What are the responsibilities and job description for the Vice President, Clinical Development (Oncology & Molecular Diagnostics) position at Natera?
Reports to: Chief Medical Officer, Corporate
Location: United States (Remote, with up to 30% travel)
Position Summary
Natera is seeking a Vice President of Clinical Development to deliver absolute ownership over the strategy, design, and execution of Natera-sponsored clinical studies. This corporate leader will institutionalize clinical trial architecture across the enterprise, distinct from therapeutic area strategy, with an immediate focus on defending and expanding our oncology footprint (including Early Cancer Detection and Signatera MRD), alongside corporate-level support for Women's Health and Organ Health.
Reporting directly to the Chief Medical Officer, you will be accountable for the operational health, scientific validity, and clinical utility data generated by Natera's multi-million dollar sponsored study portfolio. This is a high-autonomy role for a builder who can navigate rapid structural transitions—specifically our evolution from a Laboratory Developed Test (LDT) framework into highly regulated FDA In Vitro Diagnostic (IVD) and Companion Diagnostic (CDx) pharma partnerships.
Key Responsibilities
- Portfolio Architecture & Governance: Establish and enforce portfolio-level governance models to monitor study health, site enrollment, milestone delivery, sample flow, and data readiness. Make definitive, data-driven go/no-go decisions on trial modifications, accelerations, or terminations based on objective strategic value and execution feasibility.
- Clinical Utility Design: Lead cross-functional teams to design high-impact prospective, observational, and decision-impact trials. Translate clinical questions into protocols that explicitly isolate and prove clinical validity, analytical validity, and decision-impact endpoints to secure broad commercial payer coverage and medical guideline inclusion.
- Regulatory & CDx Alignment: Partner with Regulatory affairs to build clinical evidence strategies that support FDA pre-market approval (PMA), 510(k), and De Novo pathways. Lead intended-use claim strategy and protocols that support companion diagnostic (CDx) co-development with biopharma partners.
- Operational Study Health: Direct internal Clinical Operations and external CROs to eliminate bottlenecks in site activation, sample transit degradation, and query resolution. Implement fast, corrective action plans for under-performing sites or delayed protocols.
- Scientific Footprint & Influence: Maintain and build a direct, peer-to-peer scientific relationship with leading academic investigators, cooperative groups, and guideline panel members. Personally author and contribute to landmark peer-reviewed publications and abstract presentations at major oncology and diagnostic symposia.
Qualifications
- MD, MD/PhD, or PhD with equivalent oncology pivotal or registrational trial leadership experience.
- 18 years of experience in clinical development, clinical research, or clinical evidence generation, including at least 10 years personally directing oncology clinical trials.
- Diagnostics-native fluency: deep, unassisted comfort discussing cell-free DNA (cfDNA), ctDNA dynamics, minimal residual disease (MRD), analytical vs. clinical validity, and decision-impact metrics.
- Demonstrated experience operating cross-functionally within a highly matrixed environment with direct authority over clinical portfolios.
- Proven track record of designing evidence strategies that directly influenced regulatory submissions, multi-site registries, or national coverage determinations (LCDs/payors).
- High tolerance for ambiguity and an active bias for action; comfortable making critical portfolio trade-offs with incomplete information.
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
Salary : $350,000 - $430,000