Executive Director, People Business Partnership

Acadia Pharmaceuticals•San Diego, NJ

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Executive Director, People Business Partnership leads Acadia’s People Business Partner team and serves as a senior advisor to business and People & Performance leadership. The role translates business strategy into organization, workforce, leadership and talent priorities that support Acadia’s growth and performance, while strengthening the quality, consistency and business impact of People Business Partnership across the company. Working with business leaders, PBPs and People & Performance Centers of Excellence, this leader anticipates organizational needs, shapes workforce and capability plans, improves leadership effectiveness and enables successful change. The role requires strong business judgment and deep expertise in organization, talent, workforce planning and change. The leader builds PBP capability, clarifies ownership, reduces operational burden and focuses the team on high-value business and organizational priorities. The position is based in either San Diego, California, or Princeton, New Jersey. Acadia’s hybrid model requires an average of three days per week in the office. Travel of up to 25%, primarily within the United States, is required.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in human resources, Business Administration, Organizational Development or a related field.
15 or more years of progressive People & Performance, Human Resources or related leadership experience, including 8 or more years leading teams and enterprise-wide people initiatives.
Proven experience leading a senior People Business Partner team and advising executive leaders in biotechnology, pharmaceutical, healthcare or another highly regulated environment.
Strong business acumen and demonstrated ability to translate strategy into workforce, organization, leadership, talent and change priorities.
Demonstrated success in organization design, workforce planning, talent and succession planning, leadership development and large-scale change.
Ability to use workforce data, business indicators, organizational insights and market intelligence to influence decisions and outcomes.
Experience delivering outcomes through senior business partners, cross-functional teams and Centers of Excellence, clarifying operating-model accountabilities and shifting transactional work to appropriate channels.
Sound judgment in complex people matters, with working knowledge of employment law, employee relations, performance management and organizational risk.
Exceptional executive communication, coaching, facilitation, negotiation and stakeholder-management skills.
Demonstrated ability to build accountable, inclusive and collaborative teams.
Experience supporting geographically dispersed teams in a fast-paced, growth-oriented environment.
Ability to travel up to 25%, primarily within the United States.
Ability to perform regular standing, walking, sitting and hand use for handling or operating equipment; to reach, climb, balance, stoop, kneel and crouch; and to maintain visual, verbal and auditory communication in a standard office environment and while working independently from remote locations.
Ability to occasionally lift and/or move up to 20 pounds and to travel independently overnight or work after hours as required by travel schedules or business needs.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree.
An equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered.

Responsibilities

Lead and develop Acadia’s People Business Partner team, setting expectations and building capability to ensure consistent, high-quality support to leaders.
Develop a deep understanding of Acadia’s strategy, growth priorities and operating environment, translating them into workforce, organization, leadership and talent implications.
Advise business and People & Performance leaders on organization effectiveness, workforce planning, leadership, talent, culture and significant organizational change.
Guide PBPs in creating focused people plans linked to business priorities and measurable organizational outcomes.
Partner with leaders to identify the capabilities, roles, structures and talent needed for current priorities and future growth.
Build a forward-looking workforce planning approach to inform where to build, buy, deploy or access critical capabilities.
Lead organization design and effectiveness work involving structures, roles, governance, decision-making and ways of working.
Partner with Talent Management and leaders to strengthen succession, talent planning, leadership pipelines and future capabilities.
Strengthen leadership effectiveness through advice, coaching, organizational insights and practical support.
Enable organizational change by clarifying the business rationale, assessing workforce impacts, building leadership alignment and sustaining adoption.
Support complex and consequential people matters with Employee Relations, Legal and other specialists to help ensure balanced, compliant and business-oriented decisions.
Partner with People & Performance Centers of Excellence and Operations to create scalable solutions, tools, processes and insights that improve the manager and employee experience.
Clarify ownership across PBPs, Centers of Excellence, People Operations and business leaders so PBPs can focus on strategic priorities rather than transactional activity.
Use workforce data, business indicators, market intelligence and organizational insights to identify emerging needs and improve decisions.
Partner with Total Rewards to inform talent investments and contribute to the evolution of Acadia’s People & Performance operating model, accountability and business impact.
Perform other duties and responsibilities as assigned.
Travel up to 25%, primarily within the United States.
Meet the role’s physical requirements, including occasional lifting or moving of up to 20 pounds, and the ability to travel independently overnight or work after hours as required by travel schedules or business needs.