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Orthodontic Assistant Trainer

Rock Dental Brands | Multi-Site | AR / TX / FL / TN / AL / MO

Position Summary

The Orthodontic Assistant Trainer owns the new-hire ramp: taking every newly hired ortho assistant, regardless of prior dental experience, through a standardized 90-day program to full chairside confidence and contribution. This is a true onsite training role, working hands-on with each new hire and checking in with them throughout the full 90 days, not just at intake or completion. Success is measured by how fast and how reliably a new hire becomes a confident, productive contributor at their clinic. Travel is core to the role and will shift weekly based on new-hire start dates, acquisition schedule, and clinic needs.

Reporting Relationship

Reports to Learning & Development or Clinical Operations. Partners closely with Regional Clinical Directors, HRBPs, and site Office/Clinical Managers to sequence training against clinic need and provider ramp.

Core Responsibilities

New-Hire Ramp Ownership

• Own the 90-day new-hire ramp program from Day 1 through full contributor status for every newly hired ortho assistant.

• Deliver against the standard 90-day onboarding program, driven by daily check-ins (under 2 minutes each) rather than periodic reviews.

• Own the daily check-in process: capture trainer, trainee, and manager input each day to decide in real time whether a new hire advances, holds, or gets more reps on a given skill.

• Standardize the check-in and advancement logic so a new hire regardless of location can move through the program on the same bar, regardless of who's managing them locally.

• Tailor pace for experience level (new-to-dental vs. tenured dental assistant new to ortho) without lowering the bar for what "ramped" means.

Delivery

• Deliver hands-on, chairside training on-site across assigned states, adjusting weekly travel to match new-hire start dates and clinic needs.

• Work directly with clinic managers and providers to close the loop on whether a new hire is actually contributing at chair, not just checked off the program.

• Identify and escalate clinic-level readiness issues (equipment gaps, insufficient supervised hours, provider availability) that slow ramp.

Program Effectiveness & Relationship Maintenance

• Maintain ongoing connection with assistants throughout their 90 days, so check-ins reflect a real relationship rather than a status update.

• Monitor program effectiveness across cohorts and sites (completion rates, advancement patterns, where trainees consistently stall) and feed that back into curriculum and check-in design.

• Provide input to L&D/Clinical leadership on what's working, what isn't, and where the program needs to adjust as hiring volume and site mix change.

• Monitor training completion and escalating to Area Managers for outliers who are significantly behind to ensure that assistants stay on track

Capacity & Scale

• Track and report ramp throughput: new hires onboarded per quarter, average time-to-confident-contributor, and 90-day retention of trained hires.

• Flag when hiring volume across sites is outpacing what one trainer can cover, so leadership has visibility before it becomes a bottleneck.

Success Metrics

• Time-to-confident-contributor per new hire (baseline set after first cohorts)

• Completion rate through the full 90-day ramp

• New-hire retention at 90/180 days

• Daily check-in completion rate (a missed check-in is a missed signal, not just a missed box)

• Manager-reported confidence/readiness at day 90 (the real test, not program completion alone)

• Survey response from new assistants

Qualifications

• Active or eligible dental/orthodontic assistant credential.

• Demonstrated hands-on clinical training, preceptor, or new-hire onboarding experience, not just individual clinical competency.

• Comfortable with heavy, variable weekly travel across a 6-state footprint.

• Strong documentation discipline; this role is the system of record for ramp progress and completion.

Travel

Travel is a defining feature of this role, not an occasional requirement. Schedule shifts weekly based on cohort location and acquisition timing. Reliable transportation and flexibility with overnight travel required.