How to hire a drug safety scientist

How to hire a drug safety scientist, step by step

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

What does a drug safety scientist do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The drug safety scientist hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

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

   Here's a comparison of drug safety scientist salaries for various roles:

   Type of Drug Safety Scientist	Description	Hourly rate
   Drug Safety Scientist	Medical scientists conduct research aimed at improving overall human health. They often use clinical trials and other investigative methods to reach their findings.	$32-72
   Fellow	A fellow's responsibility will depend on the organization or industry where one belongs. However, most of the time, a fellow's duty will revolve around conducting research and analysis, presiding discussions and attending dialogues, handle lectures while complying with the guidelines or tasks set by supervisors, and assist in various projects and activities... Show more	$22-44
   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:

   • Chemistry
   • Drug Discovery
   • Drug Safety
   • Safety Data
   • FDA
   • Drug Metabolism
   • Regulatory Authorities
   • Signal Detection
   • Data Entry
   • Drug Candidates
   • Immunology
   • Risk Management
   • LC/MS
   • MedDRA

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Implement and manage robotic workstations and large platform Zymark robot for HTS.
   • Manage compliance issues, and provide feedback for risk assessments within safety/regulatory regulations for FDA reporting.
   • Assist in preparation of aggregate reports (DSUR, PSUR's and PBRER).
   • Collaborate with external medicinal chemistry consultants to determine and track SAR of compounds.
   • Represent toxicology and drug safety on CNS drug development team with chemistry, biology and toxicokinetic counterparts.
   • Train new technicians on extraction techniques.

   More drug safety scientist duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your drug safety scientist job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A drug safety scientist can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, drug safety scientists' average salary in missouri is 61% less than in california.
   • Seniority. Entry-level drug safety scientists 55% less than senior-level drug safety scientists.
   • Certifications. A drug safety scientist with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a drug safety scientist's salary.

   Average drug safety scientist salary

   $101,897yearly

   $48.99 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level drug safety scientist salary

   $68,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 5, 2025

   Average drug safety scientist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$144,228	$69
   2	New Jersey	$109,657	$53
   3	Massachusetts	$105,401	$51
   4	Connecticut	$104,040	$50
   5	Maryland	$98,511	$47
   6	Washington	$89,622	$43
   7	Pennsylvania	$83,717	$40
   8	New York	$83,254	$40
   9	Wisconsin	$72,534	$35
   10	Illinois	$71,774	$35
   11	North Carolina	$69,928	$34
   12	Colorado	$69,921	$34
   13	Florida	$65,547	$32
   14	Texas	$61,829	$30
   15	Missouri	$50,959	$25

   Average drug safety scientist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	NVIDIA	$136,756	$65.75	30
   2	Genentech	$127,840	$61.46	54
   3	Amgen	$121,595	$58.46	86
   4	Amazon	$118,859	$57.14	813
   5	Vertex Pharmaceuticals	$113,898	$54.76	5
   6	Pharmacyclics	$110,666	$53.20
   7	Bristol-Myers Squibb	$110,428	$53.09	51
   8	Novartis	$110,223	$52.99	11
   9	AstraZeneca	$109,567	$52.68	28
   10	Boehringer Ingelheim	$107,964	$51.91	12
   11	Pharmaceutical Research Associates, Inc.	$105,198	$50.58	1
   12	The Fountain Group	$101,689	$48.89
   13	Johnson & Johnson	$100,373	$48.26	146
   14	Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc.	$100,314	$48.23	55
   15	UNICON International	$99,981	$48.07
   16	Grifols	$98,378	$47.30	23
   17	AbSci	$96,880	$46.58	1
   18	Edgewise Therapeutics	$96,312	$46.30
   19	Akebia Therapeutics	$96,075	$46.19	3
   20	Syngenta	$95,401	$45.87	5

4. Writing a drug safety scientist job description

   A drug safety scientist 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 drug safety scientist job description:

   Drug safety scientist job description example

   Receives, assesses, investigates, processes, and reports adverse drug events regarding company drug products in accordance with SOPs and FDA regulations and guidelines. Participates in global data exchange with Fresenius Kabi entities and other Fresenius Kabi USA partners. Interacts with the Quality and Regulatory Departments to resolve safety and quality issues.
   Responsibilities
   
   Reviews, assesses and processes adverse drug events.Reviews and assesses the medical literature for adverse drug event case reports. Assist the global Adis Coordinator as required, ensuring alert settings and literature search profile in the Adis database is up to date.Participates in the preparation of adverse event Periodic Adverse Drug Experience Reports (PADER), Periodic Safety Update Reports (PSUR), and expedited case reports.Maintains current knowledge of applicable local and global regulations, standard operating procedures, and guidelines. Maintains an in-depth understanding of product knowledge, labeling, and relevant data for company products. Maintains knowledge of all pertinent regulatory safety publications.Interacts with the Quality and Regulatory Departments to resolve safety and quality issues.
   
   RequirementsMedical/clinical professional degree required i.e., PharmD, RPh, RN degree. Minimum 3 years of drug safety and adverse drug event reporting experience required. Pharmaceutical industry experience preferred.Experience with preparation of adverse event Periodic Adverse Drug Experience Reports (PADER), or Periodic Safety Update Reports (PSUR) is preferred.Clinical/hospital experience preferred.Ability to understand and interpret federal regulations and company operating procedures as they apply to medically complex adverse drug events and determine whether the events suggest a product quality issue.Ability to gather data from multiple sources and references and formulate a medically-appropriate case narrative.Ability to interpret large amounts of safety and quality-related data and recognize/identify potential health hazards (signal detection).Must be able to prioritize and multi-task with minimal supervision,and participate in peer-review process when processing product complaints and adverse drug events.Knowledge of PC systems and Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel) required. Lotus Notes experience preferred.
   
   Medical Benefits Effective First Day of Employment
   
   We offer an excellent salary and benefits package including medical, dental and vision coverage, as well as life insurance, disability, 401K with company match, and wellness program.
   
   Fresenius Kabi is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, citizenship, immigration status, disabilities, or protected veteran status.
   
   Additional Information
   
   We offer an excellent salary and benefits package including medical, dental and vision coverage, as well as life insurance, disability, 401K with company match, and wellness program.
   
   Fresenius Kabi is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, citizenship, immigration status, disabilities, or protected veteran status.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

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

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting drug safety scientists 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.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete 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 drug safety scientist

   Once you've decided on a perfect drug safety scientist candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   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.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new drug safety scientist. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

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 drug safety scientist?