About the job

Stanford Medicine is seeking a highly experienced and accomplished writer who has a deep understanding of biomedical science to join the team of professionals in the Office of Communications. This is a full-time position with excellent benefits.

  • This position involves writing engaging news releases, feature stories and magazine pieces about research, clinical activities and education at Stanford Medicine, as well as about community projects and initiatives that involve Stanford Medicine.
  • This includes employing a journalistic approach to covering basic and translational research, scientific presentations and other news, as well as writing feature articles, such as faculty profiles and patient stories. Articles are published in any of office’s in-house publications, including the News Center, Stanford Medicine magazine and the Scope blog.
  • This writer will cover designated beats, such as cardiology, emergency medicine, surgery, psychiatry and behavioral sciences.
  • Other duties include: Maintaining regular contacts with key sources in order to identify story themes and newsworthy events; providing faculty members with counsel on news stories and press releases; answering general inquiries from the media in beat areas; assisting print reporters in covering stories; and in cooperation with other media-relations personnel, promoting a variety of stories to individual reporters.
  • This position will also serve as an expert resource on matters pertaining to medical science within the Office of Communications and will be responsible for undertaking background reading and staying current with medical-science journals and literature.
  • Other duties may also be assigned.

About Stanford Medicine

Stanford University School of Medicine was founded in 1858 with a mission to be a premier research-intensive medical school that improves health through leadership, diversity, and a collaborative approach to discovery and innovation in patient care, education, and research.

Stanford Medicine is the single brand for 3 different entities: Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford Health Care, and Stanford Children’s Health. Stanford Medicine is led by a partnership among the Dean of the School of Medicine and Stanford’s two hospital CEOs. Stanford Medicine’s mission: “Through innovative discovery and the translation of new knowledge, we improve human health locally and globally. We serve our community by providing outstanding and compassionate care. We inspire and prepare the future leaders of science and medicine.”

With more than 2,300 faculty, each providing a unique mix of research, education, and patient care effort, organized in 30 academic departments and 16 interdisciplinary institutes and centers, supported by more than 3,900 staff, educating 3,000 students, postdoctoral fellows, clinical residents/fellows, and trainees, and collectively generating about $2.6B in revenues, the School of Medicine is Stanford’s largest school.

Desired Qualifications

Our ideal candidate has experience covering/writing on medicine/science/ health topics for news organizations (i.e., newspapers, magazine, public information offices, etc.) In addition they have demonstrated an understanding of highly technical scientific reports and data, with the ability to write strong and compelling news stories and magazine pieces on complex scientific topics. They are also familiar with medical databases and online tools (e.g., Medline). The right candidate has excellent proven journalism skills, a mastery of extracting information from presentations, papers and research reports and demonstrates an ability to ascertain what is newsworthy and interesting.

Education & Experience (required)

Bachelor’s degree and five years of related experience, or a combination of education and related experience.

Knowledge, Skills And Abilities (required)

  • Proven success in writing for publication in print, web, and other platforms.
  • Excellent writing, interpersonal, and oral communication skills with proven ability to present, write, edit, and organize thoughts in a clear, concise, and well-organized manner.
  • Ability to understand materials of moderate complexity and synthesize across multiple sources to produce materials for diverse audiences.
  • Ability to change voice and writing style to fit a particular audience and purpose.
  • Firm understanding of web technologies and applications, including social networking, social media tools, and current communication trends.
  • Excellent interpersonal skills and able to interact effectively with a diverse array of people, including senior leaders.
  • Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite.
  • Ability to manage and prioritize multiple deadlines.
  • Excellent time management skills.

Physical Requirements

  • Constantly perform desk-based computer tasks.
  • Frequently stand/walk, sit, grasp lightly/fine manipulation, and use a telephone, writing by hand.
  • Occasionally reach/work above shoulders, grasp forcefully, and sort/file paperwork or parts, lift/carry/push/pull objects that weigh up to 10 pounds.
  • Visual and auditory acuity, including color vision required.
  • Consistent with its obligations under the law, the University will provide reasonable accommodation to any employee with a disability who requires accommodation to perform the essential functions of his or her job.

Working Conditions

Occasional work on evenings and weekends.
Occasional travel.

Work Standards

  • Interpersonal Skills: Demonstrates the ability to work well with Stanford colleagues and clients and with external organizations.
  • Promote Culture of Safety: Demonstrates commitment to personal responsibility and value for safety; communicates safety concerns; uses and promotes safe behaviors based on training and lessons learned.
  • Subject to and expected to comply with all applicable University policies and procedures, including but not limited to the personnel policies and other policies found in the University’s Administrative Guide, http://adminguide.stanford.edu.

As an organization that receives federal funding, Stanford University has a COVID-19 vaccination requirement that will apply to all university employees, including those working remotely in the United States and applicable subcontractors. To learn more about COVID policies and guidelines for Stanford University Staff, please visit https://cardinalatwork.stanford.edu/working-stanford/covid-19/interim-policies/covid-19-surveillance-testing-policy