Remember when you actually got to write?

If you’ve worked your way into a senior role and quietly noticed that the writing — the part you’re best at, the part you got into this for — keeps getting crowded out by everything else, then read on.

We’re growing the team within our Agency Support vertical — the part of Word Monster that provides medical writing services to medical communications agencies and pharmaceutical company clients — and we’re looking for a Principal Medical Writer who wants their hands back on the page. This is a writing-led role at its core: real briefs, real variety, real science — with the room to lead, mentor and shape how we work as we build the team out.

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. Standard hours are 09:00–17:30 (UK), with real flexibility around them as long as client needs and deadlines are met. We trust our people to manage their workload like the grown-ups they are.

We call it writing with bite. You’ll see why.

The role

As Principal Medical Writer, you’ll sit within our Agency Support vertical — providing high-quality medical writing services to medical communications agencies and pharmaceutical company clients. You’ll be a scientific lead across accounts, producing scientifically accurate content and setting the standard for the writers around you. This role carries a significant tilt towards quality control as well as writing: alongside your own work, you’ll review and QC content to a consistently high bar, and manage the work of a pool of experienced freelance writers — briefing them, coordinating output and holding it to account so clients get a seamless result every time.

The work spans the full medcomms and promotional mix — medical affairs, medical education, events, and commercial/promotional materials — across a wide range of therapy areas. If you like variety and getting your teeth into new TAs, you’ll be well fed here. Expect timed bookings running from a month to three-months-plus, embedding with our clients’ teams — medical writing teams, account handlers, project teams and writing leads on the agency side, and medical and brand teams on the pharma side.

A typical week looks like morning briefs (with or without a call), proper protected writing time, briefing work back to clients, and onto the next one — wrapped around weekly internal WIPs, all-team catch-ups, wellbeing check-ins and the odd coffee break.

What you’ll be doing

Leading on scientifically accurate, on-brief content across formats — from publications and congress materials to med ed, digital and strategic communications

Owning quality control — reviewing and editing content from the team and our freelance writers, giving clear, constructive feedback and holding everything to a consistently high standard

Managing and getting the best from a pool of experienced freelance writers — briefing, coordinating and quality-checking their work so clients get a seamless, high-quality result

Acting as a trusted partner to client teams: taking briefs, presenting work, and building the kind of relationships that extend projects and win new bookings

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

Delivering to deadline and budget, with honest, open communication when challenges crop up

What good looks like

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

At 3 months — you’re independently delivering high-quality work that clients are happy with, and reviewing and QC-ing content to a consistently high standard

At 6 months — you’ve built client relationships that are extending and winning work, and you’re confidently briefing and managing our freelance writers to deliver seamless output

At 12 months — you’re holding the quality bar across the team and our trusted freelancers, with a happy client base booking us out in advance

What you’ll bring

Essential:

6+ years’ relevant experience, with high-level medical writing skill and accountability — demonstrable in a Principal-level writing role, or as an experienced Senior Medical Writer ready to step up

A track record in an agency setting, working across a variety of briefs and therapy areas

Strong client skills — growing accounts and building lasting relationships

A strong eye for quality — proven experience reviewing, editing and QC-ing content, and holding others to account for the standard of their work

Experience briefing and managing writers, ideally including freelancers, to deliver consistent, high-quality output

Excellent knowledge of pharma regulation and the ABPI code

Nice to have:

Formal line-management experience

Breadth across a wide range of therapy areas and project types

A life sciences PhD (preferred, not a dealbreaker)

The honest bit

If you’re coming from client-side or pure project work, the biggest adjustment will be the rhythm of agency life — the variety, the pace, juggling multiple briefs and teams at once. We’re upfront about that because we’d rather find someone who’s energised by it than someone caught off guard. You’ll have a full week of structured onboarding, mentoring through your first three months, regular line-manager check-ins and training resources to get you up to speed on our ways of working, our clients and the wider Monster crew.

What’s in it for you

Salary of £55,000–£65,000 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.

Principal Medical Writer

This is a writing-led role at its core: real briefs, real variety, real science — with the room to lead, mentor and shape how we work as we build the team out.