Senior Public Affairs Opinion Writer; PART TIME

Who is USP? The U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) is an independent scientific organization that collaborates with the world’s leading health and science experts to develop rigorous quality standards for medicines, dietary supplements, and food ingredients. USP believes that scientific excellence is driven by a commitment to fairness, integrity, and global collaboration. This belief is embedded in our core value of Passion for Quality and is demonstrated through the contributions of more than 1,300 professionals across twenty global locations, working to strengthen the supply of safe, high-quality medicines worldwide.

USP values inclusive scientific collaboration and recognizes that attracting diverse expertise strengthens our ability to develop trusted public health standards. We foster an organizational culture that supports equitable access to mentorship, professional development, and leadership opportunities. Our partnerships, standards, and research reflect our belief that ensuring broad participation in scientific leadership results in stronger, more impactful outcomes for global health.

USP is proud to be an equal employment opportunity employer (EEOE) and is committed to ensuring fair, merit-based selection processes that enable the best scientific minds—regardless of background—to contribute to advancing public health solutions worldwide. We provide reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities and uphold policies that create an inclusive and collaborative work environment.

This position is working at 50% capacity (part-time) for approximately 20 hours a week, requiring a Monday-Thursday schedule, 5 hours per day. The role will work onsite in Rockville, MD two days a week and offer remote work the other days.

• Proactively scan the policy, regulatory, and public‑health landscape to identify emerging issues, risks, opportunities, and moments that align with USP focus areas where USP can shape or inform the dialogue.
• Establish a steady, reliable cadence of high-quality editorial content that advances USP’s point of view.
• Bring greater consistency and clarity to how USP tells its story across issues, initiatives, and channels.
• Support both proactive editorial planning and reactive writing needs during fast-moving policy or issue moments.
• Persuade and help influential audiences understand, engage with, and support USP’s perspectives on relevant priorities.
• Develop content that is credible, insight‑rich, and compelling enough to be picked up, referenced, or shared by policymakers, regulatory bodies, trade associations, think tanks, and influencers in the field.

• Propose and shape thought leadership themes and content based on what influential policymakers, regulators, and global health leaders need to understand about the implications of policy developments, regulatory proposals, supply chain vulnerabilities, and medicine quality challenges.
• Write and edit a wide range of public affairs and thought leadership content, including:
• Bylines and op-eds.
• Blogs and Linked In thought leadership.
• Talking points, presentations, and executive remarks.
• Develop supporting public affairs materials such as backgrounders, FAQs, and issue briefs, as needed.

• Partner closely with External Communications and Global External Affairs leaders to drive editorial strategy for key policy issues by recommending narrative frames, positioning, and content types most likely to influence external dialogues.
• Build and maintain an editorial calendar, proactively pitching topics and story ideas aligned with advocacy and thought leadership priorities.
• Balance proactive content planning with the ability to respond quickly to emerging issues or short‑turn requests.

• Regularly interview internal subject matter experts and review source materials to extract clear, compelling narratives.
• Navigate review and approval processes involving legal, regulatory, policy, scientific, and executive stakeholders.
• Incorporate appropriate feedback while maintaining clarity,…