JOB DESCRIPTION
IQVIA™ Medical Communications (IMC) is seeking a Lead Medical Writer to join our team. The ideal candidate will have 5+ years of experience developing medical and scientific content, with proven ability to drive excellence in medical writing, and a desire to expand on leadership skills for potential future line management opportunities.
Who We Are
IQVIA™ is a global leader in bringing together data, technology, advanced analytics, and human science expertise to help the healthcare industry make better decisions, and ultimately improve patient outcomes. Thanks to our unique position within IQVIA™, the Medical Communications division provides offerings that extend well beyond those of a traditional agency to support this mission.
Our tightly knit team includes practice area leads, strategists, project and event managers, operations specialists, plus content and design professionals. Together, we create fit-for-purpose communication strategies and deliverables across the full product lifecycle from clinical development through approval and post-launch. Incorporating the latest research in adult learning and behavioral science enables us to effectively engage diverse audiences to effect change.
We are a highly collaborative and intellectually curious group of people located in 12 countries across 4 continents. We are continually pushing each other to improve our solutions, drawing on our unique blend of backgrounds and experience.
The Lead Medical Writer Position
This position is home-based with frequent collaboration across a globally distributed team. IQVIA™ offers a competitive salary and great benefits, including a profit-related annual bonus.
Key Responsibilities
As a key member of our Content Development Team, you will be responsible for producing a variety of medical communications deliverables to a high standard, by carrying out the following activities:
1. Independently provide consistent and high-quality writing for assigned projects (including complex or unusual projects) in accordance with the needs and objectives of the client, compliance requirements, intended audience, and delivery format.
Writing should be grammatically correct, consistent, accurate, and appropriately adapted to audience.
2. As Lead Writer, coordinate consistent and quality delivery:
Lead meetings with relevant stakeholders.
Identify and coordinate required medical writing resources and content outputs, supplementing information/insights and briefing staff where needed.
Monitor and validate appropriateness of scheduled tasks, liaising with project manager for plan adjustments, and communicating with team members to ensure on-time delivery within scope.
Perform quality control reviews with excellent attention to detail.
Ensure compliance, accuracy and interpretation, messaging, structure/flow, and effectiveness for audience.
Coach and mentor writers to improve quality when appropriate.
Resolve any conflicts in a professional manner.
3. Provide counsel as communications and/or scientific/therapeutic subject matter expert (SME), where appropriate.
4. Grow our accounts:
Identify innovative ideas for active projects plus RFPs and participate in the creation of proposals/pitches as needed.
Help to develop project specifications and cost estimates.
5. Welcome feedback and look to continually improve deliverables within scope.
6. Adhere to company standard operating procedures (SOPs) and industry guidelines.
7. Actively participate in an environment of continuous improvement.
8. Travel to local or international face-to-face client meetings, congresses, or other meeting types, if needed (up to 10% of contracted hours per year).
Qualifications
9. Bachelor's degree in life sciences; advanced degree in scientific or medical discipline (MS, MD, PharmD, PhD) preferred; relevant certifications (e.g., CMPP for scientific services) preferred.
10. 5+ years of writing experience across a wide variety of medical communications deliverables for a range of audiences, preferably in an agency environment.
11. Experience in and/or desire for people and business leadership to grow a developing team of writers in time.
12. Native English speaker or bilingual/proficient level of academic English.
13. Passion for quality assurance and communicating to a breadth of audiences, plus pride for your work.
14. Proven mentorship and project leadership skills; ability to monitor outputs from a team of writers and editors, ensuring quality, compliance, appropriateness, and profitability while meeting deadlines.
15. Strong communication/interpersonal skills and ability to work respectfully and harmoniously as a leader in a cross-functional team.
16. First-class content development skills in PowerPoint and Word.
17. Excellent scientific and clinical information interpretation skills, plus research and writing skills, to a standard appropriate for QC sign-off.
18. Exemplary understanding of applicable current industry code of practice guidelines and their implications, plus publication requirements, congress activities, and MLR processes.
19. Demonstrable expertise across therapy areas and knowledge of the healthcare/medical communications industry.
20. Understanding of instructional design and adult learning principles/behavioral science.
IQVIA is a leading global provider of clinical research services, commercial insights and healthcare intelligence to the life sciences and healthcare industries. We create intelligent connections to accelerate the development and commercialization of innovative medical treatments to help improve patient outcomes and population health worldwide. Learn more at