Director Portfolio Management - Neuroscience/Rare Disease

About Acadia Pharmaceuticals

Acadia is advancing breakthroughs in neuroscience to elevate life. Since our founding, we have been working at the forefront of healthcare to bring vital solutions to people who need them most. We developed and commercialized the first and only FDA-approved drug to treat hallucinations and delusions associated with Parkinson’s disease psychosis and the first and only approved drug in the United States and Canada for the treatment of Rett syndrome. Our clinical-stage development efforts are focused on Prader-Willi syndrome, Alzheimer’s disease psychosis, and multiple other programs targeting neuro-psychiatric and neuro-rare diseases. For more information, visit us at Acadia.com and follow us on LinkedIn and X.

 

Please note that this position is based in San Diego, CA or Princeton, NJ. Acadia's hybrid model requires this role to work in our office three days per week on average.

Position Summary

This position serves a key role in the organization supporting cross-functional strategy and delivery for the programs. The Director, Program Management is accountable for the day-to-day operations of the Asset Strategy Team (AST) focused on the lifecycle of Acadia’s development and commercial assets. This position will partner with the Asset Strategy Team Leader (ASTL) and functions across ACADIA as the project management lead.

As a member of the Portfolio Management organization, this position is also accountable for supporting goals and objectives at the enterprise and departmental levels and will drive initiatives to evolve cross-functional operating models.

Primary Responsibilities

• Responsible for the operations of a high performing Asset Strategy Team (AST) in support of delivering on the full lifecycle of ACADIA assets
• Responsible for developing, maintaining, and ensuring team execution of the integrated development plan
• Supports the ASTL to develop the asset strategy and drive strategic priorities through the AST
• Partners with sub-team leaders to ensure the design and delivery of development and commercialization plans are in alignment with the strategy through cross-functional sub-teams
• Owns program reports and project management tools (i.e., Smartsheet) and processes (e.g., decision calendar, program goals development & tracking, decisions & actions log, agendas, minutes, budgets)
• Responsible for timelines, risk management plans, and communication plans
• Generates critical path / gap analyses and supports scenario planning
• Through the AST, drives the preparation of Portfolio Governance (PG) presentations (i.e., asset strategy endorsement, stage-gate approval, budget approval) and other senior leadership presentations
• Supports PG planning and operations
• Works independently within a matrix environment, leads teams, and actively manages stakeholders
• Identifies and implements project management best practices for the broader Portfolio Management organization
• Drive key aspects of Acadia’s drug development and commercialization operating model
• Performs other duties as assigned

Education/Experience/Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in life science or related field; Advanced degree preferred
• Targeting 10 years of progressively responsible, relevant experience focusing on program management with 6 years in a leadership role which includes experience managing cross-functional project teams.
• Successful candidate will have a strong understanding of the drug development process from preclinical pharmacology to regulatory approval and the principles, concepts, practices, and standards of pharmaceutical program management. An equivalent combination of relevant education and experience may be considered
• Executive presence and communication skills strongly preferred
• Excellent knowledge of project management discipline and its application to drug development required to deliver time, cost, quality and risk management to teams
• Advanced meeting facilitation skills and ability to lead cross-functional teams that include executive and senior management without direct authority
• Strong financial management knowledge
• Excellent interpersonal, organizational, written, and verbal communication skills
• Independent, motivated, team leader with the ability to thrive in a matrix environment
• Ability to support multiple asset teams simultaneously with strong organizational and time management skills and attention to detail
• Ability to