Director, Medical Operations

Director, Medical Operations, Oncology

Role Overview

This role will provide medical leadership and clinical oversight for the experience of ordering physicians, including physician onboarding, ordering workflows, and clinical experience initiatives within the oncology business. Reporting to the medical leadership team, the Director, Medical Operations will serve as a senior physician resource and will work closely with Medical Affairs, Laboratory, and commercial partners to identify and remove clinical and operational barriers to test adoption and to strengthen the experience of the physicians who order Natera's tests.

The individual will serve as a bridge between clinical practice and operational execution, engaging ordering physicians as a peer, physician to physician, and bringing clinical judgment to workflow and process design so that providers receive credible, physician-level guidance rather than standard customer support. A key focus will be reducing clinical and operational friction in the ordering process, resolving physician concerns through medical expertise and improving test utilization and retention among ordering providers.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the physician-facing point of medical contact for ordering providers, applying clinical judgment to resolve questions and concerns that require a physician's perspective.

• Provide medical leadership to the internal teams that support ordering physicians, translating clinical context into operational decisions.

• Lead the development and optimization of physician onboarding and ordering workflows to ensure a seamless ordering experience for physicians.

• Identify and address clinical and operational barriers that impact physician adoption, utilization, and retention.

• Partner with Medical Affairs, Laboratory, and commercial cross-functional teams to improve end-to-end clinical and operational processes.

• Provide medical oversight and guidance for clinical experience initiatives and operational improvement projects.

• Analyze physician ordering patterns, operational metrics, and physician feedback to identify opportunities for process improvement.

• Serve as a senior clinical and operational resource to ordering physicians for complex clinical questions and escalations.

• Translate physician insights and operational challenges into actionable recommendations for Medical Affairs and business leadership.

• Drive initiatives to improve specimen quality, turnaround times, ordering efficiency, and the overall quality of the physician ordering experience.

• Evaluate and address challenges that contribute to provider attrition, including clinical friction, workflow inefficiencies, and ordering obstacles.

Example Areas of Focus

• Improving physician retention among first-time ordering providers.

• Reducing specimen collection and submission errors that lead to delays or repeat testing.

• Streamlining physician onboarding and education processes.

• Enhancing communication pathways between physicians and medical teams when clinical questions arise.

• Serving as a peer clinical resource when ordering physicians raise questions that require a physician's judgment.

• Identifying operational inefficiencies that negatively impact the physician ordering experience and test utilization.

Ideal Candidate Profile

• MD degree required, with clinical training sufficient to engage ordering physicians as a credible peer; completion of residency or additional post-graduate clinical training preferred but not required.

• Strong understanding of physician workflows and the clinical decision-making and realities of practice for ordering providers.

• Credibility to engage practicing physicians peer to peer, physician to physician.

• Experience in healthcare operations, payer organizations, healthcare consulting, hospital administration, or process improvement functions preferred.

• Demonstrated ability to improve healthcare delivery, operational efficiency, or physician experience.

• Strong cross-functional leadership and stakeholder management skills.

• Ability to analyze complex operational challenges and develop scalable solutions.

• Experience working across medical, operational, and commercial teams is highly desirable.

• This role is best suited for a physician who understands the ordering provider's perspective firsthand but has built a career focused on healthcare operations, process improvement, consulting, or system optimization rather than maintaining an active clinical practice.