Science Writer

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By working at Harvard University, you join a vibrant community that advances Harvard's world‑changing mission in meaningful ways, inspires innovation and collaboration, and builds skills and expertise. We are dedicated to creating a diverse and welcoming environment where everyone can thrive.

Harvard Medical School's mission is to nurture a diverse, inclusive community dedicated to alleviating suffering and improving health and well‑being for all through excellence in teaching and learning, discovery and scholarship, and service and leadership.

You’ll be at the heart of biomedical discovery, education, and innovation, working alongside world‑renowned faculty and a community dedicated to improving human health. This is more than a job – it’s an opportunity to shape the future of medicine.

Harvard Medical School is seeking an insightful, creative, enterprising, and productive Science Writer to join its Office of Communications and External Relations. Reporting to the Editorial Director, the Science Writer will conceptualize and execute content that creates a depth of understanding about the contributions and impact of the Harvard Medicine community, advancing the School’s strategic priorities and its mission to improve health and well‑being for all.

Specifically, the Science Writer will:

• Explore, understand, distill, and write and produce content about basic, translational, and clinical research in a concise, compelling way that captivates target audiences while upholding scientific integrity and accuracy.
• Work with the Editorial Director, and with other editors as appropriate (e.g., the editor of Harvard Medicine magazine and the social media team), on story approach, treatment, rationale for coverage, and review.
• Write news releases, research briefs, profiles, feature articles, Q&As, photo captions, and other content that is on deadline and meets monthly tally goals, tailored to key audiences and channels (news website, magazine, newsletters, social media, video, podcasts, etc.), and aligned with OCER’s editorial and communications strategy.
• Cover the School’s education, service, leadership, and other non‑science news and features as assigned.
• May be asked to attend and cover local events within or outside business hours.
• Manage assigned beats from among our on‑campus basic and social science departments, institutional priorities, and affiliated hospitals and research institutions.
• Assess news releases and other content from affiliate beats against OCER’s news rubric and edit (“repurpose”) select articles for posting on HMS channels.
• Build and nurture relationships with faculty, trainees, students, staff, and other appropriate sources and proactively enterprise story ideas.
• Provide counsel to faculty, trainees, and students on communication best practices and procedures, including appropriate levels of coverage and timing for news content and how to most effectively communicate their work to external audiences.
• Produce, or collaborate with other OCER teams to produce, multimedia such as short videos, photo galleries and audio clips.
• Collaborate with OCER social media team to produce social media‑friendly content that stands alone or complements or promotes new articles.
• Work with the Senior Director of Media Relations to share content proactively with news media outlets, arrange interviews with beat contacts, and train members of the HMS community on how to work with the media.
• Collaborate with communications colleagues across the office, School, University, and affiliated hospitals to help ensure consistent, clear, and accurate messaging.
• Contribute to editorial and production calendars to help organize, plan, and track content.
• Serve as a backup for copyediting colleagues’ content as assigned.
• Research, draft, and consult on executive speeches and talking points as needed.
• Additional duties as assigned.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to include a cover letter and three relevant science writing samples in addition to their resume. All finalists will be asked to complete a…