Principal Medical Writer - Medical Communications

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.

We’re remote-first, which means you work from anywhere, design your own setup and manage your own schedule — staying connected through our virtual 2D office, regular socials, and in-person get-togethers like our annual Monster Mash retreat.

The role

You’ll sit within our Med Comms vertical, working a single dedicated account for a major global healthcare company spanning pharmaceuticals and medical diagnostics — with the opportunity to support other account teams as needed. The work centres on the client’s product development group: clinical trial materials for both healthcare professionals and patients, alongside medical education slide decks and training materials. Most of your week is protected writing time, built around a daily internal stand-up, ongoing work with the account manager on incoming briefs, and client kick-off and status calls as projects require.

You’ll report to Laura Laul, our Associate Scientific Director, working alongside a Senior Medical Writer already embedded on the account, with a monthly growth session across the wider vertical.

This is a full-time, permanent, remote role (37.5 hours per week) with flexibility built in — designed for an experienced medical writer who wants ownership of real client work without the account resting on them alone.

What you’ll be doing

• Writing clear, accurate content across medical education and medical affairs deliverables — slide decks, training materials, scientific platforms, plain language summaries, infographics and patient-facing materials — for both healthcare professional and lay audiences

• Delivering clinical trial materials such as patient information brochures, visit guides, retention materials and thank you letters, working accurately from protocols and source documents

• Interrogating briefs that are often light on detail — going back with the right questions rather than filling gaps with assumptions

• Joining client calls and status meetings as a named team member, and handling day-to-day client queries directly

• Reviewing and editing content from in-house and freelance writers, giving timely, constructive feedback

• Getting across new therapy areas quickly and working accurately

• Get up to speed and be confident working within local codes of practice, such as PAAB and ABPI

• Spotting and helping shape organic growth opportunities within the account as you settle in

What good looks like

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

• At 3 months — you’re fully embedded on the account, writing across the full range of deliverables to a standard that needs editorial QC rather than scientific rework, confident on the therapy area and ABPI requirements, joining client calls as a named team member and picking up day-to-day queries directly

• At 6 months — you’re owning workstreams end to end without oversight from the Associate Scientific Director, holding timelines and budgets, trusted as the scientific voice in client conversations, and starting to spot growth opportunities and shape scopes and proposals

• At 12 months — you’re a genuine second senior pair of hands on the account, with the Associate Scientific Director in a strategic oversight role rather than a delivery one, demonstrably contributing to account growth

What you’ll bring

• Proven experience as a senior or principal medical writer in an agency setting, producing high-quality scientific and creative copy with minimal support

• A life sciences undergraduate degree

• Demonstrable experience writing for both healthcare professionals and patients or the public, switching confidently between the two registers

• Experience with medical affairs and medical education deliverables — slide decks, training materials, scientific platforms, plain language summaries, infographics and patient-facing materials (publications experience not required)

• Confidence leading and contributing to client calls, and acting as an extension of the client’s account team

• Working knowledge of ABPI and other relevant codes, with the judgement to flag concerns and propose compliant solutions

• Experience reviewing and editing copy from in-house or freelance writers, with timely, constructive feedback

• A life sciences PhD

• Clinical trial materials experience — patient information brochures, visit guides, retention materials, thank you letters, or equivalent experience working from protocols, investigator brochures and informed consent forms

• Comfort getting across a new indication quickly with no specific therapy area specialism required

• Formal line management experience — this can be developed in role

• Business development exposure — proposals, scoping, pitches or identifying organic growth opportunities within an existing account

• Experience of a single dedicated account, rather than breadth across many clients

• Experience in a small or scaling agency, comfortable with an entrepreneurial environment and evolving processes

The honest bit

Fully remote is a real adjustment if you haven’t worked this way before — there’s no ambient office learning or tapping someone on the shoulder, so it takes someone self-motivated and comfortable asking for what they need. This role also needs someone who’s genuinely comfortable interrogating a brief — asking the right questions up front rather than filling gaps with assumptions — and proactive about chasing down what they need and keeping the internal team in the loop as they go. We’re upfront about this because we’d rather find someone who’s energised by working this way than someone who’d rather have everything handed to them. You’ll be fully onboarded with established materials and templates, working alongside an experienced writer already on the account, with support from the Associate Scientific Director, the account manager, and a buddy — a fellow Senior Medical Writer. Nobody is thrown in at the deep end.

What’s in it for you

• Salary of £55,000–£65,000 per annum, dependent on experience

• 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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