[Hiring] Senior People Ops Manager - Payroll & Systems @Convergent Research

Role Description

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.

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.

Requirements

• Own payroll and make it bulletproof.
• Keep benefits, retirement, and leave running smoothly.
• Make our people systems work for us.
• Keep our policies and compliance ahead of our growth.
• Coordinate immigration and compensation processes.
• Help new FROs become functioning employers.
• Help FROs wind down responsibly.

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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Quarterly offsite team retreats and additional opportunities to meet your teammates in person.