How to hire a clinical trials associate

How to hire a clinical trials associate, step by step

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

What does a clinical trials associate do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your clinical trials associate 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 trials associate 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?

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   Hiring the perfect clinical trials associate also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   This list presents clinical trials associate salaries for various positions.

   Type of Clinical Trials Associate	Description	Hourly rate
   Clinical Trials 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.	$22-58
   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
   Research Project Coordinator	Research Project Coordinators take on a lead role in maintaining and creating processes that support the execution of a research project. Their duties include researching governance requirements, preparing for contract bidding, manage budgeting of a project to meet a specified timeline, and present findings of a project to all stakeholders involved... Show more	$17-31

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Informed Consent
   • Patients
   • Clinical Operations
   • FDA
   • Consent Forms
   • TMF
   • IRB
   • Meeting Minutes
   • Ich
   • GCP
   • CRO
   • Oncology
   • Study Start-Up
   • Data Collection

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage trial master files and study document to meet GCP/ICH and internal guidelines for records retention.
   • Audit TMF to ensure all require regulatory documentation are collected and lead.
   • Work closely with investigators to recruit eligible patients to clinical protocols, manage data collection and preparation.
   • Preform ICF customization in accordance with ICH guidelines, GCP s and local regulatory requirements.
   • Support the setup, data entry and QC of the system to ensure accuracy and quality of data.
   • Monitor clinical data and resolve inconsistencies according to FDA regulations and ICF guidelines.

   More clinical trials associate duties

3. Make a budget

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

   • Location. For example, clinical trials associates' average salary in iowa is 46% less than in california.
   • Seniority. Entry-level clinical trials associates earn 62% less than senior-level clinical trials associates.
   • Certifications. A clinical trials associate 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 trials associate's salary.

   Average clinical trials associate salary

   $74,952yearly

   $36.03 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level clinical trials associate salary

   $46,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 22, 2026

   Average clinical trials associate salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$113,800	$55
   2	New York	$96,199	$46
   3	Massachusetts	$96,072	$46
   4	New Jersey	$95,191	$46
   5	Washington	$84,465	$41
   6	Illinois	$82,491	$40
   7	Delaware	$81,411	$39
   8	Maryland	$80,752	$39
   9	Georgia	$75,594	$36
   10	Pennsylvania	$72,246	$35
   11	Ohio	$70,709	$34
   12	North Carolina	$70,030	$34
   13	Wisconsin	$67,753	$33
   14	Utah	$67,343	$32
   15	District of Columbia	$66,117	$32
   16	Colorado	$64,782	$31
   17	Texas	$63,428	$30
   18	Indiana	$58,981	$28
   19	Iowa	$56,722	$27

   Average clinical trials associate salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Dorsey & Whitney	$140,725	$67.66
   2	Acorda Therapeutics	$134,047	$64.45
   3	Sarepta Therapeutics	$129,410	$62.22
   4	Merrimack Pharmaceuticals	$128,943	$61.99
   5	Verastem Oncology	$108,851	$52.33	1
   6	AbbVie	$104,218	$50.10	26
   7	Eli Lilly and Company	$101,715	$48.90	23
   8	Novartis	$101,411	$48.76	3
   9	AltaMed Health Services	$100,862	$48.49	6
   10	Gilead Sciences	$100,673	$48.40	7
   11	Parexel International	$97,260	$46.76	249
   12	Seagen	$92,202	$44.33
   13	ExecuPharm	$90,565	$43.54
   14	Ortho Clinical Diagnostics	$89,651	$43.10
   15	Amylyx	$83,787	$40.28
   16	Kaiser Permanente	$82,745	$39.78	179
   17	Siemens Healthineers	$82,325	$39.58
   18	Integrated Resources	$80,303	$38.61	133
   19	Randstad North America, Inc.	$79,346	$38.15
   20	UNICON International	$79,299	$38.12

4. Writing a clinical trials associate job description

   A clinical trials 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 trials associate job description:

   Clinical trials associate job description example

   The Project Leadership function at Parexel is a critical part of driving success for our clients and advancing clinical research projects. As a part of the Global Project Leadership organization, your work has a direct impact on the projects, teams, and clients you work with, helping to deliver projects to the benefit of the patients we serve.
   
   Parexel currently has Home Based Project Leadership opportunities at levels to fit your experience and career goals.
   .
   You will oversee all elements of the trial to ensure project deliverables and client satisfaction are executed to the highest standards. You will actively lead cross functional Parexel and client teams by combining deep clinical research experience with insight into client pressures to develop the right solutions for the clients. Your experience running global clinical trials across all phases will help you achieve operational excellence through on time and on budget delivery to the highest quality. As member of the Project Leadership team, your goal is to exceed client expectations, and help your team achieve success by serving as a role model and coach.
   
   The Global Project Leadership department has dedicated members at all levels who are aligned to work with specific types of clients and deliver solutions customized to fit those client’s needs, working on projects spanning across all phases of global clinical trials, in a wide array of therapeutic areas. Successful candidates possess an undergraduate degree in a clinical or health related field: advanced degree preferred, along with a minimum, 2+ years' experience leading Global Clinical Trials in Project Management within a CRO (preferred), Biotech or Pharma company. These positions also require experience in project scheduling, managing resources and budgets and coordinating team activities, as well as experience with the full clinical development process through regulatory submissions. Additional years of experience will be required for the more senior roles of Senior Project Leader, Associate Project Director and Project Director.
   
   To excel in this role, flexibility, problem solving capabilities and strategic vision are qualities that propel our Project Leadership team member’s growth. In addition, you need to be detailed-oriented, computer proficient and possess superior interpersonal and organizational skills.
   
   Employment is contingent on disclosure of your COVID-19 vaccination status and, if relevant, proof of vaccination
   #LI-REMOTE

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right clinical trials associate for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with clinical trials associates they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit clinical trials associates who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

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

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting clinical trials 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 trials associate

   Once you've selected the best clinical trials associate candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   To prepare for the new clinical trials associate first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

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 trials associate?