The Director R&D on the Platform team oversees and directs the activities of research and development of products across the entire Natera portfolio touching all major business units. In addition to individual products, there is a strong focus on core technical infrastructure and capabilities that will allow improvements to existing products as well as more effective launch of new products and features. The ideal candidate will have strong skills and experience in the areas of molecular biology, NGS, assay/methods development, and implementation in a regulated clinical environment.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Leadership & Mentorship: Provide strategic leadership and oversight to ensure alignment with company goals. Develop and execute the roadmap for NGS assay development to meet clinical and commercial objectives. Lead and mentor scientists, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous learning. Support professional growth and development of scientists by providing guidance and tools to thrive in a fast-paced environment.

• Innovation: Stay current with emerging methodologies and technologies in molecular diagnostics, genetics, and oncology. Drive ideation, conceptualization, development of new tools, assays and technologies as well as adoption of new technologies to enhance research capabilities to support development of new product lines.

• Research Oversight: Oversee the design, execution, and analysis of research innovation, technology and assay development. Ensure scientific rigor and integrity in all research activities. Coordinate with other departments to align research efforts with business objectives.

• Assay Design & Optimization: Lead the development, feasibility testing, and optimization of end-to-end NGS workflows, including library preparation, target enrichment, and sequencing.

• Cross-functional Collaboration: Work closely with cross-functional teams including bioinformatics & data science, medical, and program management to integrate research findings and strategies with organizational goals and product offerings.

• Communication: Present research findings to internal and external stakeholders.

Qualifications:

• PhD in molecular biology or related field

• Minimum 10 years of post-PhD biotech industry experience including significant leadership experience in diagnostics

• Expertise in NGS, cell-free DNA, methylation and other advanced molecular biology technologies strongly preferred

• Demonstrated leadership in building and managing a team to meet specific goals

• Proven ability to manage product development through Research and Development phases to hand off

• Strong ability to dive into and understand experiment planning and results

• Effective communication and collaboration with other teams

Compensation & Total Rewards

This range reflects a good-faith estimate of the base pay we reasonably expect to offer at the time of hire. Final compensation will vary based on experience, qualifications, and internal equity considerations.

This position is also eligible for additional compensation and benefits through Natera’s robust Total Rewards program, including:

Annual performance incentive bonus

Long-term equity awards

Comprehensive health benefits (medical, dental, vision)

401(k) with company match

Generous paid time off and company holidays

Additional wellness and work-life benefits

Compensation Range $228,600—$285,800 USD

OUR OPPORTUNITY

Natera™ is a global leader in cell-free DNA (cfDNA) testing, dedicated to oncology, women’s health, and organ health. Our aim is to make personalized genetic testing and diagnostics part of the standard of care to protect health and enable earlier and more targeted interventions that lead to longer, healthier lives.

The Natera team consists of highly dedicated statisticians, geneticists, doctors, laboratory scientists, business professionals, software engineers and many other professionals from world-class institutions, who care deeply for our work and each other. When you join Natera, you’ll work hard and grow quickly. Working alongside the elite of the industry, you’ll be stretched and challenged, and take pride in being part of a company that is changing the landscape of genetic disease management.

WHAT WE OFFER

• Competitive Benefits
• Employee benefits include comprehensive medical, dental, vision, life and disability plans for eligible employees and their dependents. Additionally, Natera employees and their immediate families receive free testing in addition to fertility care benefits. Other benefits include pregnancy and baby bonding leave, 401k benefits, commuter benefits and much more. We also offer a generous employee referral program!

For more information, visit www.natera.com.

Natera is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to ensuring a diverse and inclusive workplace environment, and welcome people of different backgrounds, experiences, abilities and perspectives. Inclusive collaboration benefits our employees, our community and our patients, and is critical to our mission of changing the management of disease worldwide.

All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply, and will be considered without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, age, veteran status, disability or any other legally protected status. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with applicable laws.

*If you are based in California, we encourage you to read this important information for California residents. *

Link: https://www.natera.com/notice-of-data-collection-california-residents/

Please be advised that Natera will reach out to candidates with a @natera.com email domain ONLY. Email communications from all other domain names are not from Natera or its employees and are fraudulent. Natera does not request interviews via text messages and does not ask for personal information until a candidate has engaged with the company and has spoken to a recruiter and the hiring team. Natera takes cyber crimes seriously, and will collaborate with law enforcement authorities to prosecute any related cyber crimes.

For more information:

• BBB announcement on job scams
• FBI Cyber Crime resource page