Orthodontic Assistant Trainer - Rock Dental Brands

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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.