Senior Medical Writer - Publications

If you can turn a dense dataset into a defensible, publication-ready story, and you like the idea of doing that inside a function that's just getting off the ground, then read on.

Who we are

Word Monster is an agency with a difference — one on a mission to transform healthcare communications worldwide, built on a core of scientific excellence and an award-winning, life-first culture. Our proprietary frameworks and our Friction in Pharma® philosophy underpin a genuinely different approach to medcomms: evidence-based, sharp, and built around what our pharma, research, tech and charity clients actually need.

The role

You'll report to our Associate Scientific Director and manage your own portfolio of publication projects (manuscripts, abstracts and posters) end to end, from planning through to submission. Dermatology, including aesthetics dermatology, and rare disease are the areas most in focus right now, though a broad therapy area background is genuinely useful. Where the publications pipeline is lighter, you'll flex into wider medical affairs and med ed work.

What you'll be doing

• Managing publication projects independently end to end, including manuscripts, abstracts and posters, while keeping the team and stakeholders proactively informed

• Contributing meaningfully to publication planning, flagging timelines and data considerations early

• Building strong working relationships with authors, cross-functional stakeholders and peers on the publications team

• Applying GPP3 and ICMJE requirements confidently and without oversight as you establish yourself

• Proactively flagging data gaps, timeline risks and authorship issues to the team

• Writing across the wider medcomms and medical affairs mix when the publications pipeline needs it

• Mentoring junior writers and reviewing their work as you become established in the role

• Keeping everything squarely within ABPI and local codes of practice, flagging concerns early and proposing solutions

What good looks like

We've thought about this, so you're not walking in blind:

• At 3 months — you're independently managing your assigned publication projects end to end, keeping the team and stakeholders proactively informed, and starting to contribute meaningfully to publication planning

• At 6 months — you're leading publications for a programme or asset area with minimal supervision, managing timelines and interdependencies across multiple projects confidently, and applying GPP3/ICMJE requirements without oversight

• At 12 months — you're mentoring junior writers or reviewing their work, recognised by stakeholders as the go-to writer for your therapeutic area, and providing strategic insights and valued contributions to publication planning

What you'll bring

Essential:

• Proven medical communications agency writing experience – you’ll be an experienced Medical Writer/Senior Medical Writer ready for the next big step in their career

• Prior agency experience and extensive publications experience

• A life sciences PhD

• Genuine comfort with complex data and analyses, understanding the science inside out, not just how to summarise it

• A collaborative, team-first way of working, happy to ask for input rather than work in isolation

Nice to have:

• CMPP accreditation

• Good working knowledge of compliance and best practice around publications

• Breadth across therapy areas beyond dermatology and rare disease

The honest bit

Because Publications is a growing function rather than an established one, the workload can ebb and flow. Not every pipeline is fully secured yet, so there'll be periods where you flex into adjacent medical affairs or content work while our dermatology and rare disease accounts build. This suits someone genuinely comfortable with a bit of ambiguity and energised by variety, rather than someone who wants a fixed, high-volume queue from day one.

We're upfront about that because we'd rather find someone who enjoys helping shape a service than someone caught off guard by the shape it's still finding. You'll have lots of direct, hands-on support from our Publications Lead, with regular check-ins, especially in the first three months, to get you up to speed on context, stakeholders and ways of working.

What's in it for you

• Salary of £45,000–£55,000 per annum

• Annual company performance bonus (one pot, shared equally across the whole team)

• Share options — we're all in this together

• Company-paid private health insurance with Vitality (fully covered by us)

• Pension (we contribute 3% if you join the scheme; you contribute 5%)

• Individual and team training / self-development budget

• Enhanced parental leave (full pay — 12 weeks maternity / 4 weeks paternity)

• 25 days' holiday (3 saved for the Christmas–New Year shutdown), plus UK bank holidays

• Your birthday off — so that's 26 (day in lieu if it lands on a weekend)

• An extra day's holiday after 2+ years, building up to 5 additional days over time

• Buy up to 5 more holiday days if you want them

• Optional UK “working together” days, with a contribution to travel

• A quarterly wellbeing perk, because you've earned it

• Financial coaching with Octopus MoneyCoach

• Your own personalised monster character (naturally)

The process

There's a take-home medical writing/editing exercise as part of the process — your chance to show us how you think and write.

We can accommodate notice periods of up to three months, so don't let your current notice put you off applying.

Sound like you? We'd love to hear from you. Apply with your CV and a quick note on why this one caught your eye — and help us keep writing with bite.

Word Monster is an inclusive employer. We lead with fairness, kindness and respect, and we welcome applications from people of all backgrounds.

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