Data Privacy Director

JOB SUMMARY:

Natera is seeking a Data Privacy Director to help advance and operationalize the enterprise privacy program across our commercial, clinical, and product environments. This is a broad, hands-on leadership role supporting the full range of the Privacy team's work — from privacy impact assessments and regulatory analysis to contract and legal privacy-focused reviews — with a strong business-enablement orientation. This role reports to the Vice President, Data Privacy and partners with cross-functional teams to embed privacy principles throughout the lifecycle of data, technology, and innovation initiatives.  The Director may also provide guidance and mentorship to privacy team members and external resources supporting the program.

The Director will also serve as a key integration point between Privacy and Product, embedding privacy-by-design into product and software development lifecycles and partnering with engineering to make privacy practical and scalable. In partnership with Medical Affairs, Clinical Operations, and Data Sciences (R&D), this leader will also enhance and maintain data governance frameworks that support clinical research initiatives and the responsible use of data for quality improvement and development activities. Together, these efforts will help strengthen Natera’s privacy program, building efficient, repeatable processes that expand team capacity while enabling responsible innovation and growth.

Regarding culture, we seek people who demonstrate Natera's values, enjoy challenging problems, empower others to thrive, lead by example, and adapt their playbook when necessary.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Privacy Program Enablement

• Lead privacy impact assessments, regulatory analyses, and risk-based recommendations that balance compliance with business enablement

• Conduct privacy reviews of contracts and legal engagements, drafting recommendations for counsel review, alignment, and approval

• Apply a risk-based lens to enable business decisions

• Build efficient, repeatable processes and tooling that scale program capacity within a resource-constrained team

• Provide direction and mentorship to team members and external resources as the program scales

Privacy Integration & Engineering

• Serve as the integration point between Privacy and Product/Engineering, embedding privacy-by-design into product and software development lifecycles

• Partner with technical teams to translate privacy requirements into practical controls, patterns, and reusable technical solutions

• Support privacy engineering practices that operationalize compliance without slowing delivery

Data Use Governance & Decision Frameworks

• Implement standardized, risk-based frameworks for data access, sharing, secondary use, and commercial/partnership data usage

• Drive consistency in how data use decisions are evaluated, approved, and documented across the organization

Data Ethics & Responsible Data Use

• Operationalize guardrails for use of sensitive and regulated data, AI/ML training data, and advanced analytics

• Embed ethical considerations into governance processes and decision-making

Commercial & Clinical Data Ecosystem Governance

• Govern data flows and usage across marketing/advertising technologies, commercial partnerships, and third-party data sharing

• Serve as the embedded privacy partner for Medical Affairs and Clinical Operations, advising on privacy requirements for clinical research protocols, clinical trials, real-world evidence studies, and secondary use of clinical data

• Collaborate with Clinical Operations to ensure data flows and consent frameworks align with applicable regulations (HIPAA, IRB requirements, GCP guidelines) and internal governance standards

• Support privacy for clinical research, clinical trials, and secondary research use of data

• Enable business teams to leverage data responsibly while minimizing regulatory and reputational risk

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s Degree in a related field (e.g., law/legal studies, information systems, business administration, data analytics); IAPP certification highly preferred (e.g., CIPP, CIPT, AGCP)

• 8-10 years of experience in privacy, data governance, compliance, or related disciplines, with increasing leadership responsibility

• Strong expertise in global privacy regulations (HIPAA, GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, etc.)

• Experience embedding privacy into product and software development lifecycles (privacy-by-design, privacy engineering)

• Experience supporting clinical research or clinical trials from a privacy perspective, including working directly with Medical Affairs, Clinical Operations, or similar teams

• Familiarity with IRB processes, informed consent frameworks, and Good Clinical Practice (GCP) as they relate to data privacy

• General healthcare compliance background (e.g., fraud, waste & abuse, Stark Law, Anti-Kickback Statute, Sunshine Act)

• Experience working across commercial, clinical, and product/technology environments

• Familiarity with AI/ML and advanced analytics governance concepts as they relate to data use and ethics

• Proven ability to translate complex regulatory requirements into practical, scalable processes

• Strong ability to influence and align senior stakeholders across functions

• Experience leading, mentoring, or managing privacy professionals or cross-functional teams 

• Experience with program management and collaboration tools (e.g., JIRA, Google Workspace)

IDEAL CANDIDATE PROFILE

• A systems thinker who connects fragmented processes into cohesive, scalable solutions

• A bridge-builder across technical, legal, and business domains— including Medical Affairs and Clinical Operations

• Effective in complex environments and able to build structure and alignment across stakeholder groups

• Passionate about responsible data use and enabling growth through pragmatic privacy