Family Support Educator, Lead - West

Acadia Pharmaceuticals; Portland (OR); On-site; USD 168,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive base salary

Bonus and equity packages

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

401(k) Plan with company match 1:1 up

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

15+ vacation days

13-15 paid holidays

Paid sick time

Paid parental leave

Tuition assistance

Job summary

Acadia Pharmaceuticals is seeking a Field-based Family Support Educator Lead in Portland, OR, responsible for leading a team of Family Support Educators providing disease state education around Rett syndrome and Acadia therapies. This role requires up to 70% travel and cross-functional collaboration with sales, Hub leadership, and medical teams.

The candidate will guide training, onboarding, and the development of patient support initiatives, leveraging disease knowledge and product education to

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and eight years of relevant experience in pharmaceutical Sales, Access, National Accounts, or related fields.
• Minimum of three years of leadership experience leading teams, driving performance and talent development.
• Rare Disease, new product launch, advocacy, Medicaid/Medicare expertise preferred; field environment knowledge in healthcare.
• Equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team of Family Support Educators educating on disease state, product, and ongoing therapy management.
• Execute strategic and tactical initiatives within the team.
• Serve as escalation point for FSE issues and primary contact for senior leadership.
• Collaborate with sales, Hub leadership and other commercial functions to achieve goals.
• Develop tools and resources to address educational gaps and improve therapy management.
• Understand and promote patient support and ambassador programs.
• Build relationships with local, regional and national advocacy groups.
• Identify messaging needs and obtain approved compliant plans with cross-functional teams.
• Mentor team members and manage hiring and performance processes.

Skills

Team leadership

Patient education

Communication

Organization

Cross-functional collaboration

Travel readiness

Healthcare industry knowledge

Advocacy experience

Education

Bachelor’s degree required; MBA a plus

Job description

About Acadia Pharmaceuticals

Acadia is committed to turning scientific promise into meaningful innovation that makes the difference for underserved neurological and rare disease communities around the world. Our commercial portfolio includes the first and only FDA‑approved treatments for Parkinson's disease psychosis and Rett syndrome. We are developing the next wave of therapeutic advancements with a robust and diverse pipeline that includes mid‑to‑late‑stage programs in Alzheimer’s disease psychosis and Lewy body dementia psychosis, along with earlier‑stage programs that address other underserved patient needs. At Acadia, we’re here to be their difference.

Seeking talent near

San Diego, CA; San Francisco, CA; Portland, OR; Seattle, WA; Phoenix, AZ; Dallas, TX

Position Summary

The Family Support Educator - Lead is responsible for leading and providing expert field-based leadership to assigned geographical team of Family Support Educators (FSEs). The Rare Disease Family Support Educator Lead is a field-based position that provides leadership support to the Family Support Educator team, who serve as a dedicated point of contact to Rett families for their on‑label clinical education related questions about disease state and product education. They ensure alignment and collaboration across all key stakeholders to meet the Family Support Educator objectives.

This is a field-based position requiring up to 70% travel.

Primary Responsibilities

• Lead a team of FSEs and ensure they successfully educate on disease state, product, and ongoing therapy management


• Lead execution of strategic and tactical initiatives


• Serve as the primary escalation point for FSE issues; primary point of contact for Regional Directors, National Sales Director, AIR team, MSL team and Case Management/Hub leadership


• Ability to lead internal teams to achieve common goals; internal teams including sales, Hub Leadership, and other commercial functions


• Possess expert knowledge, and provide insights to internal stakeholders including, but limited to, training leads, marketing partners, advocacy, medical and leadership, in an effort to develop tools and resources to address educational gaps, enhance disease state education, and therapy management strategies to patient families/caregivers


• Demonstrate deep knowledge of disease state, product, and Acadia Customer Support Programs, such as Hub-related and Patient Assistance Programs, and ambassador speaker programs, etc.


• Ability to establish meaningful relationships with local, regional and national advocacy groups


• Successfully and independently identify education messaging needs, and work to develop and gain approved compliant plans for resolution, while leading and managing a cross-functional team to execute


• Collaborates with the Rare Disease National Director to:
  
  
  
  • Develop and execute training and onboarding of new FSEs; with support from Acadia's training teams
  
  
  • Design and implement strategic Patient Support Services initiatives
  
  
  • Manage the inception and evolution of the FSE team as the role develops and the business needs and market evolve
  
  
  • Develop and drive appropriate metrics to measure performance and communicate those metrics to internal stakeholders
  
  
  
  


• Develops and mentors team members to support individual and team success


• Oversee and guide a variety of personnel actions including, but not limited to, hiring, performance management and promotions


• Ensures that all actions are in compliance with Acadia policies and values

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree and targeting eight (8) years of relevant experience in Pharmaceutical Sales, Access, National Accounts, Specialty Pharmacy, Nursing, etc., with extensive experience and technical expertise associated with access and reimbursement; MBA is a plus.


• Must possess a minimum of three (3) years of recent leadership experience, including demonstrated responsibility for leading teams, driving performance, developing talent, and achieving organizational objectives.


• Rare Disease, new product launch, Advocacy, Medicaid and Medicare expertise strongly preferred, with a strong background and understanding of the field environment in the healthcare industry.


• Equivalent combination of relevant education and applicable job experience may be considered.

Required Skills

• Experience leading a team to achieve organizational goals


• Must display a patient‑centric mentality with a high degree of emotional intelligence and empathy


• Experienced in patient/caregiver education strongly preferred


• Exceptional organizational and time management skills


• Strong understanding of market access landscape including, patient services programs, and commercial/government plans


• Demonstrated New Product Launch success


• Strong background and understanding of field environment in healthcare industry


• Rare Disease experience strongly preferred


• Advocacy experience strongly preferred


• Understand HIPAA rules and regulations related to patient privacy


• Strong written and verbal communications as well as presentation skills


• Ability to manage expenses within allocated budgets


• Adaptable and open to an environment of change


• Must be a fast learner, flexible, and able adjust quickly


• Must be able to manage cross‑functional communication internally (SP/Hub leadership, National Account Managers, Patient Access Managers, MSL, Advocacy) and externally among a diverse set of customers (physician, nurse, hub/SP vendor, patient family)


• Demonstrated history of successful cross functional collaboration


• Ability to travel up to 70%


• Employee must be able to meet any third‑party requirements as well as additional local, state, and federal vaccination requirements for conducting in‑person field coaching days, customer visits, admittance into local Community HCP Offices, as well as for attendance at Medical Congresses and Local Conferences for in person participation and exhibiting.

Scope

Provides guidance to subordinates and/or manages department section, to achieve goals in accordance with established protocols and to meet schedules and/or resolve problems. Establishes own operational objectives and work plans with senior management review. Selects methods, techniques, and evaluation criteria for obtaining results. Works on issues where analysis of situations or data requires an in-depth knowledge of functional area objectives and their impact on, and interaction with, other functions within the organization. Erroneous decisions will result in critical delay(s) in schedules and/or unit operations and may jeopardize overall business activities.

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 both in a standard office environment and while working independently from remote locations. 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 schedule or business needs.

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

$168,000-$210,000 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

EEO Statement (US‑based Employees)

Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply for jobs unless they believe they meet every one of the qualifications in the exact way they are described in job postings. We are committed to building a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and innovative company, and we are looking for the BEST candidate for the job. That candidate may be one who comes from a less traditional background or may meet the qualifications in a different way. We strongly encourage you to apply, especially if the reason you are the best candidate isn’t exactly what we describe here.

It is the policy of Acadia to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and employment applicants without regard to considerations of race, including related to hairstyle, color, religion or religious creed, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, gender transition, country of origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information, legally‑protected medical condition or information, marital status, domestic partner status, family care status, military caregiver status, veteran or military status (including reserve status, National Guard status, and military service or obligation), status as a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking, enrollment in a public assistance program, or any basis protected under federal, state or local law.

As an equal opportunity employer, Acadia is committed to a diverse workforce. If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran, you have the right to request a reasonable accommodation. Furthermore, you may request additional support if you are unable or limited in your ability to use or access Acadia’s career website due to your disability, along with any accommodations throughout the interview process. To request or inquire about your reasonable accommodation, please complete our Reasonable Accommodation Request Form or contact us at [e-mail] or 858-261-2923.

Please note that reasonable accommodations granted throughout the recruiting process are not guaranteed to be the same accommodations given if hired. A new request will need to be submitted for any ADA accommodations after starting employment.

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