Associate Director, Patient Support Services

Position Summary:

We are seeking a strategic and customer-focused leader to drive Patient Support Services (PSS) initiatives that help patients access life-changing therapies in rare disease and neuropsychiatry. In this role, you will shape and execute access strategies, optimize hub services, and develop innovative programs that remove barriers to treatment. You will collaborate closely with cross-functional teams—Brand Marketing, Access & Reimbursement, Field Access, Patient Advocacy—to ensure a seamless, patient-centered experience.

This position is ideal for a pharmaceutical professional with deep expertise in specialty access services, payer landscapes (including Medicare and Medicaid), and patient assistance programs. You will lead high-impact projects from concept to execution, manage vendor relationships, and measure success through KPIs, all while keeping the patient at the center of every decision.

If you thrive on creating solutions that empower healthcare providers and patients, excel at influencing without authority, and have a proven record of delivering results in complex, fast-paced environments, this is your opportunity to make a meaningful difference.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Partners with Patient Support Services Directors to evolve and improve services & execute on hub and other PSS strategies focused on rare disease and neuropsychiatric support.


• Collaborates with internal partners on relevant market research and lead PSS projects to refine strategies to help generate insights to create/optimize programs that better meet healthcare professionals (HCP) and patient needs in rare disease and neuropsychiatry.


• Helps lead the planning, development and implementation of access marketing strategies, programs, tactics and messaging by:
  
  
  
  • Ensuring access services marketing plan and execution align with Brand Marketing and Access & Reimbursement strategies.
  
  
  • Supporting access-related Brand Planning process.
  
  
  • Collaborating closely with Brand Marketing to ensure a seamless customer experience and alignment with brand initiatives.
  
  
  • Planning and developing hub priorities, content, tools, and training for national meetings and customer-facing team training.
  
  
  
  


• Serves as access services expert, making recommendations on solutions to deliver upon unmet needs, with a specific focus on rare disease and neuropsychiatry.


• Helps lead the planning, development, and management of access website, materials, messaging, and programming; including, but not limited to, copay programs, sample programs, reimbursement and patient financial support services, etc.


• Develops and tracks KPIs; continually assesses and monitors impact and execution of access services & offerings in rare disease and neuropsychiatry, including feedback from service users and internal stakeholders.


• Attends professional, provider, and patient conferences, and keeps up to date on innovation.


• Manages vendor relationships to ensure exceptional customer service, quality delivery, and budget oversight.


• Collaborates with Field Access team for process development, operations management, and ongoing training needs.


• Creates and presents relevant data and/or presentations for business review and/or other key meetings.  


• Collaborates with Access & Reimbursement, Specialty Trade and Distribution, Brand Marketing, Sales, Field Access, and Patient Advocacy teams to ensure best-in-class offerings and services; continually work to optimize and improve.


• Collaborates with internal and external partners to ensure all programs meet Acadia legal, regulatory, and compliance standards.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, health care, business administration or related field; MBA or other master’s degree is a plus.  


• Eight (8) years of progressively responsible experience in pharmaceutical space, with intimate knowledge of the specialty insurance/payer landscape (including deep expertise in Medicare and Medicaid) and patient assistance programs.  An equivalent combination of relevant education and applicable job experience may be considered.


• Experience with design and implementation of access support services and/or strong understanding of access support services environment.


• Preferred experience with rare disease and neuropsychiatric programs/product launch.  


• Experience with specialty medications (rare disease product, neuropsychiatric product, and Medicare Part D experience preferred)


• Proven project management experience


• Agency/vendor management experience (briefing/execution/budgetary oversight) preferred


• Outstanding customer relationship, interpersonal, and communication skills with an ability to effectively communicate across diverse audiences and influence cross-functionally


• Proven success in high impact program development and execution


• Patient-centric and service-oriented mindset


• Must be a team player with strong self-awareness and excellent interpersonal skills


• Must be results oriented, pay attention to detail, be accurate, prompt and able to meet deadlines


• Ability to drive multiple projects simultaneously and to deliver results


• Demonstrated ability able to influence others without authority and successfully partner with cross-functional teams


• Strong enthusiasm with a drive to succeed


• Business acumen and budgeting skills


• Must be a fast learner, creative, and flexible


• Possess strong presentation skills


• Adaptable and open to an environment of change


• Ability to travel 30

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 and independently from remote locations. Employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 20 pounds. Travel by car or airplane independently up to 30% of the time to attend conferences, meetings, and the corporate head office.