Head of Communications & Engagement

Convergent Research is a non-profit science studio best known for pioneering the Focused Research Organization (FRO). We architect pivotal infrastructure that removes bottlenecks to breakthrough scientific research.

FROs are a new operating model for science that ensures rapid iteration cycles and high-throughput learning. Convergent secures funding and provides an operational backbone for counterfactual R&D, creating space for scientists to do what they do best. FRO teams are agile, creative, and risk-tolerant as a result. They make fast progress because they start and stay focused.

About the Role

Convergent Research now supports 13 active FROs — independent research organizations spanning neuroscience, climate, biology, and beyond — and growing. Our communications function has matured significantly: our narrative is strong, our brand is established, and our external presence has taken shape. What we need now is a communications expert who can own the function, scale it intelligently, and help the scientists building some of the world's most ambitious research organizations learn to tell their stories.

The Head of Communications & FRO Engagement leads Convergent's communications function across two interconnected responsibilities: building the communications capabilities of our FRO portfolio and  running Convergent's own internal and digital communications. The primary focus of this role is building and scaling communications capabilities across our FRO portfolio. You will teach FRO teams how to develop a media strategy.  You'll help scientific founders understand their audiences, build their public voice, and prepare for press. You'll run workshops, coach CEOs, and connect FROs to the right resources to execute

On the Convergent side, you'll manage the internal and owned channels and coordinate with external agencies and consultants for brand storytelling and media.  You’ll ensure that things are getting shipped and keep the machine running.

We anticipate the split to be approximately  85% FRO portfolio communications; 15% Convergent communications. 

We know this is a wide role. We'd rather find someone who can genuinely do both the coaching and the execution. If the balance isn't perfect, we want someone with the self-awareness to know which leg they stand on — and the resourcefulness to fill the other through consultants, vendors, or AI tools.

This role reports to the General Manager and works closely with Convergent's executive team, FRO CEOs, and a curated network of external communications vendors and consultants.

You Are

• A senior communications generalist with functional ownership instincts – You've led or owned a communications function before — not just contributed to one. You understand the full picture: narrative, media relations, digital channels, brand, internal comms, and the operational infrastructure that holds it together. You know what good looks like and you hold yourself and your work to that standard.
• A communications teacher and coach – You can walk into a room with a scientific founder who has never thought about audiences or media strategy, earn their trust, and shift how they think — not by lecturing, but by asking the right questions. You know how to move someone from "what pictures and words should I make?" to a real strategy: who do I need to reach, what do I need them to do, and what's in it for them? You come away from those conversations with a deliverable the FRO actually owns. You are comfortable doing this across wildly different scientific and technological domains
• PR-savvy and media-strategic – You know how to turn complex scientific and technical work into stories  that earn attention from the right audiences. You can identify what is genuinely newsworthy, build targeted media strategies, consult on developing strong pitches and briefing materials, prepare founders for press, and manage reporter relationships with judgment and credibility. You help FROs move from “we should get press” to a clear PR strategy: who needs to hear this, why now, what do we want them to understand or do, and which media channels are actually worth pursuing.
• Operationally disciplined– You run a tight ship. Editorial calendars, FRO comms pipelines, vendor timelines, Notion documentation — you own these things without being asked and you keep them current. You also know how to teach others to do the same, and develop templates and systems to make execution easy. 
• Comfortable with complexity and multiplicity – You are supporting 13 independent organizations, each with their ow