Senior Science/Medical Writer (Health) in London

JOB SUMMARY

• Confidently lead the development of content for a range of high-quality projects that meet or exceed client expectations, on time and within budget.
• Strive to bring value to clients, colleagues, and the wider business.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

JOB DUTIES / RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead and coordinate medical content to produce a range of high-quality deliverables across therapy areas, within budget and schedule, with minimal input from medical team leads.
• Objectively evaluate scientific literature/data and translate into communications deliverables; demonstrate scientific insight and critical thinking.
• Strive to achieve writing excellence; consistently produce clear, accurate, scientifically sound, strategically aligned, grammatically correct, and creative materials appropriate to the project brief, meet client needs, and reflect the direction of external experts.
• Act as a source of expertise regarding client products, therapy areas, data set and processes; project-specific strategy; and industry standards, supporting others as needed; keep on top of updates to medical literature and the competitive landscape within relevant therapy area(s) and share knowledge.
• Develop and critically appraise briefs to inform project plans; be alert to potential internal or external pitfalls or knowledge gaps and take action to address these.
• Effectively brief other account team members and Studio as appropriate and provide further direction and support as needed.
• Competently review materials from other Writers (including freelancers) for scientific accuracy, written quality, style, suitability for the audience, and strategic alignment, ensuring clear, complete, and valid comments.
• When writing or reviewing, ensure all materials conform to relevant style guides/guidelines and industry standards; provide advice and guidance to address oversights.
• Contribute creative ideas, concepts, or suggestions to provide added value across live projects and business development activities.
• Manage workload effectively, including during delivery peaks, and prioritise/reprioritise effectively to meet deadlines for fast-paced and multiple parallel projects.

Team Working

• Lead the delivery of medical content and work collaboratively with account team members to meet overall account objectives.
• Actively participate in account team meetings; lead project team meetings in line with specific delivery responsibilities.
• Coach and mentor less experienced Medical Writers and support their ongoing development.

Client Service

• Build positive relationships with clients and external experts by providing a knowledgeable point of contact; contribute to discussions to identify issues and recommend solutions.
• Confidently lead/facilitate internal, client, and external expert calls/virtual meetings and attend on-site meetings.

Commercial / Financial

• Demonstrate mindfulness of project budgets and scopes of work; work with Client Services team members to identify issues and support good recoverability.
• Input into the development of scopes of work/cost estimates.
• Complete timesheets on time and meet productivity targets.

Business Development

• Identify opportunities for organic growth on accounts and communicate to the senior account teams.
• Support the development of discrete medical content for proposals and pitch presentations.

EDUCATION

• A life science degree. Required.

EXPERIENCE

• Established medical communications professional - breadth and depth in medical writing for a range of deliverables.
• Ability to coordinate the delivery of editorial projects and to provide scientific excellence across a number of accounts and therapy areas.
• Experience in client and clinical expert liaison.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, & ABILITIES

• Act as a source of expertise regarding a range of products, therapy areas, data sets, account-specific processes, and industry standards, advising others as needed; keep on top of updates to medical literature within relevant therapy area(s) and share knowledge.
• Be recognized as an expert and key contact (internally and externally) across several deliverables.
• Autonomy in leading the development of content for a range of project types across one or more accounts, with minimal need for input from scientific leads.
• Manage the delivery of content for defined section(s) of book of work (e.g., several closely related projects).
• Share expertise, brief and review work for other account team members, coach less experienced Writers, and work collaboratively with the account team as appropriate.

COMPETENCIES

Pace and Organization

• Highly organized and comfortable managing workload, including when dealing with fast-paced projects or peaks in the volume of work.
• Mindful of budget and scope for each project; keen to support good recoverability.

Decision Making

• Draw on experience and established skill set to make sound decisions, overcome challenges, and maximize opportunities, yet still know when to seek advice.
• Critically appraise briefs to identify gaps and plan delivery and appropriate next steps; stay alert to potential pitfalls or knowledge gaps and take action to address these.

Communication

• Communicate clearly, confidently, and professionally in person and via phone/email/virtual meeting, tailored to the specific context.
• Build positive relationships across a range of client functions, external experts, and internal colleagues.

Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing

• Work collaboratively as part of a team to help meet overall account team objectives.
• Identify, flag, and challenge possible deviations from best practice and recommend appropriate solutions.
• Set a positive and motivating example for less experienced Writers; begin to coach and mentor less experienced Writers and new account team members as needed.

Delegation and Leadership Style

• Take a leading role on a small account or part of an account, as required, taking overall responsibility for successful delivery and instilling accountability in others.
• Confidently take the lead on developing content for assigned projects.
• Effectively brief other account team members and Studio as appropriate, providing further direction and support as needed.
• Competently review work from other Writers and provide clear and constructive feedback in a supportive, respectful, and collaborative manner to support development.
• Understand the value of delegation and consider opportunities to delegate.

Development

• Strive to achieve writing excellence across a broad range of therapy areas and medical communications deliverables.
• Invest in own progression: proactively discuss objectives, training needs, and development opportunities with line manager.
• Demonstrate a consciousness of the wider business by supporting colleague development, account recoverability/revenue, and broader company initiatives, as appropriate.
• Develop coaching and mentoring techniques to support less experienced Writers.
• Develop self-awareness around preferred communication style and those of account team members to help facilitate effective communication.

Strategic Thinking

• Begin to develop a deeper awareness of client goals and challenges relating to specific projects, and be able to effectively communicate and discuss these with colleagues.
• Critically appraise strategic direction of written materials as part of technical review process.
• Proactively contribute creative ideas to provide added value to projects, identify new opportunities for organic growth on accounts.