How to hire a clinical scientist

How to hire a clinical scientist, step by step

Here's a step-by-step clinical scientist 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 scientist job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new clinical scientist
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a clinical scientist do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your clinical scientist job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a clinical scientist for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a clinical scientist to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a clinical scientist that fits the bill.

   This list shows salaries for various types of clinical scientists.

   Type of Clinical Scientist	Description	Hourly rate
   Clinical Scientist	Medical scientists conduct research aimed at improving overall human health. They often use clinical trials and other investigative methods to reach their findings.	$45-75
   Research Fellow	A research fellow is an academic researcher who conducts research and analysis of comprehensive literature, data, and results and provides literature reviews. He/She supervises research assistants and recruits study participants to interview them for a particular study... Show more	$18-34
   Researcher	A researcher is responsible for collating, organizing, and verifying necessary information for a specific subject. Researchers' duties include analyzing data, gathering and comparing resources, ensuring facts, sharing findings with the whole research team, adhering to required methodologies, performing fieldwork as needed, and keeping critical information confidential... Show more	$17-57

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patients
   • Informed Consent
   • Clinical Operations
   • Oncology
   • Clinical Development
   • Clinical Data
   • GCP
   • Data Management
   • Clinical Trials
   • Data Analysis
   • Biostatistics
   • Project Management
   • ICH
   • Regulatory Submissions

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage clinical monitors in successful completion of large international hypertension study.
   • Manage and work collaboratively with CRO management to initiate and update contract/consultancy agreements/amendments on an ongoing basis.
   • Function as member of the FDA audit preparation team in support of the filed NDA.
   • Conduct multiple HIPAA training sessions.
   • Identify grant funding opportunities and prepare scientific grant applications (NIH and non-NIH).
   • Review serious adverse event reports receive from other local country sectors for expediting to the FDA.

   More clinical scientist duties

3. Make a budget

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

   • Location. For example, clinical scientists' average salary in nebraska is 41% less than in alaska.
   • Seniority. Entry-level clinical scientists earn 40% less than senior-level clinical scientists.
   • Certifications. A clinical scientist 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 clinical scientist's salary.

   Average clinical scientist salary

   $122,388yearly

   $58.84 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level clinical scientist salary

   $94,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 16, 2025

   Average clinical scientist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Indiana	$154,350	$74
   2	California	$145,936	$70
   3	Tennessee	$139,424	$67
   4	New Jersey	$135,012	$65
   5	Nevada	$131,242	$63
   6	Massachusetts	$126,641	$61
   7	Colorado	$125,830	$61
   8	North Carolina	$122,961	$59
   9	Arizona	$121,757	$59
   10	Hawaii	$120,739	$58
   11	Washington	$119,263	$57
   12	Florida	$118,934	$57
   13	Maryland	$117,804	$57
   14	West Virginia	$112,106	$54
   15	Georgia	$109,331	$53
   16	Louisiana	$106,850	$51
   17	Alabama	$106,237	$51
   18	New York	$106,022	$51
   19	Utah	$106,021	$51
   20	New Hampshire	$105,840	$51

   Average clinical scientist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Reata Pharmaceuticals	$153,582	$73.84
   2	Foundation Medicine	$153,317	$73.71
   3	PTC Therapeutics	$150,602	$72.40	8
   4	Agenus	$146,966	$70.66
   5	Intellia Therapeutics	$142,702	$68.61
   6	Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute	$140,438	$67.52	27
   7	CyberCoders	$139,770	$67.20	2
   8	Genentech	$139,234	$66.94	46
   9	Amgen	$134,971	$64.89	48
   10	Novavax	$134,015	$64.43	3
   11	Hoffmann-LA Roche Inc	$133,978	$64.41	7
   12	Forest Laboratories	$133,866	$64.36
   13	Vertex Pharmaceuticals	$133,278	$64.08	7
   14	Biogen	$133,055	$63.97	5
   15	Stanford University	$130,884	$62.92	75
   16	Jounce Therapeutics	$129,780	$62.39
   17	Merck	$129,705	$62.36	205
   18	Psg	$129,679	$62.35	24
   19	Daiichi Sankyo	$129,012	$62.02	12
   20	Planet Pharma	$128,849	$61.95	2

4. Writing a clinical scientist job description

   A good clinical scientist 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 clinical scientist job description:

   Clinical scientist job description example

   ICON plc is a world-leading healthcare intelligence and clinical research organisation. From molecule to medicine, we advance clinical research providing outsourced services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and government and public health organisations. With our patients at the centre of all that we do, we help to accelerate the development of drugs and devices that save lives and improve quality of life. Our people are our greatest strength, are at the core of our culture, and the driving force behind our success. ICON people have a mission to succeed and a passion that ensures what we do, we do well.
   Responsibilities What you will be doing: Assists the CS Protocol Lead and study team with the clinical/scientific conduct of clinical studies e.g., adjudication support, medical monitoring, imaging data reconciliation preparation of meeting materials, protocol deviation management May support a single study or multiple studies May lead a study with limited scope (e.g., Survival Follow-up) May interact with internal and external stakeholders (study sites, committees, etc.) in support of clinical study objectives Qualifications What you need to have: Educational Requirements BS/BA/MS/PhD in Life Sciences with 2+ yrs relevant career experience If no degree in Life Sciences, must have significant experience in clinical development (>5 years) Minimum Years of Experience Pharmaceutical experience beneficial but not required TA (Oncology) specific experience beneficial 2 years medical monitoring experience preferred Demonstrated oral and written communication skills Excel and PP experience required Ability to travel up to 15% (might include international travel) To qualify, applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States, and should not require, now or in the future, sponsorship for employment visa status Position based remote in US or Canada
   Benefits of Working in ICON:
   
   Our success depends on the knowledge, capabilities and quality of our people. That's why we are committed to developing our employees in a continuous learning culture - one where we challenge you with engaging work and where every experience adds to your professional development.
   
   At ICON, our focus is to provide you with a comprehensive and competitive total reward package that comprises, not only an excellent level of base pay, but also a wide range of variable pay and recognition programs. In addition, our best in class employee benefits, supportive policies and wellbeing initiatives are tailored to support you and your family at all stages of your career - both now, and into the future.
   
   ICON, including subsidiaries, is an equal opportunity and inclusive employer and is committed to providing a workplace free of discrimination and harassment. All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status.
   
   If, because of a medical condition or disability, you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application process, or in order to perform the essential functions of a position, please let us know.
   
   Not ready to apply? We get it! Click here to stay in touch for future opportunities, events and other happenings!

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5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find clinical scientists 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 scientist job on Zippia to find and recruit clinical scientist candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit clinical scientists, 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.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to 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 clinical scientist

   Once you've found the clinical scientist 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 scientist. 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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How much does it cost to hire a clinical scientist?