People Ops (HR) Manager

*Please note we will not begin the interview process until early Jan. 2026 since our team will be on holiday break.

At Convergent Research, we launch Focused Research Organizations (FROs), purpose-built teams of scientists and engineers tackling scientific bottlenecks that academia and industry aren’t structured to address. We move fast. We prioritize impact. We build infrastructure for scale.

As we grow across domains, borders, and headcount, we need increasingly scalable and compliant HR processes. That’s where you come in. We’re looking for a People Ops Manager to drive operational excellence in everything from payroll and HR compliance to HR analytics and recruiting ops. This is a role for someone who sweats the details without getting bogged down in bureaucracy.

You are...:
• Detail-obsessed but impact-driven. You can spot a missing semicolon in a 12-page policy doc and still remember that we’re here to support scientists, not just paperwork.
• A systems thinker with a vengeance. If you've ever looked at a broken onboarding flow and said “This could be beautiful,” we want to talk.
• Highly analytical. You’re fluent in metrics and dashboards and know what to track (and when) to surface insights.
• Manager-whisperer. You enjoy making other people look smart and organized. You create toolkits that managers actually use (and maybe even thank you for).
• Ambiguity’s favorite dance partner. You bring order to chaos, even when priorities are shifting and no one's handed you a checklist.
• Action-oriented and proactive. You don’t wait for permission to solve a problem or improve a process.

You will...:
• Build the connective tissue across entities. Be comfortable with a little beautiful chaos: multiple legal entities, mismatched tools, and shifting priorities, while you help design and maintain custom HR infrastructure such as salary spreadsheets and benefits matrices so the whole system behaves like one coherent platform.
• Make sure everyone gets paid. Run payroll like a pro in conjunction with our amazing finance team.
• Run recruiting ops like a backstage manager. Coordinate interview loops, Slack threads, and scheduling chaos with the grace of a seasoned event planner who moonlights as a spreadsheet whisperer.
• Audit like it’s a sport. Keep our library of policies, templates, and SOPs fresh, functional, and free of weird 2021 artifacts.
• Redesign people ops workflows that don’t make anyone cry. Build for consistency and scale, but also for the real humans who have to use them.
• Keep us on the right side of HR law. In partnership with our Compliance Manager and Head of People, stay ahead of audit calendars, mandatory trainings, and other HR alphabet soup.
• Turn people data into actual insight. Own the dashboards for headcount, turnover, time-to-hire, and other metrics that help us get better, faster.
• Drop into projects like a helpful SWAT team. Salary benchmarking? Leveling frameworks? Toolkits for managers? You’re in.
• Play well with others. Partner across teams to bring order, structure, and a bit of HR magic to the broader org.

In 6 months, you will have...:
• Launched two things that are scalable and shiny: 2 chapters in our management playbook.
• Made our spreadsheets and dashboards sing. Built a reporting suite that helps leaders make decisions faster.
• Run payroll and nailed it. Even our auditors would be impressed.
• Shipped an HR compliance calendar.
• Scrubbed our employee and benefits data until it sparkled. Found the typos, tracked the missing fields, and ensured our systems were actually reflecting reality.

We offer (amazing benefits):
• A chance to change the trajectory of science by helping build the infrastructure behind world-class research teams.
• Up to a 6% 401k match
• Excellent medical, dental, and vision insurance — most plans fully covered for you and your family.
• Generous leave: 3 weeks PTO, 19 holidays (including a winter break), plus sick and parental leave.
• Great fertility and childcare reimbursement programs.
• Professional development and wellness allowances.
• Multiple yearly team retreats and other opportunities to collaborate IRL.

Convergent Research exists to remove the friction that holds back world-changing research. We’re building the infrastructure for a better R&D ecosystem — and we need exceptional operations minds to make that happen.

We are committed to a diverse, inclusive, and harassment-free workplace. We hire for talent and potential, and we support people to grow into their best work. #LI-remote #LI-KP1