| Detail | For this role |
|---|---|
| Department | Pharma |
| Level | Mid level |
| Reports to | Medical Affairs Manager |
| Direct reports | None |
| Experience | 3 to 6 years in medical or scientific writing |
Medical Writer job description template
Copy this job description, replace the text in square brackets and post it on your careers page or a job portal.
Job title: Medical Writer
Department: Pharma
Reports to: Medical Affairs Manager
Location: [City], [office, branch or site]
About the role
A Medical Writer produces the clinical, regulatory and scientific documents a pharmaceutical company needs, from study protocols and clinical study reports to manuscripts, patient material and promotional content. They turn complex data and science into clear, accurate, well-structured writing that meets guidelines. The role sits in medical affairs, clinical or regulatory teams. A good one writes documents that are scientifically accurate, well-referenced and compliant, delivers them on tight timelines, and makes difficult data readable for the intended audience, whether a regulator, a doctor or a patient.
Key responsibilities
- Write clinical and regulatory documents such as protocols, study reports and summaries.
- Write scientific manuscripts, abstracts and posters for journals and conference publication.
- Prepare medical and promotional content that is accurate and well-referenced.
- Turn complex clinical data and statistics into clear, structured writing.
- Follow document templates, style guides and regulatory writing standards.
- Check all content against sources and reference it correctly.
- Work with clinical, statistics, regulatory and medical teams on document content.
- Manage document reviews, comments and versions to final approval.
- Meet document timelines for regulatory submissions and journal publications without slipping.
- Keep writing compliant with good publication and regulatory practice.
Requirements
- Degree in life sciences, pharmacy or medicine
- Strong scientific writing samples
- Knowledge of clinical and regulatory writing standards
- 3 to 6 years in medical or scientific writing
KRAs and KPIs for a Medical Writer
Key result areas for the appraisal form, each with a KPI you can measure every month or quarter.
| Key result area | How to measure it |
|---|---|
| Document quality | Documents accurate, well-structured and referenced, needing minimal rework |
| On time delivery | Documents delivered by submission or publication deadlines |
| Accuracy | Content matches source data, with no factual or referencing errors |
| Compliance | Writing follows regulatory and publication standards, with no compliance issues |
| Review efficiency | Review cycles managed so documents reach final approval on time |
| Clarity | Complex data made clear for the intended audience, per reviewer feedback |
Skills and tools
Tools used day to day: MS Word, Reference managers, Literature databases, Style guides, Document management systems.
Reporting line and career path
Next roles: Senior Medical Writer, Medical Writing Lead
Interview questions for a Medical Writer
- How do you turn a set of clinical trial results into a clear study report?
- How do you keep a document accurate and correctly referenced?
- How do you write the same science for a regulator versus a patient?
- How do you manage many reviewers' comments to a final document?
- How do you meet a tight submission deadline without losing accuracy?
- What regulatory or publication standards do you follow in your writing?
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What does a medical writer do?
A medical writer produces the clinical, regulatory and scientific documents a pharma company needs: study protocols, clinical study reports, manuscripts, patient material and promotional content. They turn complex data and science into clear, accurate, well-referenced writing that meets guidelines, and deliver it on tight timelines for regulators, doctors or patients.
What qualifications do you need to be a medical writer?
Most medical writers hold a degree in life sciences, pharmacy or medicine, plus strong scientific writing skills and a portfolio of documents. Knowledge of clinical and regulatory writing standards and the ability to interpret data are essential. Attention to detail and referencing matter, since accuracy is central to every document they produce.
What is the difference between medical writing and content writing?
Medical writing produces scientific and regulatory documents that must be accurate, referenced and compliant, such as study reports and manuscripts, usually by someone with a science background. Content writing produces marketing content like blogs and web pages. Medical writing is technical and evidence-bound; content writing is broader and persuasion-focused.