convergentresearch - Convergent Research - Senior People Ops Manager

• 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. • 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. • 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. • 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.