Senior People Ops Manager - Payroll & Systems

Convergent Research•Philadelphia, PA

5d•$165,000 - $175,000•Remote

About The Position

Convergent Research is seeking a Senior People Ops Manager - Payroll & Systems to manage the people operations infrastructure that ensures smooth operations for Convergent and its Focused Research Organizations (FROs). This role involves ensuring accurate and timely employee payments, maintaining policies and systems to support growth, establishing new FROs as employers, and managing responsible wind-downs of completed organizations. It is a senior, hands-on expert position with significant autonomy, reporting to the Head of People. The role requires a blend of hands-on execution (initially 60%) and policy development, infrastructure building, and continuous improvement (initially 40%). Key responsibilities include managing US and UK payroll, benefits administration, HRIS management, policy and compliance, immigration and compensation process coordination, and supporting FRO launches and wind-downs.

Requirements

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 Haves

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.

Responsibilities

Manage US and UK payroll end-to-end, including timesheets, payroll changes, initial review, accuracy, and provider accountability.
Build and maintain controls for input validation, independent pre-run review, pre- and post-run reconciliation, change approvals, and audit trails for payroll.
Document payroll processes and push providers to fix gaps.
Own benefits administration, COBRA, open enrollment, US 401(k) and UK pension administration, including contributions, records, and provider coordination.
Manage leave administration in HRIS and workers' compensation.
Own HRIS architecture, configuration, integrations, data integrity, governance, and reporting.
Troubleshoot escalated HRIS issues, manage vendor relationships and platform performance, and recommend system improvements.
Write and maintain compliant policies across US federal and state jurisdictions, the UK, and EOR-covered countries.
Own the people compliance calendar, covering filings, renewals, notices, audits, and policy reviews.
Facilitate FRO introductions to immigration counsel, coordinate vendors, and track timelines.
Support reporting for compensation reviews.
Stand up the people infrastructure for each new FRO, including entity and EOR setup, payroll and benefits activation, policies, and Notion workspace.
Coordinate the people operations workstream within the broader plan for new FRO launches.
Own the operational side of FRO wind-downs, including terminations, final pay, benefits termination, platform and entity closure, and records retention.
Partner with Sr. HRBP on transition planning and employee communications for wind-downs.
Partner with Head of People on severance and counsel-involved matters for wind-downs.

Benefits

Competitive Salary: The salary range for this role is $165,000 - 175,000.
A 5-10% premium for those working from especially high cost of labor locations (e.g. NYC, San Francisco) or from our NYC office.
Up to a 6% 401k match.
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).
3 weeks PTO with tenure increases, with separate allotments for sick and parental leave.
Generous fertility benefits and childcare reimbursement.
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.