Associate Director, Editorial

Description

The Associate Editorial Director with GSW is responsible for managing editorial workflow within assigned teams and serving as an editorial point of contact for client management, medical, creative, and other cross-functional partners. This person can manage editors and helps facilitate cross-office staffing as needs arise. In addition, the Associate Editorial Director maintains assigned brand responsibilities, editing, and fact-checking print and digital materials across clients' various disease areas of focus. The Associate Editorial Director is proficient in editorial processes and the pharmaceutical advertising communications industry and independently handles a wide range of client projects.

Reporting to the VP, Editorial Director, the Associate Editorial Director supports the implementation, maintenance, and continuous improvement of editorial processes and standards that ensure high-quality output for our clients. This role can include direct people-management responsibilities but ensuring editors have the support, resources, and guidance needed to succeed.

The Associate Editorial Director understands the broader goals of the department and organization, supports leadership objectives, contributes to a positive department culture, and takes a solutions-oriented approach to challenges. In this leadership position, the Associate Editorial Director serves as a role model and mentor, helping team members achieve department goals while supporting their professional growth.

Key Job Responsibilities
Duties may include, but are not limited to, all or some of the following:

Leadership and People Management

• Support the day-to-day management of the Editorial department and serve as a primary editorial leadership contact for assigned teams or offices.
• Provide day-to-day leadership and management for assigned direct reports (if people managing), including resource management, conflict resolution, communication of processes and expectations, performance evaluations, professional development plans, and MBO plans.
• Work to ensure editorial systems, processes, and standards are followed and issues are escalated appropriately.
• Train and onboard new Editorial hires and familiarize them with department processes, standards, tools, and ways of working.
• Train and foster the development of newer editors while coaching experienced staff and providing ongoing feedback and guidance.
• Plan and lead editorial team meetings as appropriate.
• Foster a positive, collaborative department culture and serve as a role model for editorial standards and professional expectations.

Workflow, Resourcing, and Operations

• Proactively assess workload, capacity, deadlines, and potential bottlenecks among editors they support.
• Develop coverage solutions and coordinate cross-office support as needed, escalating broader staffing and resource needs to the Editorial Director.
• Help manage editorial workflow and priorities to support appropriate coverage and timely delivery of work.
• Resolve day-to-day editorial staffing, workflow, and process issues within assigned areas, identifying solutions and escalating issues requiring broader department direction or support.
• Provide regular updates to the Editorial Director regarding workload, staffing needs, project risks, process concerns, and other issues requiring broader departmental oversight.
• Maintain and enforce established editorial best practices and process standards within assigned teams and accounts, escalating broader process issues and opportunities to the Editorial Director.
• Identify opportunities to improve editorial workflows and processes and partner with Editorial leadership on solutions and implementation.

Editorial and Brand Responsibilities

• Maintain assigned brand-editor responsibilities while balancing people-management (if managing), operational, and department leadership responsibilities.
• Supervise the editorial process across assigned accounts and teams, ensuring high standards of quality, accuracy, and consistency.
• Perform various levels of editing, proofreading, and fact-checking on print and digital materials.
• Edit with a demonstrated understanding of pharmaceutical and medical content, including recognition of drug trade and generic names and identification of potential reference or claims issues.
• Edit to enhance clarity, readability, accuracy, consistency, and adherence to brand and editorial standards without significantly altering intended meaning.
• Check the accuracy and consistency of information and supporting references.
• Produce accurate, high-quality work while managing competing priorities and tight deadlines.
• Stay current on relevant medical communications and editorial best practices.

Cross-Functional Partnership and Problem-Solving

• Work closely with account managers, medical, writers, designers, creative teams, project managers, and other partners to support cohesive and efficient development and review of client work.
• Serve as an editorial resource to cross-functional teams, helping clarify editorial processes, requirements, and expectations.
• Anticipate and identify roadblocks that may affect quality, timing, resources, or deadlines and develop practical solutions.
• Independently address routine brand- and team-level challenges while recognizing when issues require escalation or broader leadership involvement.

Job Qualifications

Skills

• High level of familiarity and comfort with AMA style and knowledge of FDA requirements relevant to pharmaceutical advertising and promotional communications.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills.
• Strong people-management and coaching skills, including the ability to guide editors with varying levels of experience.
• Ability to manage multiple projects, priorities, and people simultaneously with a high degree of organization, initiative, and efficiency.
• Strong judgment and the ability to prioritize competing demands and identify when an issue should be resolved independently versus escalated.
• Ability to motivate and support people through change and evolving roles or processes.
• Solutions-oriented approach to challenges involving quality, timing, resources, workflow, and deadlines.
• Self-starter who can identify unmet needs, raise issues proactively, and recommend practical solutions.
• Ability to work effectively with minimal direction and adapt to shifting priorities, assignments, and business needs.
• Strong commitment to editorial quality, consistency, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Journalism, English, Communications, Advertising, or a related field.
• Minimum of 7 years of editorial experience, including experience in healthcare communications.
• Firm grasp of AMA style and FDA guidelines applicable to pharmaceutical communications, including fair balance and claims referencing.
• Proven track record of producing high-quality editorial work and managing editorial processes.
• Strong people-management, coaching, and staff-development skills.
• Strong writing, editing, proofreading, and fact-checking skills with exceptional attention to detail.
• Excellent organizational and project-management abilities.
• Proficiency with relevant editorial tools and content-management systems.
• Ability to perform effectively under pressure and manage tight or competing deadlines.
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills.

The annual base salary for this position ranges from $100,000 to $125,000. The base salary range represents the anticipated low and high of the Syneos Health range for this position. Actual salary will vary based on various factors such as the candidate's qualifications, skills, competencies, and proficiency for the role. In addition, some positions may include eligibility to earn commissions/bonus based on company and / or individual performance.

At GSW, we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace. If your past experience doesn't align perfectly, we encourage you to apply anyway. At times, we will consider transferable skills from previous roles. We also encourage you to join our Talent Network to stay connected to additional career opportunities.

GSW is a full-service healthcare communications agency that goes beyond advertising to create personalized brand experiences that involve, inspire, educate and activate people through ongoing brand journeys. As one of the world's ten most-awarded healthcare advertising agencies, GSW is hell-bent not to replace the same old with the same old. This is achieved through a provocative premise - if other brands communicated the way healthcare brands do, how many customers would they have? GSW turns against this premise through discovery of beneath-the-surface customer insights that we impact with stories, simplicity and authenticity.

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Syneos Health companies are affirmative action/equal opportunity employers (Minorities/Females/Veterans/Disabled)

At Syneos Health, we believe in providing an environment and culture in which Our People can thrive, develop and advance. We reward and recognize our people by providing valuable benefits and a quality-of-life balance. The benefits for this position will include a competitive compensation package, Health benefits to include Medical, Dental and Vision, Company match 401k, flexible paid time off (PTO) and sick time. Because certain states and municipalities have regulated paid sick time requirements, eligibility for paid sick time may vary depending on where you work. Syneos Health complies with all applicable federal, state, and municipal paid sick time requirements.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.