---
title: 'Sensor Network Technical Lead at Convergent Research'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/sensor-network-technical-lead-convergent-research-united-kingdom-jt6jqmaenyb3'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-12'
---

# Sensor Network Technical Lead at Convergent Research

- **Company:** Convergent Research
- **Location:** United Kingdom
- **Compensation:** £78k–£92k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-09-11
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-12
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/convergentresearch/9041fc58-fd51-464a-856a-c0abbdf70599

## Job description

Echo Labs is building the scientific and technical foundation for ecological intelligence: a multimodal system to measure, model, and forecast ecosystem condition as a dynamic property. We are a new Focused Research Organisation (FRO), supported by Convergent Research and funded by ARIA, pursuing high-risk, high-reward science with a public good mission.

## About this Role

Echo Labs is seeking a Sensor Network Technical Lead to own the development of our UK ecological monitoring network; over the next 12 months, this will see a roll-out of a permanent multimodal sensor network across the UK. This is a hands-on, delivery-focused role where you will design and deploy a sensor-driven field campaign, develop data pipelines from sensor to server, and lead a small team of field technicians through the roll-out. You will be the person responsible for ensuring data captured in the field transfers into reliable data in our pipeline.

You bring a pragmatic approach to deployment alongside genuine enthusiasm for testing novel technologies. You are confident programming and powering hardware such as Raspberry Pi for off-grid work, deploying mesh networks such as XBee or LoRaWAN, repurposing camera hardware and software and exploring new technology such as edge-AI, all while being excited by the ecological insight this can unlock.

Profile (You Have)

- You are a technical expert with demonstrable experience in designing and delivering large, multimodal sensor networks from the ground up. You will have the knowledge to know which solutions are scalable and what is required to deploy them.

- Experience with existing ecological monitoring technologies including bioacoustics, phenocams, microclimate sensors, automated dendrometers or similar devices.

- Experience with designing, deploying and optimising telemetry and data transfer solutions. You are knowledgeable regarding security best practice for unattended field hardware, from encrypted data transmission to protection against tampering.

- You have strong logistics skills and are able to plan multi-site fieldwork (travel, equipment, scheduling, contractor cover) across dispersed rural locations.

- You track emerging sensing solutions closely and have the technical capability to evaluate and adopt them quickly.

- You will have a full, clean UK driving licence and are comfortable working independently outdoors in variable weather for extended periods.

- You are a confident communicator who is able to train and supervise field staff and build trust quickly with land managers and partners.

Highly Valued Experience

- Experience with ecological survey methods including design and deployment of vegetation, bird, pollinator or soil sampling.

- Experience with data science techniques that integrate remote sensing and spatial analysis.

- Experience discovering and repurposing novel data sources that may contain ecological signal; this could include anything and we’re excited to hear your suggestions.

Core Responsibilities

- Sensor suite development and deployment

With support from the Director of Ecological Research, take ownership of all technical aspects of designing, building, testing and refining the sensor suite before and during deployment, and ensure sensor data reliably and securely reaches Echo's data pipeline from sensor to server.

- Field campaign leadership and delivery

Own day-to-day field operations for the Stage 1 roll-out across the UK, planning logistics and leading a small team of technicians and temporary staff to deliver the campaign on schedule. Act as Echo's primary point of contact with land managers and other delivery partners, coordinating site access and on-the-ground logistics.

- SOP development, training and quality control

Own and continuously improve the field survey management plan and SOPs; pilot new methods before wider roll-out; train and supervise field staff; run periodic field audits for data quality and protocol adherence.

- Future scoping of new technologies

Think creatively and keep up to date with new technologies, software and datasets that improve characterisation of ecosystem condition and enable Echo to scale (e.g. via citizen science or the "digital exhaust"). Propose new solutions to the team and evaluate them against our benchmark.

## We Offer

- A rare chance to build institutional architecture for frontier science, working alongside top talent from different fields.

- Up to 6% employer pension contribution; top-tier private medical and dental cover for you and your dependants.

- Generous parental leave (20 weeks make-whole-pay for both parents); 25 days holiday; wellness allowance.

We're bringing together top talent from academia, industry, and startups to build a new model for innovative R&D, and are committed to an inclusive, diverse workplace where everyone can thrive. We hire on unique talent, not on race, colour, religion, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, or any other characteristic protected by law.

## #LI-KP1

## About Convergent Research

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Convergent Research is a nonprofit organization that launches and supports Focused Research Organizations (FROs) to build foundational technologies that unblock scientific progress.
- **Entity Type**: Private Nonprofit (501(c)(3))
- **Headquarters**: Palo Alto, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2021
- **Founders**: Adam Marblestone, Anastasia Gamick

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Scientific Research and Development Services (NAICS 5417)
- **Target customers**: B2B — scientific researchers, universities, government agencies, and philanthropic funders; operates as a "mission control" launching public-good R&D projects.
- **Mission statement**: “Spectacularly good futures are within reach, but only if we mind the gaps. Scientists need essential technologies to do the groundbreaking research all of us depend on.”

## Products & Services
Convergent Research does not sell commercial products. Instead, it incubates **Focused Research Organizations (FROs)** – time-bound, technically ambitious nonprofit efforts designed to produce high-impact public goods. Current and past FROs/projects include:

- **Cultivarium**: Developing tools for studying novel (previously unculturable) microorganisms.
- **E11 Bio (EVE Bio)**: Brain circuit mapping technologies.
- **Forest Neurotech**: Neural technology and biosensing platforms.
- **Ocean CDR Atlas**: Open-access tool for ocean-based carbon dioxide removal measurement.
- **Fundamental Development Gap Map (v1.0)**: A public web portal identifying bottlenecks holding back science.

Convergent Research provides shared operational support (legal, finance, HR, communications) across all FROs.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not applicable (nonprofit).
- **Annual Revenue (FY2024)**: **$72.4 million** (ProPublica IRS filing). Total revenue for FY2024 was $100.1 million.
- **Total Grant Funding Received**: At least $25.1 million from Vanguard Charitable, $9.5 million from Probabilistic Computing Foundation, $8 million from The Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fund for Strategic Innovation (latest filings).
- **Total Funding Raised**: ~$2 million in disclosed grants (led by Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in 2023); the vast majority comes from additional major philanthropic gifts not categorized as single-investor rounds.
- **Notable Partners/Funders**: Advanced Research and Intervention Agency (ARIA, UK), Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, The Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fund for Strategic Innovation, Vanguard Charitable, Probabilistic Computing Foundation.
- **Growth Signals**: 164 employees (as of latest CauseIQ data, up from ~23 on LinkedIn); headquarter presence in Palo Alto, Cambridge (MA), and Boulder (CO); expanded into the UK via a collaboration with ARIA (“FROST UK”); 15 active job postings with 25% month-over-month posting growth.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Novel institutional model**: Focused Research Organizations (FROs) fill a gap between traditional academia and for-profit startups — targeted, time-boxed, public-good missions.
- **Lean central infrastructure**: Shared operational support lets FRO scientists focus purely on technical breakthroughs, avoiding administrative overhead.
- **High-caliber scientific network**: Leaders include senior scientists from MIT, Caltech, King’s College London, and CMU as grantees/collaborators.
- **Access to major philanthropic capital**: Partners with some of the largest climate and science foundations globally.

## Strategic Focus
- **Geographic expansion**: Formal partnership with ARIA in the UK to launch FROs abroad (“FROST UK”).
- **Gap mapping**: Releasing and refining the Fundamental Development Gap Map to systematically identify the biggest bottlenecks in science.
- **Scaling the FRO model**: Adding new FROs in ocean CDR, neuroscience, and molecular engineering; hiring Founders in Residence to spin up new efforts.
- **Public data as product**: Committed to releasing open datasets and protocols (e.g., drug–target assay data, Lean proof library) as public goods.

## Why Work Here
- **Mission-driven**: Direct, hands-on impact on solving foundational scientific bottlenecks rather than incremental product improvements.
- **Culture**: Described as “mission control” — fast-paced, collaborative, technical. Leadership emphasizes pushing high-risk, high-reward projects.
- **Locations**: On-site positions in Palo Alto (CA), Cambridge/Boston (MA), and Boulder (CO). Some roles are US- or UK-based.
- **Team composition**: Small, senior-heavy centralized team (~20 core staff in Palo Alto) plus larger distributed FRO project teams (~164 total organization-wide). Significant cross-functional work across legal, finance, operations, and science.
- **Typical roles**: Postdoctoral Research Scientists, Research Associates, Biosensing Engineers, Finance/Operations Managers, General Counsel.
- **Compensation transparency (IRS filing)**: CEO Adam Marblestone — $431,025; President Anastasia Gamick — $360,495; competitive nonprofit scientific salaries.
- **Notable perks**: Working with world-class scientists and funders; contributions to genuinely public-good science; tax-deductible donation eligible organization.
- **Remote/hybrid**: Mostly on-site (Boulder, Palo Alto, Cambridge); limited remote possibilities depending on role.

## Sources
1. [convergentresearch.org](https://www.convergentresearch.org/)
2. [jobs.lever.co/convergentresearch](https://jobs.lever.co/convergentresearch)
3. [linkedin.com/company/convergent-research](https://linkedin.com/company/convergent-research)
4. [causeiq.com – Convergent Research](https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/convergent-research,883013217/)
5. [projects.propublica.org – Convergent Research Inc](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/883013217)

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