How to hire a clinical research associate

How to hire a clinical research associate, step by step

Here's a step-by-step clinical research associate hiring guide:

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

What does a clinical research associate do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the clinical research associate you need to hire. Certain clinical research associate 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 clinical research associate's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, clinical research associates 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 clinical research associates and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Clinical Research Associate	Description	Hourly rate
   Clinical Research Associate	Natural sciences managers supervise the work of scientists, including chemists, physicists, and biologists. They direct activities related to research and development, and coordinate activities such as testing, quality control, and production.	$20-43
   Study Director	Technically, a study director carries out scientific responsibilities for protocol design or study plan and approval. Study directors supervise the gathering, analysis, interpretation, documentation, and reporting of data results... Show more	$26-56
   Laboratory Manager	Laboratory managers provide accurate laboratory diagnosis through evaluating specimen procedures and coordinating with pathologists to validate laboratory findings. They are responsible for maintaining laboratory tools and equipment, ensuring the proper sterilization of instruments before and after use, organizing equipment based on its function, and immediately repairing or replacing defective items... Show more	$23-53

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patients
   • Informed Consent
   • CRA
   • Clinical Trials
   • Clinical Trial Management
   • Oncology
   • Data Collection
   • IRB
   • Ich
   • GCP
   • FDA
   • Data Management
   • Site Management
   • Site Monitoring

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage, schedule and train up to 15 CRAs.
   • Recruit patients, attain patient inform consent form, educate subjects on compliance, and ensure patient safety per ICH guidelines.
   • Manage site TMF to ensure communication requirements adherence
   • Manage CRO and regional monitor to complete close out activities, including device accountability management.
   • Manage regional academic and community base oncology practices as the primary contact for all communications and support.
   • Manage the monitoring CRO and the data clean-up efforts for a 510k submission and interim/annual study reports by effectively collaborating cross-functionally.

   More clinical research associate duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your clinical research associate job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A clinical research associate 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 clinical research associate in Arkansas may be lower than in California, and an entry-level clinical research associate usually earns less than a senior-level clinical research associate. Additionally, a clinical research associate 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 clinical research associate salary

   $62,966yearly

   $30.27 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level clinical research associate salary

   $43,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 7, 2025

   Average clinical research associate salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$90,116	$43
   2	Nevada	$83,174	$40
   3	Oregon	$82,875	$40
   4	Washington	$82,837	$40
   5	Delaware	$79,579	$38
   6	Arizona	$76,770	$37
   7	Connecticut	$75,590	$36
   8	Massachusetts	$74,911	$36
   9	Utah	$73,744	$35
   10	New Mexico	$72,158	$35
   11	Pennsylvania	$70,773	$34
   12	North Carolina	$68,385	$33
   13	New York	$66,914	$32
   14	New Jersey	$66,837	$32
   15	Indiana	$66,370	$32
   16	Texas	$64,057	$31
   17	Georgia	$63,892	$31
   18	Maine	$63,790	$31
   19	Kansas	$63,172	$30
   20	Wisconsin	$62,375	$30

   Average clinical research associate salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Meta	$125,508	$60.34	718
   2	Masimo	$102,384	$49.22	6
   3	Dexcom	$94,320	$45.35	3
   4	BD	$92,447	$44.45	6
   5	Neuralink IT Solutions	$91,483	$43.98	2
   6	Cordis	$89,953	$43.25	23
   7	Boston Scientific	$88,871	$42.73	129
   8	Abbott	$88,754	$42.67	274
   9	Karyopharm	$88,545	$42.57
   10	Parexel International	$87,761	$42.19	174
   11	Pharmaceutical Research Associates, Inc.	$87,437	$42.04
   12	Vaxart	$83,708	$40.24
   13	Axogen	$82,677	$39.75	2
   14	Integra LifeSciences	$82,603	$39.71
   15	Novo Nordisk	$81,481	$39.17
   16	Catalyst Pharmaceuticals	$81,394	$39.13
   17	Level One Bank	$81,066	$38.97
   18	Agilent Technologies	$81,022	$38.95	3
   19	Merck	$79,906	$38.42	21
   20	Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings	$79,602	$38.27	207

4. Writing a clinical research associate job description

   A clinical research associate 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 clinical research associate job description:

   Clinical research associate job description example

   Requirements

   Required Education/Experience:
   - Bachelor's Degree
   - At least one (1) year of related experience in life sciences.
   
   Required Credentials:
   N/A
   
   Preferred:
   - Clinical Research Associate certification
   - Experience as CRA or CRC
   - Familiarity with MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, and electronic data capture (EDC) software.

   In accordance with new Washington law for healthcare workers, Seattle Children's requires that all staff be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 on or before October 18, 2021, or before beginning employment for start dates after October 18th.

   About Us

   Hope. Care. Cure. These three simple words capture what we do at Seattle Children's - to help every child live the healthiest and most fulfilling life possible. Are you ready to engage with a mission-driven organization that is life-changing to many, and touches the hearts of all? #HOPECARECURE

   As one of the nation's top five pediatric research centers, Seattle Children's Research Institute is dedicated to providing hope, care, and cures to help every child live the healthiest and most fulfilling life possible.

   Our investigators are involved in hundreds of projects that cover every phase of research, from studying how diseases work to improving investigational therapies. They have pioneered groundbreaking cystic fibrosis treatments and cutting-edge cancer therapies that help a child's immune system defeat cancer, and made other major contributions to pediatric medicine.

   Researchers work in close collaboration with one another, their colleagues at partner institutions including the University of Washington and Fred Hutch and our healthcare providers at Seattle Children's Hospital, one of U.S. News & World Report's top children's hospitals. This collaboration is one of our key strengths, allowing our faculty to draw on a variety of disciplines and techniques as they pursue solutions to some of medicine's most complex problems.

   We are committed to not only treating disease but to eliminating it. Help us achieve our vision of being a worldwide leader in pediatric research aimed to improve the health and well-being of children. If you are interested in a challenging career aimed at groundbreaking research, Seattle Children's Research Institute is the place for you.

   Covid-19 Vaccination In accordance with Washington state law, Seattle Children's requires that all employees be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. All offers are contingent and your vaccine status will be verified at onboarding. Our Commitment to Diversity

   Our community welcomes diverse experiences, backgrounds, and thoughts as this is what drives our spirit of inquiry and allows us to better connect with our increasingly diverse patients and families. Our organization recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.

   The people who work at Seattle Children's are members of a community that seeks to respect and celebrate all the qualities that make each of us unique. Each of us is empowered to be ourselves within this community, which cultivates and promotes equity, diversity, and inclusion at all levels.

   Seattle Children's is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Workplace and Affirmative Action Employer.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find clinical research associates for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your clinical research associate job on Zippia to find and recruit clinical research associate candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting clinical research associates 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. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   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 clinical research associate

   Once you've found the clinical research associate 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 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.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new clinical research associate. 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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