We are seeking a Staff Bioinformatician to lead the design, implementation, and optimization of computational methods supporting Germline, Prenatal, and Oncology next-generation sequencing (NGS) assays. You will drive analytical innovation across assay development, validation, and clinical deployment, collaborating closely with laboratory scientists, software engineers, and clinicians.
This is a senior technical individual contributor role—ideal for a scientist-engineer hybrid with deep NGS expertise and strong instincts for rigorous validation, robust pipeline design, and clinical performance.
ResponsibilitiesDesign, develop, and maintain analysis pipelines for germline variant calling, somatic variant detection, and cell-free DNA analysis.
Lead bioinformatics strategy for assay development across multiple product lines (germline, oncology, and prenatal).
Evaluate and integrate variant callers, CNV detection algorithms, phasing and haplotyping approaches, and artifact suppression models.
Perform analytical validation and establish key performance metrics (sensitivity, specificity, LoD, LoQ, reproducibility, etc.) under CLIA/CAP and FDA frameworks.
Collaborate with wet-lab scientists to guide assay design, capture performance, and sequencing strategy.
Partner with software and data engineering teams to scale pipelines in production (e.g., AWS Batch, Kubernetes, Argo, Nextflow).
Perform deep-dive analyses on challenging clinical cases, discordant results, and edge-case failure modes.
Author technical documentation, validation reports, and regulatory submission materials.
Mentor junior scientists and drive best practices in computational reproducibility and data governance.
Ph.D. or equivalent experience in Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, or related field.
7+ years of experience in NGS data analysis, with at least 3 years in a clinical or regulated environment.
Strong proficiency in Python, R, and Linux-based data processing.
Expertise in one or more of:
Germline variant calling (e.g., GATK, DeepVariant)
Somatic variant calling (e.g., Mutect2, Strelka2, VarDict)
CNV and SV detection (e.g., CNVkit, Manta, GATK-SV)
Cell-free DNA or low-VAF variant detection
Deep understanding of sequencing technologies (Illumina, hybrid capture, amplicon, cfDNA).
Experience in analytical validation and regulatory submission (CAP/CLIA, NYS, or FDA).
Strong collaborative communication skills across cross-functional teams.
Experience with multi-analyte or liquid biopsy assays (ctDNA, cfDNA, fragmentomics).
Familiarity with WES/WGS, exome panels, and hybrid capture performance modeling.
Familiarity with containerized workflow execution (Docker, Kubernetes, Argo, Nextflow, WDL).
Experience with cloud environments (AWS preferred) and distributed computing.
Statistical modeling and ML experience for noise suppression, artifact modeling, or QC analytics.
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
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