How to hire a biostatistician

How to hire a biostatistician, step by step

Here's a step-by-step biostatistician hiring guide:

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

What does a biostatistician do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a biostatistician, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

   A biostatistician's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, biostatisticians 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.

   The following list breaks down different types of biostatisticians and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Biostatistician	Description	Hourly rate
   Biostatistician	Statisticians use statistical methods to collect and analyze data and to help solve real-world problems in business, engineering, healthcare, or other fields.	$28-57
   Data Scientist	A Data Scientist analyzes information from multiple sources in order to gain maximum insight that can give the company a competitive advantage. They work in different domains, including manufacturing, healthcare, education, and finance.	$36-71
   Statistician	A statistician is a professional who gathers data and uses mathematical techniques to analyze and interpret data and draw conclusions. Statisticians are required to develop survey questionnaires or reporting forms so that they can collect the data they needed... Show more	$28-57

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Data Analysis
   • Patients
   • Data Management
   • Statistical Analysis
   • Study Design
   • Data Collection
   • Research Projects
   • FDA
   • Survival Analysis
   • Public Health
   • Statistical Software
   • Macro
   • Statistical Support
   • Study Results

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Extract and manage data from different sources, proficient in query language SQL.
   • Act as project director for managing the preparation of safety and efficacy reports for NDA submission.
   • Manage Medicaid fraud and abuse portfolios by analyzing medical and pharmacy claims data.
   • Provide suggestions to clients in classification algorithms, ANOVA, experimental design, and various hypothesis tests.
   • Design clinical plans, new product or improvement protocols, co-ordinate CRO and clinical site contracts and IRB submissions.
   • Create views using SQL programming.

   More biostatistician duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your biostatistician job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A biostatistician salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a biostatistician in North Dakota may be lower than in California, and an entry-level biostatistician usually earns less than a senior-level biostatistician. Additionally, a biostatistician with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average biostatistician salary

   $85,645yearly

   $41.18 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level biostatistician salary

   $60,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 14, 2025

   Average biostatistician salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$99,035	$48
   2	Connecticut	$91,854	$44
   3	New York	$91,651	$44
   4	Massachusetts	$91,495	$44
   5	Pennsylvania	$91,353	$44
   6	Delaware	$91,182	$44
   7	Maryland	$90,406	$43
   8	Arizona	$90,273	$43
   9	District of Columbia	$89,867	$43
   10	Maine	$89,430	$43
   11	Virginia	$88,553	$43
   12	Ohio	$87,378	$42
   13	Michigan	$86,547	$42
   14	Oregon	$86,275	$41
   15	Texas	$86,182	$41
   16	Washington	$85,857	$41
   17	North Carolina	$85,694	$41
   18	Florida	$82,357	$40
   19	Kentucky	$82,016	$39
   20	Wisconsin	$81,992	$39

   Average biostatistician salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Meta	$139,451	$67.04	214
   2	Genentech	$123,221	$59.24	2
   3	Biogen	$121,433	$58.38
   4	Novartis	$120,329	$57.85	2
   5	Bristol-Myers Squibb	$120,087	$57.73	1
   6	Boehringer Ingelheim	$119,970	$57.68	1
   7	Nektar Therapeutics	$117,385	$56.44
   8	Zoetis	$116,325	$55.93
   9	Vertex Pharmaceuticals	$116,184	$55.86	4
   10	Merck	$115,795	$55.67	5
   11	Gilead Sciences	$114,943	$55.26	8
   12	Sanofi Genzyme	$114,666	$55.13
   13	Regeneron	$113,263	$54.45	4
   14	Sanofi US	$112,079	$53.88	2
   15	Farallon Capital Management, L.L.C.	$111,164	$53.44
   16	Natera	$109,223	$52.51
   17	Johnson & Johnson	$107,618	$51.74	12
   18	Edwards Lifesciences	$107,222	$51.55	54
   19	Alcon	$106,581	$51.24	1
   20	CAMRIS International, Inc.	$106,487	$51.20

4. Writing a biostatistician job description

   A biostatistician job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a biostatistician job description:

   Biostatistician job description example

   The USC Keck School of Medicine - Alzheimer Therapeutic Research Institute (ATRI), located in San Diego, California is an academic institute comprised of an expert panel of scientific collaborators committed to advancing the development of new treatments for Alzheimer's Disease (AD) through innovative clinical trials. The ATRI Biostatistics Section provides the Biostatistics leadership for all clinical trials managed by ATRI.
   
   This Bio s tatistician I will join a well-established group of statisticians and actively contribute to the Institute's work on clinical research . As a member of the biostatistics team, this individual will apply a variety of intermediate and advanced statistical and data preparation techniques to promote the reporting, analysis, and interpretation of data arising from research studies conducted by the ATRI. Duties include statistical programming, contributing to the quality assurance of statistical analyses, writing methods and analysis descriptions in formal reports, communicating with collaborators , and organizing and maintaining confidential project materials. A successful ATRI Biostatistician is a team player who develops a deep understanding of each clinical trial and our trial responsibilities and has the ability to take on increasing responsibility at the Institute .
   Education and Experience
   Master's degree in biostatistics or statistics 1-2 years of working experience with sustained excellent performance post degree
   
   Requirements:
   Excellent R programming skills Thorough knowledge of standard and advanced statistical methods Must have experience with clinical trials and longitudinal data Ability to direct and promote teamwork in a multi-disciplinary team setting Demonstrated initiative and motivation Excellent written and verbal communications skills Excellent organizational skills T he ability to recognize, adapt and adjust to changing priorities Positive attitude and the ability to work well with others
   
   Location: San Diego, CA
   
   Salary is dependent upon education and experience.
   
   Minimum Education: Master's degree, Combined experience/education as substitute for minimum education Minimum Experience: 1 year, Combined education/experience as substitute for minimum experience Minimum Field of Expertise: Experience in Biostatistics , Statistics or related field . Experience with SAS, R or STATA.
   
   REQ20068008 Posted Date: 10/10/2022

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find biostatisticians 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 biostatisticians they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level biostatisticians 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 biostatistician job on Zippia to find and recruit biostatistician candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting biostatisticians requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   Sometimes, it's not enough to interview biostatistician candidates, so you can ask them to do a test project. If you are not a technical person and don't know what a test project should be, you can use these websites:

   • TestDome
   • CodeSignal
   • Testlify
   • BarRaiser
   • Coderbyte

   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 biostatistician

   Once you've found the biostatistician candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new biostatistician. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

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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