Associate Creative Director, Copy (Pharma)

Job Overview:

The Associate Creative Director, Copy (ACD, Copy) is a strategic storyteller who brings clarity, emotion, and originality to complex scientific narratives. In partnership with the Group Creative Director and art leads, this role will help to drive concepting and copy development for integrated marketing campaigns—ensuring ideas are grounded in insight, scientifically accurate, and crafted with elevated creative expression.

This role balances hands-on writing with leadership responsibilities, mentoring writers while championing exceptional creative across omnichannel deliverables. The ACD, Copy excels at translating dense clinical information into engaging narratives, understanding the regulatory nuances of pharmaceutical copy, and helping shape the voice and story of brands preparing for or actively launching into market. This role is client-facing, requires strong presentation skills, and includes supervising and managing junior and mid-level writers.

Key Responsibilities, including but not limited to:

Creative Leadership & Concept Development

• Lead concepting efforts and craft clear, compelling narratives for campaigns across digital, print, social, video, HCP, and patient audiences.
• Translate strategic insights and scientific information into differentiated creative ideas.
• Partner closely with art/design leads to ensure unified storytelling across copy and design.
• Contribute to pitch work and new business opportunities by developing creative platforms and messaging approaches.
• Present creative work confidently and persuasively to internal teams and clients.

Writing & Message Development

• Write and oversee copy for a wide range of deliverables, ensuring consistency of voice and message hierarchy.
• Translate complex clinical or scientific data into accurate, engaging, and compliant promotional copy.
• Guide annotation and MLR submission best practices.
• Develop brand stories, campaign manifestos, messaging frameworks, and tone-of-voice guidelines.

Collaboration & Cross-functional Partnership

• Collaborate with Strategy, Account, Project Management, and Creative partners to shape brand narratives.
• Contribute to tactical planning and ensure copy properly supports strategic brand goals.
• Help evolve and maintain high standards of creative excellence across all deliverables.

Leadership & Mentorship

• Mentor junior and mid-level writers, providing thoughtful and actionable creative feedback.
• Model inclusive and collaborative creative leadership.
• Contribute to the growth and creative culture of the department.

Operational & Industry Awareness

• Maintain a strong understanding of therapeutic areas, FDA/OPDP regulations, and industry trends.
• Demonstrate expertise in writing for both HCP and patient audiences.
• Stay current on creative, digital, and cultural trends relevant to storytelling.

Requirements

Qualifications and Skills:

• 8+ years of pharmaceutical copywriting experience within creative or advertising agencies, including AOR and launch experience.
• Bachelor’s degree in English, Journalism, Communications, Life Sciences, or related field, or equivalent experience.
• Portfolio demonstrating conceptual range and strong writing across formats.
• Deep understanding of regulatory processes, including MLR/annotation.
• Proven ability to translate scientific content into persuasive and original creative work.
• Strong presentation, communication, and collaboration skills.
• Ability to lead and inspire creative teams, balancing hands-on work with oversight.

Reports To:Group Creative Director

Benefits

We are proud to offer a comprehensive benefits package to all of our employees:

• Medical, Dental & Vision Insurance. We cover a generous portion of employee contributions
• 401K plan. We invest in present and future you, which is why we offer a generous match and immediate vesting on our plan
• Parental Leave. Generous paid time off for parents to bond with their newest addition
• Professional Development. Each employee has an annual budget to allocate to professional development opportunities. Employees are encouraged to take a workshop, attend a webinar, join associations, and do anything else that will help them grow in their careers.
• And more! We offer flexible time off, life insurance, LTD, a robust employee assistance program, and more!

At CG Life, we recognize that attracting the best talent is key to our strategy and success as a company. As a result, we aim for flexibility in structuring competitive compensation offers to ensure we are able to attract the best candidates. As required by law in this state, the estimated salary range for this position is $135,000 - $155,000 USD and represents our good faith estimate as to what our ideal candidates are likely to expect. We tailor our offers within the range based on organizational needs, internal equity, market data, geographic zone, and the selected candidate’s experience, education, industry knowledge, location, technical and communication skills, and other factors that may prove relevant during the selection process. At CG Life, it is not common for individuals to be hired at the higher end of the range, and compensation decisions depend on a variety of factors. This position is eligible to participate in a discretionary bonus program, subject to the rules governing the plan. CG Life offers a variety of benefits, including health benefits, 401K retirement with a generous company match and immediate vesting, and flexible time off.  

This job posting is intended for direct applicants only; please, no outside recruiters.