How to hire a medical editor

How to hire a medical editor, step by step

Here's a step-by-step medical editor hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a medical editor job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new medical editor
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the medical editor you need to hire. Certain medical editor roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A medical editor's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, medical editors from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   Here's a comparison of medical editor salaries for various roles:

   Type of Medical Editor	Description	Hourly rate
   Medical Editor	Editors plan, review, and revise content for publication.	$16-47
   Editing Internship	An editorial intern is responsible for assisting the editorial department of an organization with publishing various media and digital content. Editorial interns shadow tenured editorial staff on researching stories, validating information, writing captivating articles, interviewing target audiences, and screening submitted manuscripts... Show more	$12-21
   Editorial Internship	An editorial intern is responsible for assisting the editorial team in publishing digital and media content, writing articles, and managing readers' reviews. Editorial interns must have excellent knowledge of the industry they work for, suggesting the latest trends and featured topics, taking notes of the tenured employees' advice and observations, and actively joining brainstorming sessions... Show more	$12-18

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Proofreading
   • Style Guides
   • FDA
   • PowerPoint
   • Transcription
   • Healthcare Professionals
   • English Language
   • Medical Education
   • Copyedit
   • Adobe Acrobat
   • Medical Terminology
   • Medical Editing
   • Slide Decks
   • QA

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage slide decks with medical information on specific diseases within oncology and cardiology to meet FDA requirements.
   • Minimize error rate, providing meticulous QC, proofreading, and editing.
   • Create and edit PowerPoint presentations.
   • Post entire show for DVD and web delivery.
   • Proofread PowerPoint presentations and print materials for new business pitches.
   • Used HTML, basic graphics to create lessons and the tests

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your medical editor job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A medical editor salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, medical editors' average salary in mississippi is 58% less than in new york.
   • Seniority. Entry-level medical editors earn 64% less than senior-level medical editors.
   • Certifications. A medical editor with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a medical editor's salary.

   Average medical editor salary

   $59,482yearly

   $28.60 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level medical editor salary

   $35,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 23, 2025

4. Writing a medical editor job description

   A good medical editor job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a medical editor job description:

   Medical editor job description example

   WebMD UK focuses on delivering clinical news, information, guidelines, and education to support healthcare professionals across the UK via the Medscape brand. We are experts in delivering information based on best practice clinical guidance. Our in depth knowledge of UK healthcare will ensure that our clients have access to a market leading suite of products to engage and educate UK healthcare professionals across the Medscape Professional Network, which includes Medscape, Univardis and the Guidelines portfolio:
   
   Guidelines, Guidelines for Nurses, Guidelines for Pharmacy, Guidelines in Practice, and Guidelines Live
   .
   
   The role
   
   The quality and accuracy of materials produced in collaboration with our clients is of the utmost importance. We are looking for someone with excellent proofreading and editing skills to join our Project Delivery team. The team is based in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, but we also have an office in Central London and the team are currently working in a hybrid manner with working from home the norm on a day-to-day basis.
   
   The Associate Medical Editor will report to the Head of Project Delivery and will be the in-house editorial lead on a variety of educational and promotional projects commissioned by pharmaceutical company clients.
   
   The Associate Medical Editor will have the opportunity to work on a range of multimedia project types, including videos, animations, webinars, printed supplements and articles, and working party meetings of healthcare experts to agree new best practice clinical guidance.
   
   Key responsibilities will include:
   
   liaising with key opinion leaders in the healthcare industry to produce high quality content copy editing, rewriting, and restructuring content as necessary for all types of project fact-checking and proofreading all types of project content at all stages to ensure accuracy of copy writing copy: for example, author briefs, content of emails to the audience of healthcare professionals working with freelance medical writers and facilitators communicating with pharmaceutical company clients, working closely with the sales team, account managers, and project managers attending internal and client set-up meetings and teleconferences to discuss the objectives of the project first-hand with the client.
   
   Essential skills and experience:
   
   Life science degree (or higher), with an understanding of disease area terminology Excellent development editing, copy editing and proofreading skills Excellent attention to detail Strong time management, project management, and organisational skills Strong communication skills, both written and verbal
   
   Other useful experience:
   
   Previous experience of medical communications or publishing Knowledge of Adobe InDesign Knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry and the ABPI Code of Practice Experience of using online approval systems (e.g. Veeva Vault PromoMats)

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find medical editors for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any medical editors they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level medical editors with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your medical editor job on Zippia to find and attract quality medical editor candidates.
   • Use niche websites such as problogger, media bistro, journalismjobs.com, content writing jobs.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit medical editors, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new medical editor

   Once you've decided on a perfect medical editor candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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