A

Acadia Pharmaceuticals

Develops and commercializes CNS disorder therapies

Director – AI Engineering

Full-Time
$201.8k - $252.3k+ Discretionary bonus + Equity awards
Expert
Bachelor's
South San Francisco, CA, USA+2 moreMore locations: Princeton, NJ, USA | San Diego, CA, USA
HybridOn-site attendance at one listed office is required three days per week.
Software EngineeringAI Application Engineering

About the job

Requirements
  • A bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, or a related technical discipline is required; an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience may be considered.
  • At least 8 years of experience in AI/ML, software engineering, or a related field, including at least 4 years of current, hands-on experience building production-grade agentic AI systems and LLM-powered applications.
  • Experience delivering self-service or platform tooling adopted by non-technical users.
  • Expert-level proficiency with at least two major agent frameworks, such as LangGraph, CrewAI, Anthropic Agents SDK, or OpenAI Agents SDK, including framework customization and development.
  • Expert-level experience designing and implementing RAG solutions, including chunking strategies, embedding selection, vector databases, hybrid retrieval, and reranking methodologies.
  • Hands-on experience developing enterprise AI capabilities, including evaluation frameworks, guardrails, agent memory systems, human-in-the-loop workflows, tool registries, skill registries, and prompt management platforms.
  • Experience building or integrating Model Context Protocol servers and exposing enterprise capabilities to AI agents.
  • Proficiency in Python and machine learning frameworks such as PyTorch, scikit-learn, and Hugging Face Transformers, with a strong understanding of LLM architectures and traditional machine learning techniques.
  • Experience leveraging AI-assisted development tools to accelerate software delivery, automate code generation, and improve engineering productivity.
  • Experience working within regulated environments and AI governance frameworks, including GxP, NIST AI RMF, EU AI Act, or similar compliance standards.
  • Biopharmaceutical industry experience, including familiarity with commercial, medical, research, clinical, or market access functions and relevant healthcare data sources.
  • Willingness and ability to travel domestically and internationally as needed.
Responsibilities
  • Architect and maintain the enterprise agent platform through which agents are developed, published, versioned, and coordinated, using frameworks such as LangGraph, CrewAI, Anthropic Agents SDK, and OpenAI Agents SDK.
  • Engineer multi-agent coordination patterns that enable agents with distinct roles, data access, and functional scope to collaborate reliably on complex, multi-step business workflows.
  • Design and implement reusable agent templates, composable orchestration primitives, and agentic memory systems for short-term, long-term, and episodic memory that development teams and non-engineers can configure and deploy.
  • Build human-in-the-loop escalation workflows and clearly defined agent action boundaries to ensure appropriate human oversight at high-risk decision points.
  • Lead the design and delivery of a self-service RAG builder, including ingestion pipelines, chunking, embedding, vector store integration, hybrid retrieval, and reranking through a low-code interface accessible to non-technical users.
  • Build and operate an enterprise tool and skill registry: a versioned catalog of APIs, functions, MCP servers, and data connectors that agents can securely discover and invoke, with schema contracts, authentication, and access controls.
  • Establish and manage the enterprise prompt management system with versioning, governance workflows, A/B testing, rollback capabilities, and domain-specific prompt libraries for commercial, medical, and R&D functions.
  • Own the evaluation and benchmarking methodology for agentic systems; design quantitative evaluation suites covering accuracy, faithfulness, groundedness, task completion, latency, cost, and safety, and implement automated regression detection in production.
  • Design and implement multi-layer guardrail frameworks, including input/output validation, content moderation, hallucination detection, policy enforcement, and agent permission scoping aligned with AI governance policy and regulatory requirements.
  • Apply product thinking and user-centered design to platform tooling; track adoption metrics, gather user feedback, and iterate to reduce friction for non-engineer stakeholders across Commercial, Medical Affairs, R&D, and Corporate Functions.
  • Contribute to the enterprise AI strategy and portfolio roadmap, and participate in the AI Governance Council by providing expertise on agentic risk, safety, and platform governance.
  • Ensure all engineered solutions comply with global AI regulations, ethical AI standards, data privacy requirements including HIPAA and GDPR, applicable GxP processes, and enterprise security standards.
  • Mentor engineers and foster a culture of rigorous evaluation, responsible experimentation, and continuous improvement across the AI team.
  • Perform other responsibilities as assigned.

About the company

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals develops and commercializes medicines for central nervous system (CNS) disorders, focusing on neurological and psychiatric conditions with unmet medical needs. Its work centers on identifying drug candidates, advancing them through preclinical and clinical trials, and, upon regulatory approval, bringing therapies to market. Its products address CNS conditions such as Parkinson's disease psychosis, reflecting a commitment to treating complex brain disorders. The company combines in-house research with potential strategic collaborations to expand its portfolio and reach. Unlike peers that rely on a single development path, ACADIA emphasizes a broad pipeline and the ability to commercialize approved therapies, aiming to provide effective CNS treatments to patients and improve outcomes in mental health and neuroscience.

Company Size

1,001-5,000

Company Stage

IPO

Headquarters

San Diego, California

Founded

1993

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Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • August 4, 2026 revenue guidance rose to $1.24-$1.30 billion.
  • DAYBUE sales hit $125 million in Q2 2026, up 30% year over year.
  • FDA Fast Track and September 2026 Phase 2 topline keep remlifanserin catalyst-rich.

What critics are saying

  • September 24, 2026 remlifanserin missed its Alzheimer psychosis primary endpoint, cutting shares 12.8%.
  • City of Birmingham v. Acadia securities trial now advances after summary-judgment defeat.
  • DAYBUE depends on Rett uptake; a 2026 Europe launch must offset any U.S. slowdown.

What makes Acadia Pharmaceuticals unique

  • Acadia owns DAYBUE and NUPLAZID, the only commercial CNS franchises in its portfolio.
  • September 2026 Princeton headquarters anchors East Coast operations and conference capacity.
  • Fast Track remlifanserin and two Phase 2 psychosis programs deepen pipeline optionality.

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Benefits

Health Insurance

Dental Insurance

Vision Insurance

401(k) Retirement Plan

401(k) Company Match

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Paid Vacation

Paid Holidays

Paid Sick Leave

Paid Parental Leave

Tuition Reimbursement

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

0%

1 year growth

2%

2 year growth

0%
IMA Network
Sep 25th, 2026
Ware Malcomb announces construction is complete on Acadia Pharmaceuticals' Princeton office location.

Ware Malcomb announces construction is complete on Acadia Pharmaceuticals' Princeton office location. PRINCETON, N.J. (September 24, 2026) - Ware Malcomb, an award-winning international design firm, announced construction is complete on a new U.S. East Coast headquarters for Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc., located at 210 Carnegie Center in Princeton. Ware Malcomb's Princeton office provided interior architecture and design services for the two-level 62,600 SF office and biopharma workplace project. With a presence in Canada and Europe and headquartered in the U.S., Acadia Pharmaceuticals is developing and advancing treatments for neurological disorders and rare diseases, including Parkinson's disease psychosis and Rett syndrome. "We took inspiration from Acadia's brand identity and workplace design principals while tailoring the space to the layout, functionality, and character of the Princeton location. With sustainability in mind, we developed a plan that complements the space and allows the client's brand to be expressed through materials and colors," said Chelsea Chamra, Studio Manager, Interior Architecture & Design, Ware Malcomb. The space encompasses two levels of a five-story building, and the Ware Malcomb team designed an architectural connecting stair as a focal element directly off the reception area, creating a strong connection between the two floors. Through its space planning effort, the design team worked closely with the client to define a new hub and rethink how the workplace supports meetings and interactions with outside vendors and consultants. The first floor is designed to support the day-to-day workplace, incorporating executive offices, smaller meeting rooms, open work areas, a breakroom, and access to an exterior patio. The upper level takes on a more outward-facing role, functioning as a dedicated conference and training center with larger meeting spaces designed to accommodate visitors and group gatherings. The interior design draws from the natural character of the Princeton setting, incorporating biophilic principles through natural materials, daylight, and a connection to the surrounding landscape. A restrained, contemporary palette is balanced with warm textures and exposed architectural elements, creating an environment that feels sophisticated yet approachable. Linear ceiling baffles help define the spaces and create continuity across the broader floor plan, while a combination of exposed concrete, wood flooring, and natural finishes adds depth and variety throughout the interiors. The result is a cohesive workplace that reflects its setting while supporting both focused work and meaningful interaction. Color-changing lighting is incorporated throughout, a feature that allows the company to convey specific color themes correlated with announcements of new medicines or products being introduced into the market, as well as for holidays. Construction services were provided by Structure Tone. Photography credit: Cerrone Photo Established in 1972, Ware Malcomb is a dynamic, forward-thinking commercial real estate design firm providing professional architecture, interior design, civil engineering, branding, building measurement, structural engineering and MEP engineering services to clients throughout the world. With office locations throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and Brazil, the firm specializes in the design of office, industrial, science & technology, healthcare, multifamily, retail, hospitality and public/institutional projects. The firm is also ranked among the top 10 Architecture/Engineering firms in Engineering News-Record's Top 500 Design Firms and the Top 30 Interior Design Firms in Interior Design magazine's Top 100 Giants. More than half of Fortune 500 companies are Ware Malcomb clients. For more information, visit waremalcomb.com. September 25, 2026 September 23, 2026 September 3, 2026 August 28, 2026 August 26, 2026

ROI-NJ
Sep 25th, 2026
Ware Malcomb says construction finished on Acadia Pharmaceuticals' Princeton office.

Ware Malcomb says construction finished on Acadia Pharmaceuticals' Princeton office. ROI-NJ Staff(Princeton) September 25, 2026 Design firm Ware Malcomb announced that construction is complete on the East Coast headquarters for Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc., located at 210 Carnegie Center in Princeton. Ware Malcomb's Princeton office provided interior architecture and design services for the two-level 62,600-square-foot office and biopharma workplace project. Acadia Pharmaceuticals is developing and advancing treatments for neurological disorders and rare diseases, including Parkinson's disease psychosis and Rett syndrome. "We took inspiration from Acadia's brand identity and workplace design principals while tailoring the space to the layout, functionality, and character of the Princeton location. With sustainability in mind, we developed a plan that complements the space and allows the client's brand to be expressed through materials and colors," said Chelsea Chamra, studio manager, interior architecture and design, Ware Malcomb. The firm has a presence in Canada and Europe and is based in the U.S. The space spans two levels of a five-story building, and the Ware Malcomb team designed a connecting stair as a focal element directly off the reception area. Through its space planning effort, the design team worked closely with the client to define a new hub and rethink how the workplace supports meetings and interactions with outside vendors and consultants. The first floor supports day-to-day work, with executive offices, smaller meeting rooms, open work areas, a breakroom, and access to an exterior patio. The upper level functions as a dedicated conference and training center with larger meeting spaces designed to accommodate visitors and group gatherings. The interior design draws from the natural character of the Princeton setting, incorporating biophilic principles through natural materials, daylight, and a connection to the surrounding landscape. Acadia Pharmaceuticals is developing and commercializing treatments for rare and neurological disorders, with a focus on both regulatory achievements and clinical advancements.

Insider Monkey
Sep 25th, 2026
ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (ACAD) gets 'sell' rating on weak trial results, shares fall 13%.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (ACAD) gets 'sell' rating on weak trial results, shares fall 13%. Published September 24, 2026 at 11:26 pm EDT ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) fell for a fifth consecutive day on Thursday, shedding 12.78 percent to close at $22.18 apiece, after earning a sell recommendation from Goldman Sachs. In its market note, the investment firm reiterated its sell recommendation and $17 price target on the stock after missing its primary endpoint in its phase 2 study of 5-HT2A inverse agonist remlifanserin for the treatment of hallucinations and delusions in patients with Alzheimer's disease psychosis. The price target marked a 23 percent discount from its latest closing price. The clinical study will still progress to its third phase, but the company will be inclined to remove the 30 mg dosage arm due to the lack of improvement in its efficacy during the recently concluded trial. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals said that it plans to present detailed safety and efficacy results from the Phase 2 study in an oral presentation at the upcoming Clinical Trials on Alzheimer's Disease (CTAD) conference in Boston on November 16 to 19, 2026. Additionally, remlifanserin is currently being investigated in an additional Phase 2 study to evaluate its efficacy, safety, and tolerability for the treatment of Lewy body dementia psychosis. Citi, BMO Capital maintain positive ratings. In contrast, Citigroup maintained its buy recommendation on the stock, albeit it lowered its price target to $33 from $40 previously. The reduction was also triggered by the missed primary endpoint. For its part, BMO Capital slashed its price target for the firm to $34 while maintaining an outperform rating, also amid expectations for the drug candidate's reduced probability of success to just 35 percent from 40 percent prior. BMO Capital noted that the phase 2 study trial miss represents a near-term headwind for ACADIA Pharmaceuticals, although it noted that clear response, consistency of SAPS-H+D improvements over time, and stronger efficacy in higher psychosis burden patients all suggest that the treatment candidate is therapeutically active in Alzheimer's disease psychosis. The firm said remlifanserin retains potential to show success in both Alzheimer's disease psychosis and Lewy body dementia psychosis. Strong hedge fund conviction. In terms of institutional sentiment, ACADIA Pharmaceuticals earned a strong backing from hedge fund holders, as evidenced by the jump in their committed capital, even as one fund exited its position. Data from Insider Monkey showed that 38 hedge funds held positions in the stock in the second quarter of the year, down from 39 in the quarter previously. However, the existing investors' combined holdings increased by 13.67 percent to $1.58 billion from $1.39 billion quarter-on-quarter. As the data predate phase 2 trial results, updated hedge fund holdings in the third quarter of the year will offer critical insight on whether the high-conviction buying trend persisted.

Grafa
Sep 24th, 2026
Acadia advances remlifanserin program after Phase 2 Alzheimer's trial results

Acadia advances remlifanserin program after Phase 2 Alzheimer's trial results

Daily Dispatch
Aug 25th, 2026
Neuren secures European approval for Rett syndrome treatment.

Neuren secures European approval for Rett syndrome treatment. Neuren Pharmaceuticals has reached a major milestone in the global commercialisation of trofinetide after the European Commission granted marketing authorisation for DAYBU to treat neurobehavioural symptoms associated with Rett syndrome. The approval makes DAYBU the first and only authorised treatment for Rett syndrome in the European Union, extending access to patients aged five years and older across all 27 EU member states as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. For the Melbourne-based biotechnology company, the decision represents both an important advance for families affected by the rare neurological disorder and a potentially material commercial catalyst under its licensing arrangement with Acadia Pharmaceuticals. Acadia, which holds Neuren's exclusive worldwide licence to develop and commercialise trofinetide, has previously indicated that it expects to launch DAYBU in Germany in early in the fourth quarter of 2026. Neuren chief executive Jon Pilcher said the approval was especially meaningful given the absence of an approved Rett syndrome treatment in Europe until now. "We are delighted for the Rett syndrome community in Europe, who, until now, have had no approved treatment for this devastating condition," Pilcher said. "The European Commission's approval of DAYBU is particularly rewarding for Neuren given our long-standing commitment to developing therapies for serious neurological disorders with profound unmet need." Rett syndrome is a severe genetic neurodevelopmental condition that predominantly affects girls and can lead to profound impairments in communication, motor function and everyday functioning. The European approval allows DAYBU to be marketed for the treatment of its neurobehavioural symptoms, creating a new treatment option for patients and families across the region. The decision also brings financial significance for Neuren. Under its European licence agreement with Acadia, Neuren is entitled to receive US$35 million following the first commercial sale of DAYBU in Europe. It could also receive up to US$170 million in sales milestone payments as annual net sales reach escalating thresholds, alongside tiered royalties ranging from the mid-teens to the low 20 per cent range. DAYBUE oral solution is already approved for Rett syndrome in the United States, Canada and Israel, while DAYBUE STIX powder has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. Trofinetide is not approved for sale in Australia. The European authorisation comes as Neuren continues to advance its broader pipeline of therapies for serious neurological disorders. Its investigational candidate NNZ-2591, also known as ercanetide, is in clinical development for several rare neurodevelopmental conditions, including Phelan-McDermid syndrome, Pitt Hopkins syndrome and Angelman syndrome. Neuren is also developing NNZ-2591 for hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy, a form of brain injury that can occur before or shortly after birth. The company is currently running its Phase 3 Koala trial, a randomised, double blind and placebo-controlled study assessing NNZ-2591 in children aged three to 12 years with Phelan-McDermid syndrome, alongside a 52-week open-label extension study.