At Meta's Reality Labs Research (RLR), we are inventing the future of virtual and augmented reality. As the Strategy & Operations Lead, you will partner closely with the VP of Research to run how our organization plans, resources, and operates. You will support strategy development alongside research leadership, own and run the operating cadence of a large, globally distributed research organization, and lead complex, high-stakes cross-organizational initiatives. You will work across research pillars and with Product, Finance, HR, Legal, Comms, Operations, and Facilities to build the relationships and mechanisms that let ambitious, long-horizon research succeed. The ideal candidate exercises independent judgment informed by organizational context, stakeholder input, and data, is comfortable holding both strategic framing and operational details, and is energized by ambiguous problems in a research environment. This is a full-time individual contributor role with organization-wide scope.

Qualifications:

Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience 8+ years of experience in strategy, business operations, or program management, including experience in supporting or partnering with senior leaders Demonstrated experience running an operating cadence — planning, goal setting, business reviews, and decision follow-through — for a large, multi-team organization Experience with headcount and budget planning at scale, including cross-team allocation trade-offs, forecasting, and driving utilization rigor with finance partners Track record of independently leading ambiguous cross-functional initiatives to completion, including change management Demonstrated the ability to influence and align senior stakeholders without direct authority Experience coordinating operations teams, program managers, or vendor/contract worker teams without direct reporting lines Written and verbal communication, including authoring leadership review materials Experience applying analytical and structured problem-solving approaches to operational challenges, including determining when to investigate in depth versus when to delegate Demonstrated ability to integrate AI tools to optimize/redesign workflows and drive measurable impact (e.g., efficiency gains, quality improvements) Experience adhering to and implementing responsible, ethical AI practices (e.g., risk assessment, bias mitigation, quality and accuracy reviews) Demonstrated ongoing AI skill development (e.g., prompt/context engineering, agent orchestration) and staying current with emerging AI technologies Master's or equivalent graduate degree Experience with external partnerships, academic collaborations, or consortium structures Experience adhering to and implementing responsible, ethical AI practices (e.g., risk assessment, bias mitigation, quality and accuracy reviews) Demonstrated ongoing AI skill development (e.g., prompt/context engineering, agent orchestration) and staying current with emerging AI technologies Experience in a research, R D, or advanced technology organization with long-term, uncertain deliverables Experience supporting a VP-level leader as a strategy and operations partner Demonstrated ability to integrate AI tools to optimize/redesign workflows and drive measurable impact (e.g., efficiency gains, quality improvements) Experience across globally distributed teams and multiple physical sites, including lab or hardware environments