Associate Scientific Director

Virgo Health US; New York (NY); On-site; USD 95,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Virgo Health US is seeking an Associate Scientific Director to own and produce high-quality educational materials for pharma clients and educational bodies. You will lead medical writing efforts, ensure scientific accuracy, and align materials with client objectives and budgets.

You will also guide junior writers, develop therapy-area expertise, and engage key thought leaders to support projects and on-site activities. This role offers growth in a dynamic medical education agency.

Qualifications

• Educated to degree level in biomedical science.
• Excellent scientific writing with audience adaptation.
• Attention to detail and QC of documents.
• Ability to manage workload and meet budgets.
• Knowledge of drug development and regulatory guidelines.
• Experience in medical education materials.

Responsibilities

• Write copy to a high scientific standard for educational materials across formats and audiences.
• Develop, implement, and manage medical education materials aligned with client objectives, budgets, and timelines.
• Take briefs from clients and act as a senior lead for projects.
• Review the work of junior writers and provide feedback to maintain high standards.
• Build in-depth knowledge of therapy areas relevant to accounts and communicate product data clearly.
• Interact with pharmaceutical clients and thought leaders as the project contact.
• Provide on-site support for data gathering and on-site writing when needed.
• Contribute to organic growth and new business proposals when appropriate.
• Brief freelance writers as necessary and manage through the creative team.

Skills

Scientific writing

Medical education

Time management

Client liaison

Team leadership

QC sign-off

Budget awareness

Pharma knowledge

Education

Biomedical science degree

Tools

SAP

Job description

Virgo Health works for pharmaceutical, biotech, and device companies to inform and educate healthcare professionals about the latest developments in clinical research and therapeutic approaches. We leverage our meetings, digital, and interactive expertise to understand what’s easy and relevant for healthcare professionals to engage with. We tailor our content and design it to offer choice and active participation. Real, relevant, and human.

About the Role

As part of the Virgo New York team, the associate scientific director (ASD) will take ownership of and produce high-quality educational materials for the pharmaceutical industry and other educational bodies to enhance understanding of the disease area/product, with the main aim of helping clients to communicate their educational objectives.

Responsibilities

Writing

• Write copy to the highest standard (quality and scientific) for a range of educational materials including development of oral presentations, publications, print items, and digital platforms, and for different audiences.
• Develop, implement, and manage the delivery of medical education and communications materials that are aligned with client objectives and specifications and meet budgetary and schedule requirements.

Client Activity

• Take and correctly implement briefs from the client or client services team.
• Act as a senior lead to clients and thought leaders for specified projects/accounts.
• Review work of more junior writers and provide feedback to ensure medical writing standards are consistently achieved.
• Develop and maintain in-depth knowledge of therapy areas relevant to own accounts, including product data and educational messaging, terminology, and competitor awareness.
• Accurately interpret client/author comments and precisely apply feedback.
• Liaise professionally with pharmaceutical clients and key thought leaders to discuss scientific aspects of the project and act as the point of contact for both clients and key thought leaders on specified projects.
• Provide on-site support as appropriate, eg, data gathering, on-site writing, thought leader support.
• Contribute to the organic growth of accounts and development of new business proposals where appropriate.

Team Working

• Brief freelancers as necessary.
• Work with editorial assistant (or account executive) to manage materials through creative team.
• Assist manager by proactively managing workload and forecast resource requirements to ensure adequate coverage to meet clients’ needs.
• Ensure effective communication with internal team to ensure timely discussion of issues that may have an impact on Virgo’s ability to deliver high-quality work on budget.

Knowledge

• Develop and maintain in-depth knowledge of therapy areas relevant to own accounts, including product data and educational messaging, terminology, and competitor awareness.
• Build knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry and health arena.
• Keep updated on new developments within medical writing arena and other med ed agency activity.
• Use understanding of the pharma health environment, applying knowledge toward the implementation and development of client and new business programs.
• Keep updated on the relevant regulatory codes and legislation.

Other

• Accurately input hours worked into timesheets on to SAP.

Qualifications

• Educated to degree level (or preferably higher) in a biomedical science.

Required Skills

• Excellent scientific writing style with skills to adapt content and style to different audience groups.
• Excellent attention to detail: style/consistency, good grammar, scientific accuracy, and experience in QCing work and sign-off of printer proofs.
• Experience in developing in-depth knowledge of therapeutic areas/medical products.
• Excellent time management skills and demonstrated ability to forecast and manage workload.
• Flexible approach to working, with the ability to reprioritize and work under pressure when needed.
• Ability to review work, coach, and provide feedback to team members.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including client/key thought leader presentation skills.
• Knowledge of print/production procedures.
• Budgetary awareness and experience of estimating scientific hours to input into budgets.
• Understanding of drug development and compliance guidelines for medical writing.

Preferred Skills

• 1-3 years of experience at a healthcare communications agency.

Pay range and compensation package

95-130k

Equal Opportunity Statement

We are committed to diversity and inclusivity in our hiring practices.