Lead Scientific Writer - Medical and Scientific Content

Scientific Writing Lead, NS, CRM or Immu

Job Description Summary

The Scientific Writing Lead is accountable for leading a team of scientific writers and ensuring the high‑quality, on time execution of scientific and medical content for the assigned TA. The role ensures deliverables are scientifically accurate, clear, consistent, and compliant, and aligned with TA medical strategy, and overarching scientific narrative for the brand.
As a people leader, the Scientific Writing Lead sets direction, prioritizes deliverables, allocates resources, and coaches writers to deliver against agreed timelines and quality expectations. The role establishes and reinforces standardized ways of working, templates, and quality controls across the end‑to‑end content lifecycle (intake, authoring, review, approval, distribution, and updates) and ensures content is developed in accordance with agreed frameworks and standards (e.g., IMEx and related medical content principles) to enable consistency, reuse, and effective field and stakeholder engagement.
Working closely with other Scientific Writing Leads and partners across IMACE, IMA, GMA, and cross‑functional teams, the Scientific Writing Lead contributes to continuous improvement of content strategy and governance, driving harmonization across and within TAs and markets and strengthening overall scientific writing excellence.

"You are applying to be part of the Novartis Talent Pool. We are not currently recruiting for this role, but we are building a pipeline for future opportunities. If you would like to be considered for a similar position in future, then please submit your CV."

Job Description

Scientific Writing Lead

Location – Hyderabad #LI Hybrid  

Major Responsibilities:

• Leadership & Team Management

Lead, coach, and develop Scientific Writers across locations by ensuring robust onboarding, continuous capability growth, and performance support. Build and sustain a high‑performance culture grounded in scientific excellence, curiosity, ownership, accountability, and results orientation. Foster collaboration, psychological safety, trust, and customer‑centricity while driving innovation, agility, operational excellence, and continuous improvement across the team.

Oversee project planning, resource coordination, prioritization, and timelines to ensure consistent, timely, high‑quality content delivery, while upholding content standards and enabling best‑practice sharing across the team.

Manage recruitment, performance, and talent development to build critical capabilities and a strong, future‑ready talent pipeline. Coach and mentor team members on scientific rigor, strategic thinking, communication impact, and stakeholder engagement. Role‑model Novartis Leadership Expectations by inspiring high performance and transformation, demonstrating self‑awareness and a growth mindset, and promoting inclusivity, collaboration, and psychological safety.

• Scientific Content Development

Lead the creation of high‑quality scientific content (e.g., slide decks, symposia materials, Ad Board outputs, training content) aligned with TA strategy.

Ensure scientific accuracy, messaging consistency, evidence‑based referencing, and clarity across all deliverables.

Conduct scientific reviews, guide data interpretation, and translate complex scientific information into clear, audience‑appropriate communication.

• Cross‑Functional Collaboration

Partner with cross‑functional stakeholders to clarify scientific priorities, refine key messages, and ensure content meets strategic needs.

Improve content formats, delivery approaches, and user experience across channels.

• Quality, Standards & Compliance

Oversee QC, proofreading, compliance with SOPs/GPP/industry standards, and ensure audit‑ready documentation and governance.

Minimum Requirements: 

• Education and Experience: Minimum BSc with 10+ years relevant experience, Preferred Advanced degree (PhD/Postdoc/MD) with 5+ years of relevant experience.
• Extensive experience developing scientific or medical content within pharmaceutical, biotech, or healthcare communications environments.
• Over 2 years of experience in at least one therapeutic area: Oncology, Cardiovascular, Renal, Neuroscience, or Immunology.
• Proven ability to interpret, synthesize, and communicate complex scientific and clinical data with high scientific rigor.
• Strong experience working in global, matrixed, cross‑functional teams (Medical Affairs, Clinical Development, etc.). Demonstrated ability to manage multiple concurrent scientific projects under tight timelines across brands or therapeutic areas.
• Solid understanding of medical review processes, documentation management, compliance standards, and version control.
• Proficiency with digital and modular content platforms and structured content approaches.
• Fluent oral and written English; additional languages desirable.

Why Novartis: Our purpose is to reimagine medicine to improve and extend people’s lives and our vision is to become the most valued and trusted medicines company in the world. How can we achieve this? With our people. It is our associates that drive us each day to reach our ambitions. Be a part of this mission and join us! Learn more here: https://www.novartis.com/about/strategy/people-and-culture 

You’ll receive: You can find everything you need to know about our benefits and rewards in the Novartis Life Handbook. https://www.novartis.com/careers/benefits-rewards 

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion:  
Novartis is committed to building an outstanding, inclusive work environment and diverse teams' representative of the patients and communities we serve.  

Join our Novartis Network: If this role is not suitable to your experience or career goals but you wish to stay connected to hear more about Novartis and our career opportunities, join the Novartis Network here: https://talentnetwork.novartis.com/network.

"You are applying to be part of the Novartis Talent Pool. We are not currently recruiting for this role, but we are building a pipeline for future opportunities. If you would like to be considered for a similar position in future, then please submit your CV."

Skills Desired

Agility, Agility, Clinical Practices, Cross-Functional Collaboration, Data Analysis, Drug Development, Employee Development, Healthcare Sector Understanding, Health Sciences, Influencing Skills, Innovation, Inspirational Leadership, Integrated Evidence Generation, Medical Affairs, Medical Communication, Medical Education, Patient Care, People Management, Pharmaceutics, Priority Disease Areas Expertise, Product Launches, Product Strategy, Real World Evidence (RWE), Regulatory Compliance, Research Methodologies {+ 3 more}

Experience Level

Senior Level