Remote Associate Director, Engineering Project Management

Associate Director of Engineering Project Management

Position Overview:

Natera is seeking a seasoned Associate Director of Engineering Project Management to lead a team in delivering impactful software projects across our strategic portfolio. You will play a critical role in driving value through collaboration with cross-functional teams, utilizing lean portfolio management, and ensuring projects meet their objectives on time and within budget. This position offers an exciting opportunity to work with cutting-edge technologies in the life sciences and healthcare industries while contributing to transformative projects that directly impact patients and healthcare providers.

As an Associate Director, you will manage multiple complex software development projects, lead a team of project managers, and report to the Senior Director of Engineering Project Management. You will be a key influencer, providing transparency to stakeholders and ensuring alignment across engineering and business teams.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Project & Portfolio Leadership

• Lead cross-functional portfolio management of software development initiatives, autonomously managing 1-3 high-complexity projects.
• Oversee a team of 2-5 Engineering Project Managers, providing coaching, guidance, and support.
• Foster collaboration across engineering teams and other Natera business domains or external partners, focusing on early-stage risk management and dependencies.
• Maintain project timelines, documentation, and stakeholder reporting while considering available resources, risks, and priorities.

1. Technical Expertise & Process Improvement

• Leverage a deep understanding of software architecture principles and the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) to guide project planning and execution.
• Track progress of product requirements and software delivery using enterprise tools such as Jira, Confluence, GitLab, and Jama, as well as Smartsheet.
• Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements (FDA design controls, HIPAA, etc.) and contribute to evolving best practices, templates, and processes within the Engineering Project Management (EPM) team.

1. Strategic Collaboration & Communication

• Serve as the key liaison between engineering teams and business partners, ensuring transparency and alignment on project goals.
• Provide regular portfolio reviews to executive leadership, negotiating outcomes and effectively managing stakeholder expectations.
• Take ownership of delivering projects within scope, on time, and within budget, while navigating challenges and driving solutions.

Qualifications:

• 7+ years of experience in project management within software development, ideally in the Life Sciences, Biotech, or Healthcare space.
• Demonstrated success in leading enterprise project portfolios, developing timelines, and managing reporting.
• Advanced knowledge of software delivery and requirements management tools (e.g., Jira, Confluence, GitLab, Jama).
• Experience working in regulated environments (FDA, HIPAA, etc.) is a strong plus.
• Certification in Project Management (PMP, CSM, or equivalent) is highly desirable.

Skills & Abilities:

• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively across technical teams, stakeholders, and senior leadership.
• Strong leadership abilities, fostering an environment where teams can navigate challenges and achieve success.
• Deep understanding of software development best practices and systems architecture.
• Excellent organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
• Proven ability to coach and develop team members, promoting lean, servant-leadership principles.

The pay range is listed and actual compensation packages are based on a wide array of factors unique to each candidate, including but not limited to skill set, years & depth of experience, certifications and specific office location. This may differ in other locations due to cost of labor considerations.

Remote USA

$141,500—$176,900 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