Natera · 1 month ago
Principal AI/ML Platform Engineer
United States
Full-time
Remote
Lead/Staff
$174K/yr - $218K/yr
12+ years expNatera is a global leader in cell-free DNA testing, dedicated to oncology, women’s health, and organ health. The Principal AI/ML Platform Engineer will lead the development and delivery of Natera’s Generative AI and ML platforms, focusing on building scalable and compliant systems that enhance patient outcomes and clinical innovation.
BiotechnologyGeneticsHealth DiagnosticsMedicalWomen's
Responsibilities
Define the technical vision and architecture for Natera’s ML and GenAI platforms, ensuring scalability, reliability, and compliance across diverse use cases
Build, operate, and evolve core AI platform components for standardized data access, LLM model registries for versioning and lifecycle tracking, evaluation pipelines for model validation and monitoring, vector databases, RAG frameworks, and agent frameworks for GenAI applications, prompt orchestration and guardrails for safe and compliant LLM deployments
Design, build, and operate end-to-end ML/DL/FM infrastructure (feature engineering, distributed training, evaluation, deployment, monitoring) that are modular, reproducible, and auditable
Design, build, and operate reusable GenAI services such as unstructured data extraction, classification, summarization, generation, retrieval from knowledge bases, prompt optimization etc
Implement production-grade Gen AI and ML services and API’s that power critical workflows, from genomics analytics to clinical trial optimization to patient-facing solutions
Lead the deployment and scaling of large models (custom trained LLMs, multimodal, deep learning) using modern MLOps practices (Kubernetes, MLflow, AWS-native services)
Deliver retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), agentic runtime, agent orchestration frameworks, and domain-specific copilots in compliance-ready environments
Optimize inference latency, throughput, and cost-efficiency through infrastructure design and algorithmic improvements
Build online and offline evaluation frameworks to ensure performance and real world utility
Embed governance and monitoring guardrails into AI and ML pipelines, including bias testing, safety, security, hallucination, explainability, PHI/PII redaction, audit trails
Partner with the Head of Data & AI Governance to ensure adherence to HIPAA, CLIA, CAP, FDA, GxP, GDPR, and emerging AI regulations
Establish automated checks and controls in the CI/CD and SDLC processes to maintain compliance-by-design
Act as the principal technical authority in AI/ML engineering — set coding standards, review designs, and ensure best practices in reproducibility, monitoring, and observability
Mentor and guide other engineers and data scientists, providing thought leadership on system design, optimization, and responsible AI
Influence cross-functional roadmaps by partnering with Product, Data Governance, and Engineering leadership to align delivery with business needs
Evaluate and integrate emerging AI/ML technologies (foundation models, multimodal AI, biomedical reasoning agents, federated learning)
Lead build vs. buy assessments for AI/ML tooling and platforms; integrate open-source or vendor solutions where appropriate
Prototype and productionize new approaches (e.g., foundation model fine-tuning, GenAI copilots for lab workflows, advanced monitoring frameworks)
Represent Natera’s AI/ML technical capabilities externally at conferences, publications, and industry forums
Qualification
Required
12+ years in software/data/ML engineering, with 8+ years in AI/ML engineering at scale
Expertise in building production-grade ML/LLM systems on AWS tech stack (E.g. Python, LangChain/Llamaindex, CrewAI, Vector databases, Agent runtimes, TensorFlow/PyTorch, Spark, MLflow)
Proven track record with GenAI/LLMs: fine-tuning, RAG, prompt orchestration, safety guardrails, monitoring, and cost optimization
Deep knowledge of AI/ML intensive systems, distributed architectures, and cloud-native development
Familiarity with AI governance frameworks, LLM safety, drift detection, bias detection, hallucination, explainability, and compliance (e.g., HIPAA, CLIA, FDA)
Strong grounding in compliance-first engineering in healthcare, biotech, or diagnostics preferred
Excellent ability to influence across teams, mentor engineers, and set technical standards
Preferred
Advanced degree (MS/PhD) in Computer Science, AI/ML, engineering or related field
Experience in healthcare, pharma, diagnostics, or other regulated industries
Benefits
Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, life and disability plans for eligible employees and their dependents
Free testing in addition to fertility care benefits
Pregnancy and baby bonding leave
401k benefits
Commuter benefits
Generous employee referral program
Company
Natera
Natera specializes in cell-free DNA testing to provide a more targeted interventions to oncology, women's health, and organ health.
5001-10000 employees
H1B Sponsorship
Natera has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (90)
2024 (72)
2023 (37)
2022 (71)
2021 (64)
2020 (40)
Funding
Current Stage
Public CompanyTotal Funding
$1.16BKey Investors
Sofinnova InvestmentsLightspeed Venture PartnersSequoia Capital
2023-09-07Post Ipo Equity· $250M
2022-11-15Post Ipo Equity· $400.05M
2022-03-16Post Ipo Equity· $5M
Leadership Team
Steve Chapman
CEO
Jonathan Sheena
Co-Founder, Board Member
Recent News
2026-01-08
Company data provided by crunchbase