Senior People Ops Manager - Payroll & Systems

About Convergent Research
Convergent Research is a nonprofit science studio best known for pioneering the Focused Research Organization (FRO). We architect critical infrastructure that removes bottlenecks to breakthrough scientific research.
FROs are mission-driven, time-bound organizations built to solve important scientific and engineering bottlenecks. Convergent secures funding and provides the operational backbone that allows scientists and engineers to move quickly, from legal formation and governance to hiring, finance, communications, and operational systems. We’ve taken 14 FROs from idea to operating entity, including four launches in 2026.
 
About the Role
Payroll probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when you think about breakthrough science. But scientists can’t do their best work if they aren’t paid correctly, benefits aren’t working, or their organization isn’t set up to employ them.
That’s where you come in.
We’re looking for a Senior People Ops Manager - Payroll & Systems to own the people ops infrastructure that keeps Convergent and our FROs running smoothly. You’ll make sure our employees get paid accurately and on time, our policies and systems keep pace with our growth, new FROs become functioning employers, and organizations completing their missions can wind down responsibly.
This is a senior, hands-on expert role. We’re looking for someone who knows parts of this work better than we do. Someone who doesn’t just identify problems but brings recommendations, builds solutions, and sets the standard for how we operate. You’ll have significant autonomy to make decisions within your domain, with the Head of People providing final approval on decisions that impact company-wide strategy or multiple teams.
You’ll report to our Head of People and work closely with our People Ops Manager – Employee Experience, who owns recruiting, onboarding, and internal communications, and our Sr. HRBP, who serves as the primary point of contact for FRO employees. You’ll also partner with our Launch team, which coordinates the many moving pieces involved in getting a new FRO off the ground or winding one down. As we grow, there may be an opportunity to add a coordinator to support routine administrative work.
A quick note on payroll: We use TriNet as our US PEO and Rippling for UK payroll. Our providers handle tax calculations and filings, but that doesn’t mean we’ve outsourced accountability. You’ll own the accuracy of the inputs, review the outputs, and make sure issues get resolved. A second member of People Ops will provide an independent pre-run review.
This role will initially be approximately 60% hands-on execution and 40% policy development, infrastructure building, and continuous improvement. We need someone who enjoys both.

You Will (Duties)
Own payroll and make it bulletproof. You'll manage US and UK payroll end to end, including timesheets, payroll changes, initial review, and accuracy. We use TriNet (US) and Rippling (UK), so providers handle tax calculations and filings, but accountability stays with you. You'll build and maintain controls for input validation, independent pre-run review by another People Ops team member, pre- and post-run reconciliation, change approvals, and audit trails. You'll document processes so someone else can run payroll safely and push providers to fix gaps when needed. Keep benefits, retirement, and leave running smoothly. You'll own benefits administration, COBRA, open enrollment, US 401(k) and UK pension administration, including contributions, records, and provider coordination. You'll also manage leave administration in our HRIS and workers' compensation, partnering with the Sr. HRBP when accommodations or employee-specific issues arise. Make our people systems work for us. You'll own our HRIS architecture, configuration, integrations, data integrity, governance, and reporting, including source-of-truth rules, field ownership, and auditing. You'll troubleshoot escalated issues, manage vendor relationships and platform performance, and recommend when to build, buy, change, or simplify systems, with costs and risks clearly laid out. Keep our policies and compliance ahead of our growth. You'll partner with the Head of People to write and maintain compliant policies across US federal and state jurisdictions, the UK, and EOR-covered countries, with a jurisdictional compliance matrix, version control, and review dates. You'll also own the people compliance calendar, covering filings, renewals, notices, audits, and policy reviews, with clear owners and lead times. You'll know when to involve outside counsel, while the Head of People retains final statutory policy approval and decisions with company-wide strategic implications. Coordinate immigration and compensation processes. You'll facilitate FRO introductions to immigration counsel, coordinate vendors, track timelines, and provide HRIS documentation (not manage substantive immigration cases). You'll support reporting for compensation reviews, while the Head of People owns compensation strategy. Help new FROs become functioning employers. You'll stand up the people infrastructure for each new FRO, including entity and EOR setup, payroll and benefits activation, policies, and a usable Notion workspace. You'll coordinate the people workstream within the broader plan owned by the Program Launch Manager, managing dependencies such as TriNet and Rippling onboarding timelines and flagging risks early. Help FROs wind down responsibly. Because FROs are designed to be time-bound, finishing well matters. You'll own the operational side of wind-downs, including individual terminations, jurisdiction-specific final pay, benefits termination, platform and entity closure mechanics, and records retention. You'll partner with the Sr. HRBP on transition planning and employee communications, and with the Head of People on severance and counsel-involved matters.

In Six Months, You Will Have (6-Month Goals)
Taken full ownership of US and UK payroll, and pension/401k administration, with documentation detailed enough for someone else to run these processes safely. Audited and updated our source-of-truth salary data. Created a process for managing timecards and hourly payroll in Rippling, even though we don’t currently have hourly employees in the UK. Built a 12-month roadmap with OKRs and success criteria, agreed upon with the Head of People, covering SOPs, controls, and infrastructure improvements, and completed 2-3 of the highest-priority initiatives. Designed and implemented a payroll controls framework and people compliance calendar, with clear ownership, review processes, and accountability. Completed a gap assessment of our policies by jurisdiction and closed the highest-risk gaps. Supported at least one new FRO launch and one FRO wind-down from start to finish on the people operations side, assuming project timelines permit.

You Are (Skills)
A seasoned people ops expert who enjoys doing the work. You’ve owned payroll and people systems before. You’re comfortable being the person everyone turns to for answers, and you’re equally comfortable getting into the weeds. When we have something wrong, you’ll tell us and bring a better solution. Detail-oriented. You sweat the details where it matters (ie payroll and compliance), but you also know when to not let perfect get in the way of done. A builder of repeatable processes. You see a one-off problem and start thinking about how to prevent it from happening again. You create playbooks, templates, controls, and documentation that make our systems easier to run and safer to scale. You also protect the time needed to improve those systems, even when things get busy. An owner of new and hard things. You’ve helped stand up operations for a new entity, location, or country. You’re comfortable starting with a blank page, identifying dependencies, and turning a complicated problem into an actionable plan without waiting for someone else to make the checklist. A confident recommender and decision-maker. You bring options, explain the risks, and have a point of view. You know which decisions are yours to make and which need to go to the Head of People. We value expertise and thoughtful pushback, not just agreement. Fluent in systems and providers. You’re comfortable working with HRIS platforms, payroll providers, PEOs, and external partners. You know what our vendors are responsible for, what remains our responsibility, and how to hold them accountable when things aren’t working. A great juggler. Some months involve routine payroll and benefits admin. Others involve a new FRO launch, open enrollment, or a wind-down. Sometimes things happen all at once. You’re able to prioritize, anticipate collisions, and keep things moving without dropping the important details. Comfortable with ambiguity. You’ve worked somewhere the process didn’t exist yet, or where version one left plenty of room for improvement. You bring structure to messy situations without assuming there’s always a standard answer. Curious and questioning. You want to understand why something works the way it does, not just learn how to repeat it. You’re constantly looking for better tools, smarter processes, and ways to make the organization more effective. A kind, low-ego teammate. You assume positive intent, communicate clearly, and treat people with respect. We don’t tolerate jerks, even exceptionally competent ones.

Qualifications
12+ years of experience in HR ops, payroll administration, or a closely related field (or 8+ years with a directly relevant master’s degree). 5+ years of direct, accountable ownership of payroll administration across multiple jurisdictions, including California. Experience standing up or substantially building people operations processes for a new entity, location, or country. Hands-on experience administering benefits, including coordinating at least one open enrollment cycle. Experience owning an HRIS, including configuration, integrations, data integrity, data governance, and reporting. Experience developing complete, compliant policy suites across multiple states or countries, including knowing when to engage legal counsel. Strong documentation and process-building skills, with examples of playbooks, controls, or operational systems you’ve created. Familiarity with AI-enabled tools for documentation, reporting, and workflow automation.

Nice to Have
UK payroll experience, including PAYE, RTI, and pension administration. Experience working in a PEO environment, ideally with TriNet, and with Rippling or a comparable international payroll platform. Experience with international employer of record (EOR) arrangements. Experience in a nonprofit, startup, research organization, or other fast-moving, mission-driven environment. Experience supporting multiple legal entities.

We Offer (Amazing Benefits):
A rare chance to build institutional architecture for frontier science and work with some of the smartest and most talented experts from different fields Competitive Salary: The salary range for this role is $165,000 - 175,000. Convergent uses a consistent compensation philosophy across all roles, and we offer a 5-10% premium for those working from especially high cost of labor locations (e.g. NYC, San Francisco) or from our NYC office. This structure helps us keep pay transparent, consistent, and equitable. Up to a 6% 401k match because future-you deserves comfort Top-tier medical, dental, and vision insurance—majority of options are fully covered for you and your dependents. Stay healthy, my friend Company-paid life insurance, AD&D, long- and short-term disability insurance, as well as voluntary supplemental insurance options 19 holidays (including a full week off at the end of the year—yes, we enforce it) 3 weeks PTO with tenure increases, with separate allotments for sick and parental leave Generous fertility benefits and childcare reimbursement—because tiny humans are a big deal Education and professional development benefits Wellness allowance for fitness and wellness activities (treat yourself to climbing shoes or Calm.com —no judgment) Quarterly offsite team retreats and additional opportunities to meet your teammates in person

At Convergent Research, we are committed to creating an inclusive and diverse workplace where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. We believe in hiring individuals based on their unique talents, not on race, color, religion, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law or our company policies. We are more than a proud Equal Employment Opportunity employer. Our goal is to foster a healthy, safe, and respectful environment where all employees are valued and treated with dignity. Harassment of any kind is not tolerated here. #LI-remote #LI-KP1