Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc. · 2 months ago
Executive Director, Artificial Intelligence & Enablement
Princeton, New Jersey, United States
Full-time
Onsite
Director/Executive
$252K/yr - $315K/yr
10+ years expAcadia Pharmaceuticals is committed to turning scientific promise into meaningful innovation for underserved neurological and rare disease communities. The Executive Director, Artificial Intelligence & Enablement will oversee the company's enterprise AI agenda, ensuring safe, ethical, and value-driven AI adoption while shaping how AI creates business value across various functions.
BiotechnologyHealth CarePharmaceutical
Responsibilities
Define the enterprise AI strategy and roadmap, aligning with business priorities and overall company vision
Publish and iterate on a 24-month AI portfolio roadmap with value hypotheses, build-vs-buy decisions, target architectures (LLM Ops / ML Ops), and deprecation plans
Institutionalize an AI use-case intake and prioritization process (value, feasibility, risk), reviewed quarterly with senior leadership
Partner with leadership to identify and prioritize high-value AI opportunities across R&D, Commercialization, and Corporate Functions
Track AI trends, emerging technologies, and regulatory landscapes to keep the organization at the leading edge
Facilitate RFI / RFP initiatives for evaluating new technology solutions and partnerships
Launch a tiered AI Literacy curriculum (Executive, Manager, Practitioner) with certifications and communities of practice; publish adoption dashboards
Drive change management and cultural adoption of AI as a strategic business capability
Establish forums to accelerate responsible experimentation and knowledge-sharing across the enterprise
Lead platform selection for GenAI/ML (model endpoints, vector stores, agent frameworks, guardrails), including TCO, data residency, and security posture
Publish reference architectures and reusable patterns for enterprise AI adoption
Define LLM Ops / ML Ops standards (model registry, evaluation benchmarks, prompt/version control, observability, rollback)
Implement an enterprise AI system of record for models, prompts, and datasets with lineage, approvals, and audit trails
Partner with Information Technology, Data Insights and Analytics, and Information Security to ensure infrastructure, platforms, and governance frameworks support priority objectives
Chair the cross-functional AI Governance Council spanning risk, legal, security, and business leader membership
Maintain policies for lifecycle management, bias/robustness testing, explainability, human oversight, and incident response
Map controls to major frameworks/regulations (e.g., NIST AI RMF, EU AI Act readiness), with annual assurance
Ensure compliance with global AI regulations and ethical standards. Lead a product-centric, agile delivery model for AI adoption across the enterprise
Run a quarterly AI portfolio review with functional leadership to prioritize investments based on value, feasibility, and risk
Partner with Insights & Analytics leaders on their delivery of analytics use cases while focusing on AI strategy, platforms, literacy, and governance to support their ability to derive insights and actions, ultimately supporting business outcomes
Perform other duties as assigned
Qualification
Required
Bachelor's degree in Information Systems, Computer Science, Data Sciences, or an equivalent technical discipline; Advanced degree preferred
Targeting 10+ years of progressively responsible experience deploying and implementing ethical AI frameworks and practices
Targeting 5+ years biopharmaceutical experience
Visionary leader with the ability to set a bold AI strategy
Deep knowledge of emerging AI technologies, vendors, and regulatory landscape
Excellent communication and storytelling skills to simplify complex AI topics for non-technical leaders
Strong collaboration across business, data, technology, and risk functions
Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, strong business acumen, executive presence, and ability to influence at the executive level
Naturally connects and builds strong relationships with others, demonstrating strong emotional intelligence and an ability to communicate clearly and persuasively
Ability to deal with ambiguity and the corresponding capacity to make decisions or recommendations based on potentially incomplete information
Adaptability to quickly and proactively implement change initiatives
Proven success in driving team performance by setting clear, ambitious goals and fostering a culture of accountability
Committed to continuous improvement and consistently delivering measurable results
Experienced working in a regulated environment following GxP processes
Trusted advisor to executives on AI opportunities and risks
Change agent who drives education, adoption, and cultural transformation
Ethical leader ensuring AI is deployed responsibly, safely, and compliantly
Must be able and willing to travel both domestically and internationally
Benefits
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
Company
Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Acadia Pharmaceuticals develops and commercializes small molecule drugs for the treatment of central nervous system disorders.
501-1000 employees
H1B Sponsorship
Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc. has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2021 (1)
Funding
Current Stage
Public CompanyTotal Funding
$811.73MKey Investors
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and StrokeOxford Bioscience PartnersNational Institute of Mental Health
2019-09-17Post Ipo Equity· $287.5M
2018-11-30Post Ipo Equity· $316.25M
2013-01-02Post Ipo Equity· $86.39M
Leadership Team
Catherine Adams
Chief Executive Officer
Steve Davis
President and CEO
Recent News
2025-11-20
Company data provided by crunchbase