Director, Pathology Services

Position Overview

The Director, Pathology Services provides enterprise-level leadership for the strategy, governance, and scalable execution of pathology specimen retrieval operations, overseeing the end‑to‑end lifecycle of archived diagnostic specimen access across a broad network of external laboratory partners. This role is accountable for building and leading a high‑performing organization that consistently delivers accurate, timely, and compliant specimen retrieval in support of critical clinical diagnostic priorities.

In this capacity, the Director sets the long‑term operational vision, translating organizational growth and evolving business needs into scalable processes, systems, and resourcing models. The role partners closely with senior leaders across Clinical, Laboratory Operations, Compliance, Legal, and Customer‑facing teams to ensure regulatory rigor, operational excellence, and exceptional stakeholder experience. Success requires strong people leadership, data‑driven decision making, and a continuous improvement mindset, with direct responsibility for operational performance, risk management, and cross‑functional alignment. A background in biology, healthcare operations, pathology services, or complex regulated environments is strongly preferred.

Leaders at Adaptive demonstrate behaviors consistent with Adaptive’s Core Values and Leadership Principles. Critical functions of your role include helping establish individual team member goals, aligning those individual goals with broader team objectives, and ensuring those objectives drive the achievement of company goals. Providing thoughtful coaching and consistent feedback to your team members will drive performance excellence and accountability, as well as support your team members’ growth and development. Leaders at Adaptive create an environment of belonging, respect, and open and honest communication every day.

Key Responsibilities and Essential Functions

Team Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the pathology retrieval organization, providing direction and oversight through managers and/or senior team leads responsible for nationwide specimen coordination.
• Establish and reinforce a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and operational excellence, aligned with functional strategy and enterprise expectations.
• Design and govern training programs and competency frameworks that ensure capability readiness, role clarity, and sustained high performance as the function scales.
• Define and sponsor career paths and talent development strategies that support employee growth, progression, succession planning, and long‑term retention.

Department Responsibilities

• Set and own long‑term operational strategy for the pathology retrieval function, ensuring scalability and alignment with enterprise growth objectives and evolving customer requirements.
• Serve as a strategic partner on new business opportunities, shaping operational strategy and guiding the development of differentiated, scalable customer solutions.
• Direct and govern end‑to‑end process design by identifying systemic gaps, re‑architecting workflows, and implementing enterprise‑level, high‑impact operational solutions.
• Champion process excellence for the function, establishing standards and continuous improvement frameworks that materially improve speed, accuracy, throughput, and overall service performance.
• Define, communicate, and enforce performance expectations, KPIs, and service‑level standards for both internal teams and external partners, ensuring accountability and delivery against functional goals.
• Lead resource and capacity strategy, including forecasting staffing and throughput needs, contributing to budget planning, and driving cost management to support sustainable growth.
• Collaborate with senior leaders across cross‑functional partners (e.g., Clinical Services, Account Operations, BSM, Biopharma, Technology) to prioritize and deliver automation and system enhancements that enable scale and reduce operational risk.
• Build and sustain relationships with pathology laboratories, customers, and internal stakeholders to ensure alignment, trust, and long‑term partnership effectiveness.
• Provide strategic oversight of external partner agreements, including negotiation and ongoing management of billing and commercial terms.
• Ensure functional governance and compliance, maintaining oversight of all retrieval activities to meet regulatory, privacy, and specimen handling requirements, including HIPAA.
• Establish quality management practices, monitor performance and risk indicators, and sponsor corrective actions to protect outcomes and long‑term functional performance.
• Ensure audit‑ready documentation and controls, maintaining governance, transparency, and readiness for internal and external reviews.
• All other duties as assigned.

Position Requirements (Education, Experience, Other)

Required

• Bachelor’s degree + 15 years of progressive experience in operations, healthcare services, laboratory services, or related fields; Masters + 12 years of related experience; PhD + 8 years of related experience
• Minimum of 4+ years of people leadership experience, including responsibility for managing managers or senior individual contributors within a complex operational function.
• Strong customer and patient focus with a clear understanding of HIPAA requirements
• Demonstrated superior verbal/written communication and active listening skills, complemented by exceptional interpersonal skills for both internal and external interactions
• A proactive self-starter with an established track record of fostering positive relationships/ interactions with internal staff and customers
• Effective project leader able to work autonomously to advance the team toward agreed-upon goals
• Ability to comprehend, deconstruct, and optimize complex operational workflows.
• Proven track record of building a supportive and motivating team culture
• Proactive approach to work; strong personal drive and desire for feedback
• Ability to engage directly with and provide well-supported recommendations to leadership.
• Willing to travel up to 10% of the time.

Preferred

• Working knowledge of NGS sequencing, standard molecular biology techniques and sample handling best practices
• Familiarity with basic laboratory and customer service-related systems such as LIMS and SFDC

Working Conditions

• Willing to travel up to 10% of the time.

Compensation

Salary Range: $144,600 - $217,000

Other compensation elements include:

• equity grant
• bonus eligible