Senior Design & Research Operations Specialist

Summary

Clio is the global leader in legal AI technology, empowering legal professionals and law firms of every size to work smarter, faster, and more securely. We are transforming the legal experience for all by bettering the lives of legal professionals while increasing access to justice.

We are seeking a Senior Design & Research Operations Specialist to help us scale and mature the Design & Research practice at Clio. This role will build the operational foundation that enables our teams to do their best work consistently, collaboratively, and with measurable impact. This role is available to candidates across the United States or Canada (excluding Quebec) in a remote capacity. If you are local to one of our hubs (Burnaby, Calgary, or Toronto) you will be expected to be in office minimum two days per week for our Anchor Days.

You'll play a critical connector role, helping bring together people, processes, and practices that make our Product Design & Research organization work as one with Product, Engineering, and Strategy & Operations. From streamlining processes and managing tools, to coordinating research operations and connecting insights across teams, you'll help ensure our creative and strategic efforts are supported by strong systems and clear communication.

As a strategic thinker and trusted partner, you'll proactively shape a culture that values curiosity, collaboration, and continuous improvement. You'll help evolve how we work together, building the conditions for innovation, experimentation, and delivery of meaningful, human-centered experiences at scale. This is a rare opportunity to design how a design organization operates, helping one of Canada's fastest-growing technology companies deliver a transformative impact in the legal industry.

What You’ll Do

• Lead the operational foundation for Design & Research, managing tools, systems, and budgets that keep our teams focused on delivering exceptional work.
• Shape and maintain the rhythms and rituals that connect our teams within Design (design critiques, sprints, workshops, office hours, etc.) and within the organization (Product & Design All Hands, etc.) ensuring they’re consistent, purposeful, and well supported.
• Coordinate research operations by managing participant recruitment, scheduling, incentives, and insights management in partnership with Strategic Research and DI teams.
• Develop and maintain shared documentation and guidelines that strengthen collaboration between Design, Research, Product, and Engineering.
• Identify and implement process improvements that increase clarity, reduce friction, and enable faster, more informed decisions across the organization.
• Design and evolve onboarding programs that help new designers and researchers ramp quickly and feel connected to Clio’s mission, practices, and culture.
• Track and report on key operational metrics including team health, delivery velocity, and efficiency to inform leadership planning and resourcing decisions.
• Partner with Design & Research leadership to align on operational vision, priorities, and long-term goals that support the growth and maturity of the practice.
• Support the evaluation and rollout of new tools and vendors, ensuring we’re investing in the right infrastructure to scale design and research effectively.
• Contribute to building a collaborative, high-performing culture that values curiosity, transparency, and shared learning across teams.

What You Bring

• 5+ years of experience in design, research, or product operations.
• Strong organizational, communication, and program-management skills.
• Comfort navigating ambiguity and bringing structure to complex systems.
• Proficiency with design and research tools (Figma, Miro, Maze, Pendo).
• Experience maintaining process documentation and operational metrics.
• A pragmatic, collaborative approach to problem-solving and continuous improvement.
• Experience working in fast-paced, iterative product development environments.
• Deep understanding of good user experience, IA, and visual design.
• Demonstrate a keen interest in improving your craft by using AI.

Where you excel

• Experience collaborating with Design Systems to improve workflows, documentation, and tooling that enable consistent design execution.
• Hands-on experience with research operations, including participant recruitment, study logistics, and insight management.
• Background working within enterprise or multi-product software environments, ideally supporting SaaS or platform teams.
• Strong understanding of design thinking methodologies and how to connect qualitative and quantitative insights into operational workflows.
• Demonstrated ability to implement measurable process improvements, define KPIs, and report on operational impact.
• Experience driving change management or organizational transformation within a growing design or product org.

What you will find here

Clio offers a competitive, equitable salary with top-tier health benefits, dental, and vision insurance. The work environment is hybrid, with an expectation for local Clions in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Dublin, and Sydney to be in office a minimum of two days per week. The company provides a flexible time off policy with an encouraged 20 days off per year, a $2000 annual counseling benefit, RRSP matching, and RESP contribution. There is also a Clioversary recognition program with special acknowledgement at 3, 5, 7, and 10 years.

Key skills/competency

• Design Operations
• Research Operations
• Process Improvement
• Program Management
• Stakeholder Collaboration
• Figma, Miro, Maze, Pendo
• User Experience
• Documentation
• Metrics Tracking
• SaaS Environments