy Operations and dotted line to the VP, Product Research.

You Will

Own and drive the Research at Scale program, building the self-service infrastructure, training curriculum, governance standards, and tooling that enables designers and product managers to conduct lightweight, high-quality research independently. Target: 75+ non-researchers trained and certified, 40% of tactical studies transitioned to self-service teams, adopted by 8+ Product and Design squads by end of FY27.

Stand up and operationalize the B2B UX Measurement program, supporting the implementation and adoption of the PES + UES scorecard (Product Experience Score and User Experience Score) across B2B products, starting with Oxford Analytica, and Dragonfly. Co-own the operational layer: tooling configuration in Pendo, training for POs and Design Reps, integration into review meeting cadences, and tracking scorecard adoption across teams.

Lead the AI Research Tooling pilot program, overseeing the evaluation and rollout of new research methods and AI-powered tools across the organization. This includes managing the Electric Twin Proof of Concept (synthetic users for early-stage ideation), supporting the build and adoption of the DJ Insights MCP Connector (connecting research knowledge to Claude Code), and driving adoption of AI moderation and AI-assisted synthesis tools to reduce time-to-insight.

Build and manage the research knowledge infrastructure, including the centralized insights repository, research request intake and triage workflows, research templates and frameworks, and governance standards that enable consistent, high-quality research across teams.

Scale and maintain our B2B and B2C Customer Panel, managing participant recruitment pipelines, vendor relationships (including Ipsos panel), and engagement cadences to reach and sustain 1,100+ verified active participants across B2B and B2C personas.

Provide recommendations for research tooling and cost efficiencies, regularly assessing software usage, contract renewals, and consolidation opportunities across the research tech stack.

Identify and eliminate operational bottlenecks, continuously improving research workflows, intake processes, and tooling to reduce friction and increase throughput across the research function.

You Have

• 10+ years of experience in research operations, UX research, or a closely related operational role within a product or technology organization
• Proven track record of building scalable research systems from the ground up — intake workflows, knowledge repositories, governance frameworks, self-service enablement programs
• Experience designing and delivering training curricula that successfully up-skilled non-researchers (designers, product managers) to run independent studies
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple concurrent programs with cross-functional stakeholders, with strong prioritization and communication skills
• Hands-on experience with research and operations tooling: Pendo, Maze, Qualtrics, Airtable, Figma, and equivalents
• Comfort operating at the intersection of research rigor and operational pragmatism — you understand what good research looks like and can build the systems that protect quality at scale
• Strong written communication skills; able to produce clear documentation, training materials, and stakeholder updates without heavy editing support
• Nice to Have
• Experience piloting or evaluating AI-powered research tools (AI moderation, synthetic users, automated synthesis)
• Background in both B2B and B2C research contexts
• Experience with participant panel management and vendor relationships
• Familiarity with UX measurement frameworks (CSAT, NPS, SUS, custom experience scoring)
• International and cross-cultural research operations experience
• Experience in news media, publishing, financial services, or enterprise software
• Multilingual capability (Spanish or French a plus)

Our Benefits

Comprehensive Healthcare Plans for you and your family

Paid Time Off (30 days a year)

Meal Vouchers

Retirement Plans

Lifestyle programs & Wellness Resources

Education Benefits

Family Care Benefits & Caregiving Support

Subscription Discounts

Employee Referral Program

Financial Health Programs

Cybersecurity Protection

Learn more about us and our benefits click here.

Equal Opportunity Employer

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status or any other protected characteristic. We strongly encourage applications from all qualified individuals, including women, people with disabilities, and those from underrepresented groups.

Reasonable Accommodation

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodation for qualified individuals with disabilities in our job application and/or interview process. If you need assistance or accommodation in completing your application or participating in an interview due to a disability, email us at [email protected]. Please put "Reasonable Accommodation" in the subject line and provide a brief description of the type of assistance you need. This inbox will not be monitored for application status updates.

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Business Area

Dow Jones - Technology

Job Category

Software Product Engineering

Union Status

• Non-Union / A clear and likely internal candidate
• Base Pay Range: 70,000 € - 90,000 €
• We’re committed to offering competitive and flexible compensation to attract top talent. This pay range reflects our good faith estimate for the role and may vary based on a candidate’s experience, skills, location, and other relevant factors.
• For bonus-eligible roles, targets are determined based on multiple considerations, including market benchmarks and individual contributions.
• For benefits-eligible roles, we offer a comprehensive and competitive benefits package covering health, retirement, wellbeing, and more, along with optional benefits to meet the diverse needs of our employees.