Director Commercial Launch Excellence and Planning

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

Position Summary:

The Director, Commercial Launch Excellence, Strategy, Planning & Execution will function as the principal program management lead of launch readiness planning and execution activities across all functions for new product, new indication/formulation and expanded geographies launches. This responsibility includes effectively leading and managing Acadia's external program management vendor/partner and providing the guidance, direction and management necessary for the development of detailed program and project tools (i.e. project plans, RAID logs, meeting minutes, etc.) supporting the execution of launch activities.

The Director will develop Acadia's Commercial internal program and project management capabilities, including creating the infrastructure for an internal Acadia team to support the program and project management of future launches, and large/complex commercial organization initiatives. Works with cross functional project management individuals to effectively align workflows and communications.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Responsible for the strategic and tactical oversight of Commercial launch readiness timeline deliverables with a clear understanding of functional interdependencies, risks and critical path activities.
  
  
  
  • Define launch team governance and routines (e.g., pressure test, refine, and finalize the launch governance model, including meeting cadence, meeting norms, ways of working, etc.)
  • Executing on project scope, budget, schedule, and resources.
  • Provides guidance to internal/external team members to objectively assess and resolve cross-functional and cross launch project and operational issues by identifying root causes as opportunities to improve effectiveness
  • Responsible for engaging with key stakeholders and team members to proactively identify risks and barriers to project success, and complete assessment/mitigation planning including adequate documentation/follow-up of ongoing issues. Support issue resolution and implement solutions to achieve program/project success.
  • Provide project status reports and issues, and ensures project team goals and deliverables are met, including facilitation of required communications via meeting scheduling, agenda development and follow-up activities including development of tools such as dashboards, slides, decision support models, Gantt charts and timelines to enable achievement of goals.
  • Responsible for overall Commercial program management activities including presentation content development, participation in Sr. Mgmt. meetings to prepare minutes/actions and providing follow-up as necessary.
  • Ensuring timely decisions with key stakeholders and determining points of escalation
  • Provides Commercial project management expertise and support of various functional areas or working groups on Commercial Projects to drive collaboration, cross-functional clarity and alignment on commercial projects, initiatives, and operations. Responsible for the communication of project status and issues and ensures project team goals and deliverables are met.
  • Generate insights into external program/project management best-practice and peer company strategies to advance Acadia's capabilities over time.
  
  
  
  
• Prepare executive level communications utilizing a clear understanding of the business strategy and issues to support/lead projects to further organizational and business goals.
• Support the formalization and documentation of best practices and lessons learned within the functional team
  
  
  
  • Identify and proactively pull through best practices, key learnings and efficiencies across Brands and functions
  • Document existing processes for internal launch critical activities in a clear and concise manner; suggesting optimization if and where applicable
  • In coordination with Global Commercial team, facilitate consistent implementation of launch excellence tools and processes globally
  • Support the development and subsequent continued build-out of, and updates to, the Launch Playbook, inclusive of framework and end-to-end processes to support launch readiness and best practices
  • Partner closely with Commercial, Medical Affairs and R&D chiefs of staff and operations leads to ensure alignment between commercial build and brand specific launch readiness needs
  
  
  
  
• Ability to influence, build consensus, and manage conflict in challenging situations.
• Represents the organization at internal meetings and act as an interface between the organization and other groups at Acadia.
• Maintains a high compliance posture and ensures adherence to company policies, quality system requirements, as well as other legal and regulatory directives.

Education/Experience/Skills:

• Bachelor's degree in health care, business administration, program management or related field; Master's degree preferred. Certificates/certifications in PMP, Scrum highly desirable. 10 years of pharmaceutical industry or related experience with project management and launch planning experience. An equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered
• Launch experience including commercialization of new therapeutic products required, Rare Disease experience a plus
• Advanced understanding of the commercial process and the principles, concepts, practices, and standards of pharmaceutical program/project management
• Capability for strategic and critical thinking that results in significant business value. Out-of-the box and analytical thinker with excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to adapt to changing priorities
• Strong negotiation, facilitation and presentation skills to influence teams while not having formal authority
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills ensuring consistent and quality communications with key stakeholders
• Highly organized with a strong attention to detail
• Ability to effectively multi-task, prioritize, and deal effectively with ambiguity while working under heavy deadlines and multiple priorities
• Ability to effectively collaborate across the organizations; interacts within and across the matrix to manage deliverables and timelines across the organization; manage department contribution to operating reviews
• Advanced knowledge of and proficiency with Microsoft 365 (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint), and PMP tools
• Demonstrated ability and experience with project management methodologies, budgets, and resource management
• Exceptional project management skills with demonstrated experience in leading enterprise projects
• Work effectively in a team as well as oversee and motivate others in a fast-paced matrix environment to achieve organizational goals and add business value
• Recognized as a strong individual contributor that gets things accomplished, with the ability to influence without authority and provide direct supervision and management of others. With exceptional leadership skills, effectively mentors, motivates and empowers team members. Works with abstract ideas or situations that may affect other functional areas of the business and where analysis of situations or data requires collaboration and an understanding of the impact on other functional areas, business strategies, and the company's overall goals. Works on issues of diverse scope which require evaluation of a variety of factors and an understanding of functional area objectives and trends. Erroneous decisions or failure to achieve results may add to costs and impact the short-term and long-term goals of the organization

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 40% of the time and work after hours if required by travel schedule or business issues. International travel may be required.

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