Principal Technology Strategist, Data Analytical Systems

Principal Technology Strategist, Data Analytical Systems

Reports to: SVP, Laboratory Systems and Product Engineering

Work Model: Remote (with periodic travel to San Carlos, CA and Austin, TX)

 

Position Summary

The Principal Technology Strategist for Data Analytical Systems is an enterprise technical leader responsible for the architectural vision of the "Dry Lab" informatics ecosystem. This role defines how we process, analyze, and interpret massive-scale genomic data—transforming raw sequencing output into life-saving clinical insights.

 

This strategist owns the long-term technical roadmap for Production Bioinformatics Pipelines and Tertiary Analysis Systems. You will architect the platforms that handle primary/secondary NGS analysis, variant annotation, clinical classification, and the complex orchestration of Clinical Report Writing. Your mission is to ensure our analytical systems are computationally efficient, scientifically rigorous, and compliant with global regulatory standards (FDA/CAP/CLIA).

 

In the first 90 days, you will conduct a deep-dive audit of our current bioinformatics infrastructure and reporting workflows. You will identify bottlenecks in processing latency and manual "scientist-in-the-loop" steps within the tertiary analysis phase. You will establish a working rapport with the Bioinformatics R&D and Clinical Operation teams to align on a unified "Production-Grade" vision.

 

Within the first year, you will have architected a scalable, cloud-native framework for "plug-and-play" bioinformatics pipelines that supports our entire portfolio (Oncology MRD/CGP, ECD, and Women’s Health). Success will be defined by a measurable reduction in computational cost-per-sample, increased automation in variant classification, and a modernized reporting workflow engine that significantly reduces the time from "Sequence-Complete" to "Report-Issued."

 

Key Responsibilities

Production Bioinformatics & Pipeline Orchestration

• Define the enterprise strategy for Production-Grade Bioinformatics, ensuring pipelines are robust, reproducible, and version-controlled for clinical use.

• Architect high-performance computing and/or cloud-native orchestration layers that can scale elastically with laboratory volume.

• Drive "Build-vs-Buy" decisions for pipeline workflow managers (e.g., WDL, Nextflow, Snakemake) and secondary analysis acceleration technologies (e.g., DRAGEN, GPU-based processing).

• Establish standards for data provenance and "Freeze-Down" protocols to ensure regulatory traceability across pipeline versions.

 

Tertiary Analysis & Clinical Interpretation

• Enable seamless integration between the "Dry Lab" results and “Wet Lab” QC metrics to deliver both operational and scientific insights to reviewers and lab directors.

• Lead the architectural design of Tertiary Analysis Platforms that integrate variant calling with large-scale knowledge bases for annotation and classification.

• Partner with R&D and Clinical Ops to automate the Variant Classification workflow (ACMG/AMP guidelines), reducing manual curator burden through intelligent software design.

• Architect the Clinical Reporting Engine, ensuring it can handle complex multi-omic data, longitudinal results (MRD & CGP), and dynamic template requirements for various global markets.

 

Data Strategy & Analytics Infrastructure

• Ensure data architectures comply with global privacy standards (HIPAA, GDPR) while maintaining the high availability required for clinical operations.

• Partner with the Lab Software Engineering leaders to ensure a seamless "hand-off" of data between the Wet Lab (LIMS) and the Dry Lab (Bioinformatics).

 

Regulatory Excellence & "Validation-at-Scale"

• Architect systems that support Continuous Validation, allowing for rapid pipeline updates without compromising clinical integrity or audit readiness.

• Lead the technical narrative for Data Analytical Systems during FDA (PMA/510k) submissions and CAP/CLIA inspections.

• Act as a mentor to the engineering and bioinformatics teams, fostering a culture of software engineering excellence within a scientific domain.

 

Qualifications

Required

• 10+ years of experience in software architecture or technical strategy, with at least 5 years focused on Bioinformatics, Genomics, or Clinical Data Systems.

• Deep expertise in NGS Data Processing (FastQ to VCF) and the computational challenges of high-throughput primary and secondary analysis.

• Proven experience building or scaling Tertiary Analysis/Interpretation systems, knowledgebases (genetics and/or oncology), and clinical report-writing workflows.

• Exceptional ability to bridge the gap between Geneticists and Software Engineers.

 

Preferred

• Experience with Oncology diagnostics, specifically MRD (Minimal Residual Disease) or CGP (Comprehensive Genomic Profiling).

• Familiarity with AI/ML integration into clinical decision support systems.

• Advanced degree (Masters or PhD) in Genetics, Computational Biology, or Computer Science.

 

Work Model & Travel

This is a remote role. Periodic travel to San Carlos, CA and Austin, TX is expected to collaborate with the R&D and Clinical Lab Ops teams.

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