Associate Director, Network Operations

POSITION SUMMARY:

Natera is seeking a hands-on, strategic Associate Director of Network Operations to modernize, scale, and safeguard a global network supporting critical healthcare and genomic operations. This leader will drive both technical excellence and operational strategy, combining deep engineering expertise with a vision for continuous innovation and business alignment.

The ideal candidate will lead a globally distributed network operations team, set architectural and operational roadmaps, tackle high-severity incidents, and deliver transformational improvements in automation, resilience, and performance. Success in this role demands ownership, precision under pressure, and the ability to influence technology and business stakeholders alike.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES:

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  Own the stability, security, and scalability of Natera’s global enterprise network (LAN, WAN, SD-WAN, wireless, firewalls) across cloud and on-prem environments.



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  Define and drive the network modernization roadmap — leading initiatives around automation, zero-trust architecture, performance engineering, and resiliency.



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  Lead a high-performing team of network engineers; set technical standards, enforce accountability, and develop engineering talent.



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  Act as top-tier escalation and incident commander for critical network events — diagnosing in real-time and leading rapid recovery efforts.



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  Design, configure, and optimize core infrastructure — you will remain hands-on in shaping network evolution.



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  Build and maintain strong cross-functional partnerships with Security, DevOps, Engineering, and Business Operations to support hybrid, high-growth environments.



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  Lead network capacity planning, lifecycle refreshes, and risk mitigation programs with a focus on proactive resilience.



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  Drive full-stack observability — improving telemetry, actionable alerts, and predictive analytics using SolarWinds, LogicMonitor, and similar platforms.



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  Champion firewall policy enforcement, segmentation, and secure remote access strategies alongside Information Security teams.



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  Maintain compliance with regulatory frameworks, internal controls, and change management governance (e.g., SOX, HIPAA).



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  Define and report operational KPIs (uptime, MTTR, change success rates) to IT and executive leadership, driving transparency and continuous improvement.

QUALIFICATIONS:

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  Required:

  
  
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    Bachelor’s degree in Technical Field or Equivalent

  
  
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    CCIE (Cisco Certified Internet Engineer)

  
  


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  Strongly Preferred:

  
  
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    Palo Alto PCNSE, Juniper JNCIP/JNCIE

  
  
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    AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty

  
  
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    AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional

  
  
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    ITIL Foundation v3/v4

  
  
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    Experience within a HIPAA controlled biotech, pharma or healthcare enterprise

  
  

LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE:

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  8-12 years in enterprise network engineering, with 5+ years leading technical teams (5-15+ engineers).



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  Proven ability to balance operational excellence with long-term strategic planning.



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  Experienced in building high-accountability, high-performance engineering cultures.



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  Own and optimize escalation models, on-call rotations, and incident management frameworks.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES:

Deep, hands-on expertise in:

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  Enterprise network design, hybrid cloud networking (AWS), and security-integrated architectures.
  Advanced routing and switching (BGP, OSPF, EIGRP), Layer 2/3 designs, VLANs, VRFs, STP, HA topologies.



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  Next-gen firewalls (Palo Alto Networks), wireless (Meraki), VPNs/IPSec/GRE, load balancing, NAT, and QoS.
  Tools: SolarWinds, LogicMonitor, Wireshark, NetFlow, SNMP.



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  Platforms: Juniper, Cisco (Meraki), Palo Alto Networks, Opengear.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS & WORK ENVIRONMENT:

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  This position requires the ability to use a computer keyboard, communicate over the telephone and read printed material.



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  Duties may require working outside normal working hours (evenings and weekends) at times.



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  Duties require being part of an on-call rotation

Travel required for this position:  Up to 25%

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.

Austin, TX

$143,500—$179,400 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 .

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:

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