ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

Director, Marketing - Rare Disease

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals$198K — $248K *
Pharmaceuticals & Biotech
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in marketing, healthcare, or life sciences; master's degree preferred.
  • 10+ years in progressively responsible pharmaceutical or biotech marketing roles.
  • 5+ years in a product manager position strongly desired.
  • Experience with product launches and commercialization preferred.
  • Experience with rare diseases and specialty therapeutics highly desirable.

Responsibilities

  • Lead the development of consumer and caregiver marketing initiatives, including DTC advertising and educational materials.
  • Oversee and optimize the caregiver speaker program for engagement and compliance.
  • Ensure caregiver materials are accurate, aligned with brand strategy, and focus on storytelling.
  • Liaise with the Family Support Educator team for cohesive educational initiatives.
  • Direct strategic marketing program development and evaluate performance metrics against brand goals.
  • Provide marketing guidance as part of cross-functional project teams and ensure alignment with medical education messaging.
  • Ensure compliance with Medical Legal Review processes and corporate policies.

Benefits

  • Competitive base salary, bonuses, and equity awards.
  • Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
  • Employer-paid life and disability insurance.
  • 401(k) plan with 1:1 match on contributions up to 5%.
  • Employee Stock Purchase Plan with favorable terms.
  • Generous paid time off, including 15+ vacation days and 13-15 holidays.
  • Tuition assistance and paid parental leave.
Full Job Description
Please note that this position is based in Princeton, NJ or San Diego, CA. Acadia's hybrid model requires this role to work in our office three days per week on average.

Position Summary:

The Director, Marketing will contribute to the development of the overall Consumer strategy of the brand while leading the management and execution of marketing tactics, plans and activities to promote the brand to caregivers. This role is responsible for shaping patient and caregiver messaging across channels, including direct-to-consumer (DTC) television advertising and educational materials, while ensuring alignment with brand strategy, regulatory standards, and patient-centric principles. The Director will deliver impactful communications that meaningfully engage the caregiver community, and will play a key leadership role within the consumer marketing team. This role will partner across key stakeholders (advocacy, medical affairs, regulatory, legal, compliance, patient services, market access, marketing operations, training, sales, etc.) to execute the programs and tactics identified in the brand plan.

Primary Responsibilities:
  • Lead the development and execution of consumer and caregiver marketing initiatives, including core messaging, direct-to-consumer (DTC) television advertising, and educational materials designed to inform, support, and empower families within the Rett community.
  • Oversee the caregiver speaker program, including speaker identification, onboarding, and management; development of compliant, engaging speaker content; and ongoing evaluation and optimization of program effectiveness.
  • Ensure caregiver speaker materials and presentations are scientifically accurate, compliant, and aligned with brand strategy, with a strong emphasis on clarity, empathy, and patient- and caregiver-focused storytelling.
  • Serve as the primary marketing liaison to the Family Support Educator (FSE) team, ensuring alignment between consumer marketing initiatives and field-based educational efforts to deliver a cohesive and consistent caregiver experience.
  • Directs the development of strategic marketing programs for inclusion into brand plan, determines metrics for program success, and evaluates performance against metrics including contributions to the development and evolution of message strategy based upon in-depth analytics and ROI analysis. Manages within the established the US promotions budget for assigned products.
  • Represents the department as a member of cross-functional project teams providing guidance, insight, and recommendations relative to the goals and objectives of the Marketing function to ensure strategic alignment medical education messaging across groups.
  • Monitors and ensures that all Medical Legal Review (MLR) processes are followed, and all programs are compliant with legal guidance and corporate policies.
  • Implements the brand strategy for products and product lines. Develops and delivers presentations as needed to commercial management and other internal groups. Monitors progress of plans and recommends adjustments, as necessary.
  • Develops and maintains strong external relationships with Advocacy groups, physician speakers and Rett caregivers and families.
  • Mentor and develop junior team members by providing clear direction, coaching, and constructive feedback, fostering strong marketing fundamentals, professional growth, and a collaborative, high-performing team culture.Lead day-to-day collaboration with the advertising agency of record, providing strategic direction and hands-on oversight across creative development and execution to ensure consumer-facing campaigns are aligned with brand strategy, patient-centric principles, timelines, and budget.

Education & Experience:
  • Bachelor's degree in marketing, health care, life science; master's degree preferred.
  • Targeting 10+ years of progressively responsible experience in pharmaceutical or biotech Marketing.
  • 5+ years in a product manager role strongly desired.
  • Launch experience and commercialization of new products preferred.


Required Skills:
  • Rare Disease experience is highly desirable, with requirement of understanding specialty therapeutics addressing significant unmet medical needs.
  • Strong Biopharmaceutical brand management experience and demonstrated track record of success.
  • Proficient in marketing and media tactics directed towards HCPs and caregivers.
  • Proficient at effectively prioritizing goals and coordinating resources to achieve those goals.
  • Demonstrated ability to interface/collaborate with other departments as necessary to achieve goals.
  • Significant travel required; ability to travel up to 50% of time during peak launch time periods.


Physical Requirements:

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand; walk; sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; climb or balance; stoop, kneel, crouch, see, talk or hear in a standard office environment and independently from remote locations. Employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 20 pounds. Ability to travel by car or airplane independently overnight up to 25% of the time and work after hours if required by travel schedule or business issues.

#LI-SM1 #LI-HYBRID

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

$198,600-$248,200 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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