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Job description: Senior Medical Writer
Reports into: ASD / PMW / STL / SD
Core responsibilities
- Ownership and responsibility for developing and delivering scientifically accurate content aligned with client objectives, meeting specifications, budget, and schedule.
- Develop and maintain knowledge of relevant therapy areas, including product/competitor awareness, key trial data, messaging, and terminology.
- Participate in, and when necessary lead, client meetings on scientific and editorial project aspects.
- Liaise with and brief KOLs as required; act as the point of contact for clients and KOLs on specified projects.
- Coach, mentor, or line manage writers as appropriate, providing opportunities to learn and apply skills to future work.
Main duties
- Research, write, and review med ed and communications materials to the highest scientific and grammatical standards, including manuscripts, abstracts, posters, presentations, print items, and multimedia.
- Ensure accurate interpretation and incorporation of amendments from NexGen staff, clients, KOLs, and other stakeholders.
- Maintain in-depth knowledge of therapy areas, markets, audiences, and key messages; contribute to strategic communication plans and monitor relevant media/pharma developments.
- Assist managers by forecasting workload/resources, and brief/review freelance writers to ensure smooth workflow and timely delivery.
- Ensure adherence to agency processes, regulatory, and compliance guidelines; coach junior staff accordingly.
- Attend congresses or client meetings as team lead or independently; provide medical writing or client support and debrief teams afterward.
- Collaborate with client services to maximise organic growth within existing accounts.
- Contribute creative med ed and communication concepts for business development and ongoing programmes.
- Support new business activities, including pitch presentations showcasing agency expertise.
- Act as senior scientific services contact for specified accounts; liaise with clients, healthcare professionals, and external bodies, leading client & KOL meetings to develop scientific content.
- Assist PMW and STLs to ensure timely project delivery.
- Check and sign off final materials for print/production.
- Provide guidance on scientific direction and creative design input.
- Advise on budget and schedule development, maintaining awareness of required writing hours and overall budget.
- Coach and develop junior writers; review and QC projects to ensure consistent quality.
- Support recruitment of scientific services staff, including CV screening, writing tests, interviews, and decision-making.
Key result areas
- Delivery of high-quality med ed and communication projects that meet specifications, deadlines, and budgets.
- Drive clear, proactive communication across teams to ensure timely action on projects, opportunities, and ideas.
- Ensure adherence to healthcare compliance laws, guidelines, and agency/client SOPs.
- Quality assurance of content produced by scientific services staff.
- Coaching, ongoing development, and line management of junior staff.
Skills and knowledge required
- Degree or higher in biomedical science.
- Several years' med comms agency experience with strong teamwork.
- Desirable: Previous managerial experience.
- Excellent attention to detail, grammar, and syntax.
- Strong project management, organisational skills, and commercial awareness.
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills; able to work under pressure.
- Proficient in MS PowerPoint and Word.
- Solid understanding of drug development processes and US/EU regulations.
- High-quality scientific writing; able to adapt content for different audiences.
- Ability to coach junior writers, review content, and provide constructive feedback.
- Willingness to travel (UK/international) for NexGen or client meetings.