Contract chemist vs senior research chemist

The differences between contract chemists and senior research chemists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a senior research chemist has an average salary of $95,520, which is higher than the $67,064 average annual salary of a contract chemist.

The top three skills for a contract chemist include laboratory equipment, method development and R. The most important skills for a senior research chemist are R, chemistry, and product development.

Contract chemist vs senior research chemist overview

	Contract Chemist	Senior Research Chemist
Yearly salary	$67,064	$95,520
Hourly rate	$32.24	$45.92
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	11,286	55,511
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 84%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	-	-

Contract chemist vs senior research chemist salary

Contract chemists and senior research chemists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Contract Chemist	Senior Research Chemist
Average salary	$67,064	$95,520
Salary range	Between $44,000 And $100,000	Between $69,000 And $130,000
Highest paying City	-	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	-	Washington
Best paying company	-	Crunchbase
Best paying industry	-	Pharmaceutical

Differences between contract chemist and senior research chemist education

There are a few differences between a contract chemist and a senior research chemist in terms of educational background:

	Contract Chemist	Senior Research Chemist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 84%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Most common major	Chemistry	Chemistry
Most common college	University of Southern California	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Contract chemist vs senior research chemist demographics

Here are the differences between contract chemists' and senior research chemists' demographics:

	Contract Chemist	Senior Research Chemist
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 58.7% Female, 41.3%	Male, 79.1% Female, 20.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.7% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.3% Asian, 18.3% White, 59.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 6.5% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 27.5% White, 52.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	5%	5%

Differences between contract chemist and senior research chemist duties and responsibilities

Contract chemist example responsibilities.

Lead QA, engineering, and operations training events.
Develop HPLC methods for the analysis of drugs and relate substances in a GMP environment.
Analyze polymer materials using ASTM methods.
Review routine and validation projects under GMP guidelines.
Blend specialty carrier gases, complete GMP and safety checklists.
Log in samples into LIMS and generate reports for customers.

Senior research chemist example responsibilities.

Manage an analytical laboratory, which include SEM-EDS, GC-MS, GPC, FT-IR, ICP-MS, TGA and DSC equipment.
Conduct HPLC analysis of two main products to support equivalency programs.
Establish the fast HPLC column screening system and serve as super user.
Calculate amounts of unknown components of a distillation bottoms mixture using NMR.
Train over twenty plant operators and scientists to use the FTIR system.
Act as leading analyst to provide analytical services to several GMP API productions.

Contract chemist vs senior research chemist skills

Common contract chemist skills

Laboratory Equipment, 17%
Method Development, 13%
R, 10%
Analytical Data, 7%
HPLC, 7%
Ms, 4%

Common senior research chemist skills

R, 16%
Chemistry, 14%
Product Development, 8%
Analytical Laboratory, 6%
Organic Synthesis, 4%
Polymer, 4%

Contract Chemist vs. similar jobs

Contract Chemist related careers

Contract Chemist related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Life, Physical, and Social Science Industry
Contract Chemist
Contract Chemist vs Senior Research Chemist

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse life, physical, and social science jobs