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.
Director, Incentive Compensation (Neuroscience & Rare Disease)
The Vision: Lead and transform Acadia’s incentive compensation strategy and execution across Neuroscience and Rare Disease for multiple field facing roles, ensuring flawless execution today while building a strategy-aligned, scalable model for tomorrow!
Position Summary
The Director of Incentive Compensation will serve as a subject matter expert in all areas of field incentive compensation plans, contests/SPIFFs, and award programs, with accountability across Neuroscience and Rare Disease multiple field teams. The person will lead strategic direction and continuous improvement of incentive compensation programs across therapeutic areas, applying advanced methodologies to complex business challenges with decisions that materially impact field performance, financial outcomes, and overall company success.
This role is responsible for leading the design, administration, and continuous improvement of incentive compensation programs that attract, retain, and motivate top field talent, while ensuring all programs are fiscally responsible, aligned with company and product goals/objectives, and administered in a consistent, accurate, timely, and compliant fashion.
As a player/coach leader, this role balances day-to-day execution (“run”) with advancing IC into a strategic, enterprise-aligned capability (“build”), strengthening alignment to brand strategic and tactical objectives and evolving IC into a true driver of field behavior and performance.
This role also provides proactive analyses of IC programs and practices, delivering insights and recommendations to senior leadership and governance committees.
Lead and develop IC team members (e.g., managers/analysts) as well as serve as a hands-on leader, stepping into design, modeling, and issue resolution as needed.
Primary Responsibilities
Lead and Administer Incentive Compensation
- Lead and administer the field incentive compensation, contests, and award functional area across Neuroscience and Rare Disease field teams
- Ensure IC programs are motivating, rewarding, and aligned with business objectives through collaboration with stakeholders and vendors
- Implement strategies and administrative processes to ensure:
- Accurate goal setting, crediting, performance measurement, and payout calculations
- Reliable and auditable execution of IC cycles
- Lead IC inquiry and investigation processes, ensuring timely resolution and clear communication back to field teams
- Ensure timely communication and documentation of IC plans, quotas, performance reporting, and processes to the field
- Reduce manual processes, improve data confidence, and create a low-friction IC experience for the field.
- Partner with IT, Data Governance, and vendors to ensure accurate, integrated “IC-grade” data for calculations and reporting
Design and Evolve IC Strategy
- Lead the evaluation, development, and design of IC plans, contests, and annual awards across brands and field teams
- Strengthen alignment of IC metrics, weightings, and goals to brand strategic and tactical priorities
- Perform routine “health-checks” and analyses to assess plan effectiveness and reinforce desired behaviors
- Develop and implement standardized plan principles and governance frameworks to make them scalable and repeatable IC processes across brands
- Advance use of analytics to move from qualitative feedback to measurable behavior impact assessment
Govern IC Processes and Ensure Compliance
- Provide leadership around governance and approval processes for IC plans, contests, and awards
- Establish and maintain robust quality control processes and documentation standards
- Ensure all IC programs operate within regulatory, legal, and compliance requirements
- Partner with Legal, Compliance, HR, and Finance to drive consistent and controlled execution
Reporting, Analytics, and Performance Transparency
- Develop, deploy, and administer reports, dashboards, and scorecards that enable field teams and leadership to track performance vs. IC
- Partner with Commercial Analytics to:
- Align field sales quotas with topline forecasts and estimates
- Enhance visibility into IC performance and outcomes
- Translate complex IC concepts into clear, actionable insights for leadership and the field
- Partner closely with: Sales, Marketing, National Accounts, and Patient Services leadership, Commercial Analytics, People & Performance, Legal/Compliance, IT, and external vendors
Education / Experience / Skills
- Bachelor’s degree required; MBA or advanced degree preferred
- Minimum 10 years of experience in pharmaceutical/biotech commercial roles
- Minimum 5 years in Sales Operations / Commercial Operations with deep strategic and tactical knowledge
- Proven expertise in IC plan design, goaling methodologies, and administration as well as contests/SPIFFs and award program design
- Experience with commercial pharma data (RX, claims, HUB/SP/SD data)
- Minimum 5 years of experience leading, developing, and scaling a team, establishing clear roles, strengthening capabilities, and fostering a high-performance culture as the function expands
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.
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 talentacquisition@acadia-pharm.com 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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