Director, Strategic Training & Capabilities

Position Summary

The Director, Strategic Training & Capabilities leads the vision, strategy, and execution of Acadia’s Commercial Training Center of Excellence, ensuring that all field-facing commercial teams are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and capabilities needed to excel. This role oversees the development, integration, and continuous enhancement of training frameworks, curricula, digital learning assets, and capability-building initiatives that support both initial on-boarding and ongoing professional development across Sales, Marketing, Patient Value & Access, and Account Management.

The Director manages a team of trainers and provides strategic oversight of brand-aligned training partners to ensure consistency, quality, and alignment across all therapeutic areas and brands. Working cross-functionally with Commercial Leadership, Compliance, Marketing, and Field Leadership, this role translates strategic business priorities into high-impact learning solutions that elevate field performance and drive commercial excellence.

This leader owns and evolves the ACADIA Selling Model, guides the development of modern learning systems and processes, and identifies capability gaps through data, field insights, and performance metrics. The Director plays a key role in supporting product launches, enhancing field readiness, and strengthening leadership capabilities throughout the organization. Through innovative training strategies and disciplined execution, this role ensures Acadia’s field teams are prepared to deliver an exceptional customer experience and achieve commercial goals.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Coordination of the new hire training and ongoing skills/knowledge training across all brands and Patient Value & Access field facing teams.
• Ensures that the commercial training curriculum and on-boarding processes meet the current and emerging needs of the field commercial employees.
• Oversee the development, updating and use of all training modules that are appropriate for field commercial employees.
• Creates training materials that enhance the learning process; including study guides, home study materials, assessments, frequently asked questions, competitive overviews, etc. and works with leadership and P&P on follow-up and consequences as appropriate.
• Leads and supports the trainers in field commercial employee training across all settings which include 1:1 meetings, conference calls, live classroom, etc.
• Gathers and analyzes data from direct field observations, focus groups and other methods to identify potential training gaps and suggests areas for improvement that will enhance sales performance and achieve commercial goals.
• Manages the training of field staff on sales-related tools and cross functional business rules (ie. Veeva CRM, Concur, Patient Services, etc.).

Cross Functional Collaboration

• Supports the brand and PV&A trainers in leading content development workstreams across commercial and key stakeholders for sales meetings from an objective, content, and agenda standpoint.  
• Works with the brand and PV&A trainers cross-functionally to gather feedback on training needs and development of necessary meeting workshops to meet those needs.
• Works with sales and account leadership to facilitate management-level “train-the-trainer” sessions.
• Owns the ACADIA Selling Model – development, adjustments, training, etc.
• Assists sales and account leadership with field coaching, recruiting, and interviewing as needed.

Systems and Employee On-going Personal Development

• Manages the Learning Management System (LMS), and all vendors related to field commercial training and development resources.
• Works with corporate compliance and/or our compliance agency partner to ensure field commercial employees are trained and up-to-date on policies and procedures that affect their respective functional areas.
• Other duties as assigned.

Leadership Development

• Works closely with Commercial Leadership and the Director of Commercial L&D to ensure that the development of training initiatives are designed to strengthen the pull through of Acadia’s Field Leader capabilities and competencies.

Education/Experience/Skills:

Bachelor’s degree (science or business preferred) or equivalent combination of relevant education and applicable job experience may be considered. MBA preferred. A minimum of 12 years progressively responsible experience in pharmaceutical or medical sales and training, with a minimum of 6 years in a training or sales leadership role. A focus on neuroscience and Rare Disease preferred. Requires prior pharmaceutical sales experience, first-line pharmaceutical/biotech sales management experience, and vendor and contract management. Experience with product launches and Long-Term Care and Account Management experience is highly desired.

Must possess:

• Demonstrated leadership and teaching/facilitation ability.
• Proven ability in creating effective sales training materials.
• Proven application of adult learning principles.
• The ability to successfully navigate challenging situations and conversations with diplomacy, respect and flexibility where required.
• Experience in launching a product (Sales, Managed Markets and/or Sales Training) is desirable.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Ability to complete verbal and written evaluations of others.
• Organization, initiative, and self-motivation.
• Project and vendor management experience.
• Professionalism, integrity, and the ability to comply with strict policy, work in a highly regulated environment and maintain confidential information and data.
• Skilled at negotiating with business partners or management and influencing senior level leaders regarding matters of significance to the organization.
• Proficient at creating and communicating a clear vision among team members effectively aligning resources and activities to achieve functional area and/or organizational goals.
• Ability to travel up to 30% overnight.

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. Employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 20 pounds. Ability to travel by car or airplane independently up to 30% of the time and work after hours if required by travel schedule or business issues.