Billing Strategy Lead, Denials and Appeals

Summary

Join Natera as a Billing Strategy Lead, Denials & Appeals to manage strategic programs focused on revenue cycle operations, particularly denials and appeals management. You will support the Billing Strategy leadership team by managing high-impact projects, leading vendor transitions, and driving initiatives to enhance reimbursement outcomes. The ideal candidate is highly data-savvy, experienced in healthcare revenue cycle processes, and skilled at managing multiple stakeholders. Responsibilities include leading strategic initiatives related to denials and appeals, acting as a subject matter expert in revenue cycle and healthcare reimbursement, and driving collaboration across teams. You will also manage and audit vendors, translate data into operational insights, utilize project planning and tracking tools, and provide high-quality documentation and communications. The role requires balancing hands-on project management with strategic planning and adapting to evolving business demands.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field (e.g., Biology, Health Administration, Business) or equivalent years of professional experience
• 2–4 years of project or program management experience in healthcare or biotech, and at least 5 years of direct experience in revenue cycle operations and denials management
• Proven experience with denials and appeals management and implementing process improvements in a healthcare reimbursement setting
• Experience leading large initiatives involving vendor transitions, standing up new internal teams, or shifting billing operations in-house
• Strong experience working with data and KPIs; proficiency with Excel is required, and familiarity with SQL, PowerBI or Tableau is strongly preferred
• Deep understanding of healthcare reimbursement, claims processing, and appeals workflows
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to convey updates and data-driven insights to both operational teams and executive leadership
• Strong organizational, problem-solving, and time management abilities; thrives in fast-paced, ambiguous environments with shifting priorities
• Comfortable managing up, holding cross-functional partners accountable, and driving project progress independently
• Ability to translate project status, KPIs, and priorities into clear documentation and updates for stakeholders

Responsibilities

• Lead strategic initiatives related to denials and appeals, with an emphasis on transitioning offshore billing operations in-house and standing up new billing workflows or teams
• Act as a subject matter expert in revenue cycle and healthcare reimbursement, especially in backend functions such as appeals, denials, and claims workflows
• Drive collaboration across Billing Strategy, Operations, Data Analytics, and Engineering teams to ensure deliverables are met, timelines are tracked, and blockers are addressed
• Manage and audit vendors; support vendor transition planning, oversight, and implementation of new billing technologies or processes
• Translate data into operational insights through the use of dashboards, reporting, and Business Intelligence tools (Excel, PowerBI, or Tableau); provide data-driven insights to aid in operational strategy
• Utilize project planning and tracking using tools such as Drawio, Smartsheet, or other project trackers to ensure accountability across teams and deliver clear, concise status updates to leadership
• Organize and lead recurring cross-functional meetings to review project progress, manage risks, and ensure alignment on priorities and timelines
• Provide high-quality documentation and communications including project plans, audit summaries, transition roadmaps, and status updates
• Balance hands-on management of projects with strategic planning—pivoting and adapting as needed to meet evolving business demands

Preferred Qualifications

• Certification or formal training in Program or Project Management (PMP, Agile, etc.) is a plus
• Experience building Gantt charts, timelines, and using project tracking software

Benefits

• 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!