Principal Medical Writer

Key roles and responsibilities

Take accountability for the successful delivery of individual projects, including management of (but not necessarily development of) budgets, timelines, and other ‘non-editorial’ aspects.

• What does this mean?
• A PMW has the experience and capability to be held accountable for the end-to-end management of individual projects from kick-off call (or earlier) to completion.
• This includes (but is not limited to) ensuring that: content is of the highest quality; timelines and budgets are met; writer resourcing for the project is managed (by the PMW directly or with support from the account lead/other senior team members); and other project resourcing (e.g. editors, designers, database managers) is managed (usually directly by the PMW).
• A PMW requires minimal support from the account lead or other senior team members during the management of individual projects.

Take responsibility for the independent management of individual or collections of projects, including management of (but not necessarily development of) budgets, timelines, and other ‘non- editorial’ aspects, with support, if needed, from an account lead/other senior team members.

• What does this mean?
• A PMW takes responsibility for: ensuring content is of the highest quality (either through reviewing other writers’ work, or by arranging senior review of their own work); assessing and monitoring resource needs for individual or collections of projects (including proactive and early flagging of any writer resourcing challenges, and assessing and early booking of any other necessary resource (e.g. editors, designers, database managers)); monitoring and adhering to timelines; and monitoring, tracking, and reconciling budgets, including the appropriate management of out-of-scope work.
• Note: Managing out-of-scope work involves remaining mindful of the agreed scope of work, e.g., proactively considering the agreed scope when comments are received or when clients/authors request additional work. Possible out-of-scope work should be flagged to the client wherever possible, and an increased budget should be agreed before further work is undertaken.

Be accountable for developing high-quality written content in line with provided briefs, with limited support from more senior team members.

• What does this mean?
• Written and visual content developed by a PMW should be consistently ‘client-ready’ without the need for extensive review and amendment. A PMW should resolve any queries that arise about the direction/content of the deliverable early in the process, enabling them to produce a completed draft for review by an internal senior reviewer, and then the client.
• A PMW is accountable for adhering to timelines for each deliverable they produce. It is the responsibility of the PMW to monitor timelines and deal with any issues that may arise, putting in place measures to ensure that timelines are met, or adjusted accordingly (as long as client needs are still met). A PMW should not send an unfinished deliverable to a more senior team member for review or completion, unless this was agreed well in advance.
• A PMW is accountable for ensuring that our editorial processes are followed and scheduled (e.g., ensuring that time is allowed, and resource booked, for data checks and editing).
• A PMW is able to work in a variety of therapy areas and across numerous types of deliverables.
• A PMW has the experience and ‘know how’ to deliver high-quality work even if a therapy area or project type is unfamiliar and/or complex. More senior members of the team should have confidence that a PMW can take on any project with little support and ‘run with it’.
• A PMW should be able to pick up projects part-way through, or extensively review and correct drafts provided by more junior members of the team or freelancers, with little or no additional support from more senior team members.

Provide in-house or freelance writers and other specialists with comprehensive and easy-to- understand briefs for individual projects.

• What does this mean?
• A PMW is responsible for developing comprehensive briefs for in-house or freelance writers, editors, designers, database managers, etc., and for ensuring that these individuals understand what needs to be done and when, answering any questions in a timely manner.
• A PMW takes accountability for ensuring writers adhere to agreed timelines and, if needed, provides reminders to ensure the deliverable is returned in time for internal review.
• When a PMW books and/or works with a freelancer, they are responsible for (1) completing all freelance trackers/the freelance Toggl timesheet promptly (when briefing the freelancer and after the freelancer has returned their work (including scoring the freelancer’s work)); and (2) flagging to their account lead (and/or a member of the business unit management team) as early as possible if they are not able to use a freelancer’s booked time. If a junior team member works with a freelancer on the instruction of a PMW, it is the latter’s responsibility to ensure these tasks are completed.

Review and edit work delivered by in-house or freelance writers so that each deliverable provided to our clients is of the highest standard.

• What does this mean?
• A PMW is responsible for ensuring that the quality of work produced by an in-house writer or freelancer and reviewed by the PMW is of high quality. As necessary, a PMW will review, edit, redraft content, and provide feedback to the writer.
• When a PMW reviews work by an in-house writer, they are responsible for providing polite, constructive feedback. If necessary, and if time permits, they should talk through their feedback with the writer to help with their development.
• When the work is complete and has been reviewed, a PMW should provide fair and accurate feedback on the freelancer for the rest of the team, using the rating scale on the PO spreadsheet. Where the quality of work of a freelancer falls below acceptable standards, a PMW is responsible for informing the company management team or their business unit management team.
• A PMW is accountable for project timelines, ensuring that sufficient time is allowed to thoroughly review the work of the in-house writer or freelancer, including following all editorial procedures (e.g., data check and edit), so that it is ‘client ready’.
  • For in-house writers, this will involve allowing sufficient time for the writer to incorporate comments and for the PMW to re-review.

Independently prepare for, lead, and summarise client calls relating to individual or collections of projects, pulling in support from other team members to develop content for or deliver presentations at the call, if necessary.

Take full responsibility for monitoring and managing own workload, and actively support the account lead with the management of workload and workflow on the account.

• What does this mean?
• A PMW is able to monitor workload on individual and groups of projects that they are responsible for, and arrange resource where necessary, well ahead of time.
• They are aware of on-going and upcoming projects on an account, identifying resourcing needs and actively supporting the account lead with workload management and workflow.
• Where a PMW identifies that they, or a more junior member of the team may have capacity or may be overloaded, a PMW would actively find solutions (rather than simply flagging to the account lead). Solutions may include checking for freelancer availability in the freelance booking spreadsheet and redeployment of team resource (across the projects the PMW is responsible for) if workload/project timelines permit. This may be through discussion with the account lead (particularly on a larger account) but should not be passive (‘being told what to do’).

Working with other senior account team members, help to establish and grow working relationships with each client, such that our reputation within the client company is established/enhanced.

Take on line-management responsibilities, if needed by the company.

• Where line-management responsibility is taken, a PMW is able to provide expert guidance so that line reports fulfil their roles and responsibilities for the company and are fully supported in their continuing professional development.
• As a line manager, a PMW takes responsibility for upholding and championing the team’s values with their line reports.

Provide support and mentorship for more junior team members or new team members, as needed.

• What does this mean?
• Support and mentorship could take the form of reviewing work, informal guidance on work or communication, ad hoc support, and/or guiding others on how to act in accordance with the team’s values.
• Encouraging other team members to make their work the best it can be, and to foster an attitude that is fair, kind, and supportive.

With support from more senior team members as necessary, identify and suggest organic growth opportunities within your client account.

Contribute to the growth of the team by participating in new business activities with existing clients and potential new clients, as required.

Actively engage with key company-wide initiatives and encourage and support others to participate.

• What does this mean?
• A PMW actively engages with company-wide initiatives and encourages others to participate, by interacting in groups or discussions and talking about the initiative with other team members outside of organised calls and meetings. They would put forward ideas and discuss the ideas of others, respond to calls for opinions, vote where requested, etc.

Follow, and encourage and support others within your account team, to follow company procedures with respect to administrative and project-related tasks. To include, but not limited to, daily completion of Toggl timesheets, adherence to editorial procedures, timely completion of the freelance booking and purchase order spreadsheets (including scoring freelancers’ work), the Toggl freelance timesheet, and Dropbox housekeeping.

Liaise with clients, healthcare professionals, contractors, and any other relevant third parties in a professional, courteous, and efficient manner. Support and encourage more junior and new team members to liaise with third parties in a similar manner.

Keep up to date with relevant industry guidelines including, but not limited to, Good Publication Practice and International Committee of Medical Journal Editors Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals. Within your account or the wider company, encourage others to keep up to date with guidelines through regular discussions in account meetings, in one-to-ones and when supporting other team members with projects, as appropriate.

During your day-to-day work and internal and external interactions, champion adherence to the team’s Values. Where you notice others not adhering to our values, act on this by discussing with the team member(s) in question or raise with a more senior member of the team.

What is the difference between responsibility and accountability?

(adapted from scienceofpeople.com)

If you are in charge of the outcome of a project, you are accountable for it (i.e., the buck stops with you!).

If you are working on a project and developing the content, then you are responsible for it (i.e., doing the work to the best of your ability).

Here are some examples of the difference between responsibility and accountability:

Read more at: https://www.scienceofpeople.com/accountability-vs-responsibility/