Scientific Writer

Job Description

The Harvard Global Health Institute (HGHI) serves as the connective tissue for global health across all 15 Harvard schools. As a university-wide hub, we convene and facilitate collaboration between world-class faculty, students, and global partners to ensure that expertise in multiple disciplines aligns to advance health equity worldwide.

HGHI seeks a Scientific Writer to support the institute’s scholarly and research mission. Reporting to the Executive Director and working in collaboration with the Faculty Director and, at times, affiliated faculty, this role is responsible for the production of high-quality institutional scholarly products, including grant proposals, technical policy briefs, research reports, and working group publications.

• Serve as writing lead for academic outputs, grant proposals, reports, and policy briefs as assigned by the Executive Director in collaboration with the Faculty Director.
• Research, draft, edit, and produce technical policy briefs on global health topics for the institute, funders, and public.
• Search literature, compile literature reviews, and synthesize complex research evidence into clear, policy-relevant documents that support HGHI’s mission.
• Revise scientific manuscripts, research papers, and reports for technical and specialist audiences.
• Ensure accuracy, rigor, and appropriate citation of sources across all institutional publications, adhering to institutional guidelines and publication standards.

• Provide technical review and editing of public-facing communications materials (press releases, newsletters, website content, and social media) to ensure scientific accuracy.
• Maintain consistency in tone, style, and formatting across HGHI’s scholarly and institutional publications.
• Stay current on trends in scientific communication, publication standards, and ethical use of AI-assisted writing tools, integrating best practices into HGHI’s writing and editing workflow.

• Draft, edit, and manage the production of grant proposals and funding applications on behalf of HGHI to external funders, including foundations, government agencies, and multilateral organizations.
• Collaborate with the Faculty Director, Executive Director, and, when assigned, affiliated faculty to translate research concepts into compelling, well-structured proposals that meet funder requirements.
• Prepare ancillary proposal materials—including budget narratives, letters of support, bio sketches, and compliance documentation—in coordination with the Finance Team.

• Coordinate with internal teams and external collaborators, including partner institutions, co-investigators and journal editors, to produce cohesive, polished content for joint projects and publications.
• Prepare and organize ancillary materials, figures, appendices, graphs, copyright permissions, and other materials for submission to publication platforms as needed.

• Five or more years of professional experience in scientific or technical writing, with demonstrated experience writing grant proposals, research reports, and technical policy documents.

• Master’s Degree (MA, MS, MPH, or equivalent) in public health, global health, or a related field.
• PhD or doctoral degree in a relevant field preferred; equivalent professional experience in grant writing and scientific publishing will be considered.
• Subject matter expertise in global health, public health, including familiarity with major funders, research frameworks, and policy processes in these fields.
• Experience writing successful grant proposals for foundations and government agencies.
• Experience managing or leading writing projects with diverse stakeholders in academic or research institutions.
• Proficiency in project management tools (e.g., Asana), Microsoft Office Suite, and citation management software (e.g., Zotero, Ref Works, Sciwheel).
• Familiarity with AI-assisted research and writing tools, with an understanding of their responsible application in scholarly contexts.