ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

Associate Director, Clinical Data Integration & AI Programming

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals • $158K — $197K *
US-AnywhereRemote in United States
Pharmaceuticals & Biotech
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in statistics, computer science, or related field; equivalent experience considered
  • 10 years of experience in statistical or clinical programming, preferably in pharma/biotech
  • Advanced R programming skills, including Shiny and package development
  • Strong Python proficiency for data automation and application development
  • Proficient in SQL and experience with REST APIs
  • Experience in developing interactive clinical dashboards and data review tools
  • Knowledge of clinical trial data and CDISC standards

Responsibilities

  • Design and maintain automated pipelines for clinical data ingestion
  • Own and standardize cross-study clinical data models
  • Develop automated data quality checks and exception routing
  • Automate reconciliation workflows and develop congruency flags
  • Build interactive dashboards for clinical data review and monitoring
  • Develop reusable R and Python components for consistent outputs
  • Lead technical initiatives and provide oversight for vendor resources

Benefits

  • Competitive base salary and discretionary bonuses
  • Medical, dental, and vision insurance
  • Employer-paid life and disability coverage
  • 401(k) plan with company match
  • Employee Stock Purchase Plan with price lock-in
  • Generous vacation and paid holiday policy
  • Tuition assistance for ongoing education
Full Job Description
Position Summary

The Associate Director is a hands-on technical role responsible for automating how clinical data are integrated across assigned compounds and studies, and for building the reusable R and Python dashboards and data review tools that make those data usable by study teams. Working in R, Python, SQL, and APIs on the Posit platform, the role builds automated ingestion pipelines with incoming quality and congruency checks, maps disparate source structures into a standardized analysis-ready data model and delivers validated dashboards and review tools built on that foundation. It additionally evaluates and implements applied AI and generative AI capabilities where they measurably improve data processing, quality review, or programming productivity, always under human oversight and in accordance with regulations, SOPs, and data privacy requirements.

Primary Responsibilities

Clinical Data Integration and Automation
  • Designs, builds, and maintains automated pipelines that ingest clinical data from EDC systems, central laboratories, eCOA and IRT vendors, safety systems, and other external providers at defined refresh frequencies, with scheduling, versioning, audit trails, processing logs, and failure alerting
  • Owns the standardized cross-study and cross-compound clinical data model that harmonizes source structures, terminology, and variables into consistent, analysis-ready form, and establishes metadata-driven mapping specifications so new studies and vendors onboard without rebuilding pipelines
  • Develops automated incoming data quality and congruency checks, including completeness, structural conformance, visit and date consistency, cross-domain reconciliation, duplicates, and outliers, and routes actionable exception outputs to Data Management and study teams
  • Automates laboratory, SAE, eCOA, and IRT reconciliation workflows and develops congruency flags that identify discrepancies across studies, compounds, and source systems
  • Develops algorithms and data feeds supporting risk-based monitoring and centralized data surveillance
  • Builds controlled APIs and data access components that provide consistent, governed access to standardized clinical data for dashboards and downstream programming

R and Python Dashboards and Data Review Tools
  • Designs, develops, validates, deploys, and maintains interactive R/Shiny and Python dashboards for clinical data review and study health monitoring, covering enrollment, adverse and serious adverse events, efficacy data review, laboratory trends, protocol deviations, visit compliance, data cleaning status, and operational metrics
  • Builds interactive patient profiles, data review listings, edit check outputs, coding review reports, and medical review applications, transitioning these deliverables from manual or SAS-based workflows into reproducible R/Posit solutions
  • Develops reusable R and Python packages, modules, visualization components, and dashboard templates, together with common metric definitions and navigation patterns, so outputs are consistent and comparable across studies and compounds
  • Develops automated study team communications, including scheduled summaries of enrollment, safety events, data cleaning status, and other key study metrics
  • Partners with Data Management, Clinical Operations, Clinical Development, Safety, Biostatistics, and Statistical Programming to translate clinical review needs into reliable, intuitive dashboard functionality and drives adoption through training and documentation

Engineering Standards, Validation, and Platform
  • Operationalizes R/Posit capabilities within Biometrics, including Posit Workbench, Posit Connect, Package Manager, controlled package environments, application publishing, access management, and governed deployment
  • Establishes R and Python development standards covering modular design, reusable code libraries, code review, automated testing, error handling, logging, and dependency management, and applies Git version control and CI/CD practices to pipelines and applications
  • Owns the lifecycle of pipelines, dashboards, and reusable components from requirements and prototyping through validation, production release, monitoring, enhancement, and retirement, with documentation, traceability, and change control appropriate to a regulated environment
  • Applies established validation, documentation, and quality standards to assigned pipelines and applications, and supports audits and inspections as subject matter expert for the solutions the incumbent has built

Applied AI Capabilities
  • Evaluates, prototypes, and implements AI and generative AI capabilities that measurably improve clinical data transformation, quality review, dashboard summarization, metadata and standards search, code generation and review assistance, or documentation drafting
  • Integrates approved LLM and retrieval augmented generation capabilities into R and Python applications where they deliver clear operational benefit and can be appropriately governed, including natural language querying of approved internal standards, specifications, and study documentation
  • Applies human in the loop review, predefined acceptance criteria, traceability, and validation to AI-assisted outputs, and determines when AI-assisted methods are appropriate versus when deterministic, validated programming is required

Operational Leadership and Collaboration
  • Executes the clinical data integration, dashboard, and automation roadmap across assigned compounds, and prioritizes work within an agreed backlog
  • Leads technical and process improvement initiatives within assigned compounds and workstreams, and recommends sourcing approaches and tooling for consideration by functional leadership
  • Provides technical oversight of FSP, CRO, vendor, and consultant resources supporting assigned data integration and dashboard development work, including specification, review, and acceptance of their deliverables
  • Partners with study teams, Data Management, and Biostatistics at the study and compound level to gather requirements, resolve issues, and drive adoption of delivered tools
  • Provides training, mentoring, and technical guidance to statistical and clinical programmers on R/Posit, Python, data automation, dashboard development, and responsible AI practices
  • Monitors developments in R, Python, Posit, clinical data engineering, and AI use in drug development, and recommends relevant advances for adoption
  • Other responsibilities as assigned.

Education/Experience/Skills
  • Bachelor's degree in statistics, biostatistics, computer science, data science, biomedical informatics or a related science field. An equivalent combination of relevant education and experience may be considered
  • Targeting 10 years of progressively responsible experience in statistical programming, clinical programming, clinical data engineering, or clinical analytics, preferably in a pharmaceutical or biotech environment. Demonstrated experience delivering technical solutions that span multiple studies is required
  • Advanced hands-on R programming, including Shiny, tidyverse, data.table, R Markdown/Quarto, package development, modular application design, and reproducible workflows
  • Strong hands-on Python for data ingestion, transformation, automation, analytics, and application development
  • Strong SQL proficiency and experience building and consuming REST APIs
  • Demonstrated experience developing and deploying interactive clinical dashboards, patient profiles, data review tools, or study monitoring applications used by study teams
  • Demonstrated experience designing automated ingestion, transformation, mapping, validation, and refresh processes for structured and semi-structured clinical data
  • Experience standardizing and integrating EDC, laboratory, eCOA, safety, IRT, and operational data across multiple studies or programs
  • Experience with Posit/RStudio Workbench, Posit Connect, and Posit Package Manager, or comparable enterprise R and Python environments
  • Experience with Git version control, automated testing, CI/CD, logging, monitoring, and controlled software deployment
  • Strong understanding of clinical trial data and CDISC standards, including SDTM, ADaM, metadata-driven programming, and integrated data structures
  • Working knowledge of SAS and the ability to bridge established SAS workflows with modern R and Python solutions
  • Practical understanding of GenAI, LLMs, RAG, and AI-assisted programming in regulated environments, including their limitations and validation implications
  • Strong knowledge of GCP, ICH, 21 CFR part 11, data privacy, access control, audit trails, and validation expectations for clinical data systems
  • Demonstrates strong written and verbal communication skills, conveying complex technical concepts clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders
  • Balances competing priorities and deadlines, ensuring timely and high-quality execution across multiple initiatives
  • Willing and ability to travel domestically and internationally as needed

Physical Requirements

This role involves regular standing, walking, sitting, and the use of hands for handling or operating equipment. The employee may also need to reach, climb, balance, stoop, kneel, crouch, and maintain visual, verbal, and auditory communication in a standard office environment and while working independently from remote locations. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 20 pounds. This position requires the ability to travel independently overnight and/or work after hours as required by travel schedules or business needs.

#LI-REMOTE #LI-RE1

In addition to a competitive base salary, this position is also eligible for discretionary bonus and equity awards based on factors such as individual and organizational performance. Actual amounts will vary depending on experience, performance, and location.

Salary Range

$158,000-$197,900 USD

What we offer US-based Employees:
  • Competitive base, bonus, new hire and ongoing equity packages
  • Medical, dental, and vision insurance
  • Employer-paid life, disability, business travel and EAP coverage
  • 401(k) Plan with a fully vested company match 1:1 up to 5%
  • Employee Stock Purchase Plan with a 2-year purchase price lock-in
  • 15+ vacation days
  • 13 -15 paid holidays, including office closure between December 24th and January 1st
  • 10 days of paid sick time
  • Paid parental leave benefit
  • Tuition assistance

About ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative medicines to address unmet medical needs in central nervous system (CNS) disorders. The company's lead product, Nuplazid (pimavanserin), is the first and only FDA-approved treatment for hallucinations and delusions associated with Parkinson's disease psychosis. ACADIA's pipeline includes product candidates for the treatment of schizophrenia, dementia-related psychosis, and major depressive disorder. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.
Learn more about ACADIA Pharmaceuticals
Size
500 employees
Market Cap
$2.5 billion
Industry
Net Income
-$281.5 million
Founded
1993
5 Year Trend
+94.6%
Revenue
$441.7 million
NASDAQ

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