Associate Director, Speaker Programs

Position Summary

Natera is seeking an experienced and highly operational Associate Director, Peer-to-Peer Education & Speaker Programs to lead the strategy, governance, and execution of our enterprise-wide healthcare professional (HCP) education programs.

This role will serve as the central owner of Natera's peer-to-peer physician education platform across multiple business units and disease areas, ensuring programs are compliant, scalable, impactful, and aligned with commercial and educational objectives. The Associate Director will oversee all aspects of speaker program operations, including speaker identification and onboarding, contracting, training, compliance processes, field engagement, event execution, reimbursement, reporting, and continuous process improvement.

The ideal candidate brings deep expertise in speaker bureau and HCP education programs, combined with exceptional operational leadership and a proven ability to build systems, processes, and governance frameworks that scale. This individual will partner closely with Marketing, Medical Affairs, Sales, Compliance, Legal, Finance, and physician thought leaders to deliver high-quality educational experiences while maintaining the highest standards of compliance and operational excellence.

Key Responsibilities

Program Strategy & Governance

• Lead the development, management, and continuous improvement of Natera's enterprise-wide peer-to-peer education and speaker program strategy.
• Establish governance frameworks, operating models, and standardized processes that support scalable and compliant program execution across all business units.
• Develop and maintain program policies, SOPs, training materials, playbooks, and operational documentation.
• Ensure consistent program standards while supporting the unique needs of individual product lines and disease states.
• Serve as the internal subject matter expert on speaker program best practices, operations, and compliance.

Speaker Lifecycle Management

• Oversee the end-to-end speaker lifecycle, including nomination, vetting, onboarding, contracting, credentialing, training, annual recertification, and performance management.
• Partner with commercial and medical stakeholders to identify, develop, and maintain a high-performing physician speaker faculty.
• Manage speaker profiles, engagement history, utilization metrics, training records, and program participation.
• Serve as a primary point of contact for speaker-related inquiries and issue resolution.

Compliance & Financial Oversight

• Partner closely with Compliance and Legal teams to ensure adherence to all applicable healthcare regulations, company policies, and industry standards.
• Manage processes related to fair market value (FMV) assessments, HCP contracting, documentation requirements, and audit readiness.
• Oversee honoraria, expense reimbursement, and payment workflows in partnership with Finance and Accounts Payable.
• Ensure all program activities meet regulatory, compliance, and documentation requirements.

Program Operations & Process Excellence

• Design, implement, and continuously improve operational processes that support speaker program execution at scale.
• Develop efficient workflows that streamline program requests, approvals, scheduling, contracting, event execution, reimbursement, and reporting.
• Create scalable systems and tools that improve efficiency, consistency, compliance, and stakeholder experience.
• Ensure seamless coordination across Marketing, Medical Affairs, Sales, Compliance, Legal, Finance, and field teams.
• Identify opportunities to optimize program quality, reduce administrative burden, and enhance operational effectiveness.

Field Engagement & Stakeholder Support

• Serve as the primary operational partner for field sales and marketing teams.
• Develop processes, tools, resources, and training that enable effective utilization of speaker programs in the field.
• Provide guidance on program policies, speaker engagement, event execution, and compliance requirements.
• Partner with commercial leadership to align educational programming with strategic business priorities.
• Foster strong relationships with physician speakers and internal stakeholders to ensure a best-in-class experience.

Analytics & Performance Measurement

• Define and track key performance indicators across all speaker and peer-to-peer education programs.
• Develop dashboards and reporting frameworks that provide visibility into program activity, speaker utilization, field engagement, budget performance, and operational effectiveness.
• Analyze program outcomes and identify opportunities for optimization and growth.
• Deliver regular reporting, business reviews, and strategic recommendations to senior leadership.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree required.
• 7+ years of experience in speaker bureau management, peer-to-peer education, medical education, HCP engagement, commercial operations, or related functions within diagnostics, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, or medical device organizations.
• Demonstrated experience managing healthcare professional speaker programs at scale.
• Strong understanding of healthcare compliance requirements, including FMV and HCP contracting practices.
• Proven experience developing operational processes, SOPs, governance models, and scalable program infrastructure.
• Exceptional project management and organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple stakeholders, priorities, and timelines.
• Strong analytical capabilities with experience developing KPIs, dashboards, and executive-level reporting.
• Excellent communication and relationship-management skills with experience working with physician thought leaders and cross-functional teams.

Preferred

• Experience supporting multiple therapeutic areas, product lines, or business units.
• Hands-on experience with Salesforce.com (SFDC), including program tracking, reporting, workflow management, and analytics.
• Experience building or transforming speaker program operations from externally supported to internally managed models.
• Experience with CRM, event management, reimbursement, contracting, or compliance management systems.
• PMP, Lean, Six Sigma, or other operational excellence certifications are a plus.

Success Profile

The ideal candidate is a highly organized and strategic operator who thrives at the intersection of healthcare professional engagement, compliance, process excellence, and stakeholder management. They bring deep expertise in peer-to-peer physician education programs and have a track record of building scalable systems, driving operational rigor, and delivering measurable business impact in complex healthcare organizations.