Technical Product Manager R&D - Lab Workflows at Natera in San Carlos, CA

POSITION SUMMARY

As part of our software engineering team, Technical Product Managers (TPMs) ( we are considering individuals at a level II, III and Senior Level for the current openings) work with our internal business partners to provide value to the organization with software products including our Constellation genomics data analysis platform and both commercial and in-house LIMS (laboratory information management system) products. We support a variety of different business units such as laboratory operations, R&D, process development, customer support, genetic counseling, reporting, bioinformatics, statistics, and more.

TPMs need to be able to understand both the business processes of the groups we work with, and the technical details of the software to be an effective liaison for our department. This knowledge is used to discuss potential solutions and help drive decision-making, and then to be able to prioritize, translate and document those conclusions into detailed use cases and technical requirements.

For this opening focused on Genomics Lab Workflows, you will be working on requirements for tracking and automating the wet lab processes for sequencing workflows. These steps are tracked on LabVantage and involve heavy integration with liquid handling automation and other laboratory instruments throughout the process. We're specifically looking for a candidate with a background working with LIMS, lab process automation, or other related lab workflow knowledge.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Translate business, market and clinical needs into clearly written technical product requirements and specifications.
• Act as a subject matter expert on our software products to provide guidance to stakeholders and create a shared understanding among business and technical teams.
• Produce deliverables that facilitate better understanding for feedback such as flow diagrams, data models, pros/cons, prototypes, wireframes and other illustrations.
• Build confidence with our business partners by adding value to discussions, being responsive, and following through on action items.
• Maintain tracking of requests from user groups and prioritize those for time allotment and release planning.
• Aid in creation and communication of product roadmap and development schedules for project stakeholders.
• Incorporate a focus on quality into product design, and work closely with development and software quality assurance teams on product and process improvements.
• Develop strong hands-on technical knowledge of software products and be able to aid in tasks ranging from configuration to testing and support.
• Performs other duties as assigned

QUALIFICATIONS

• BS or higher in related major or equivalent industry experience
• 2+ years of direct experience with software product management
• Experience with full-stack web application development
• Experience in creating commercial software product requirements
• Experience working with software tracking similar lab workflows

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES

• Knowledge in following areas of software development:
• Software product requirements
• Software technical design
• Software project management
• Software QA
• JIRA or similar issue tracking system
• Desirable technical skills:
• DB design understanding and SQL skills
• Comfortable with Linux command line usage
• Object-oriented programming knowledge (especially Java)
• Cloud/AWS basics
• Useful domain knowledge:
• LIMS, LIS, LES, and/or ELN (especially LabVantage)
• Genetics and bioinformatics
• Genomics data analysis
• Laboratory processes and instrumentation
• Laboratory software compliance requirements
• Comfortable contributing to and leading meetings with business partners in variety of positions and domain areas to receive product requests and guide decision-making
• Ability to understand and describe technical complexities in a simplified way appropriate to different audiences
• Excellent written communication skills to produce clear, concise and correct technical documentation
• Strong ability to comprehend complex problems and apply knowledge to propose potential solutions
• Be able to break down large projects into granular milestones and track progress.
• An ideal candidate will have background in working with LIMS or similar systems for supporting similar lab workflows.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS & WORK ENVIRONMENT

• Duties are typically performed in an office setting
• This position requires the ability to use a computer keyboard, communicate over the telephone and read printed material
• Duties may require working outside normal working hours (evenings and weekends) at times