How to hire a formulation scientist

How to hire a formulation scientist, step by step

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

What does a formulation scientist do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a formulation scientist, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

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

   This list shows salaries for various types of formulation scientists.

   Type of Formulation Scientist	Description	Hourly rate
   Formulation Scientist	Medical scientists conduct research aimed at improving overall human health. They often use clinical trials and other investigative methods to reach their findings.	$30-60
   Research Chemist	A research chemist specializes in conducting studies and experiments to develop new products. Their duties primarily focus on conducting research and assessments, gathering and analyzing chemical samples, developing ideas, conducting tests to study chemical reactions, maintaining records of all procedures, and utilizing previous studies... Show more	$25-51
   Chemist	Chemists are generally responsible for observing and investigating chemical substances to create new and safe compounds essential for practical applications. They are often grouped depending on a particular area of specialization to focus and understand the complexities of the matter... Show more	$22-43

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Dosage Forms
   • Scale-Up
   • GMP
   • QC
   • Drug Products
   • HPLC
   • R
   • FDA
   • CMC
   • Technical Reports
   • Stability Studies
   • Project Management
   • DSC
   • Analytical Methods

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage sample inventory via in-house laboratory information management system (LIMS) and implement additional systems for sample and chemical organization.
   • Gather experience on the FDA, ICH, cGMP guidelines.
   • Detail orientate techniques in compliance with FDA regulations with GLP guelines.
   • Develop nasal formulations and prepare several batches under GLP and cGMP for preclinical and clinical studies.
   • Conduct numerous transfers of analytical methods from NVO (Holland) and QC laboratory for various projects (Solids/Parenterals).
   • Perform API testing for batch releases.

   More formulation scientist duties

3. Make a budget

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

   • Location. For example, formulation scientists' average salary in hawaii is 55% less than in california.
   • Seniority. Entry-level formulation scientists earn 50% less than senior-level formulation scientists.
   • Certifications. A formulation 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 formulation scientist's salary.

   Average formulation scientist salary

   $90,067yearly

   $43.30 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level formulation scientist salary

   $63,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 15, 2025

   Average formulation scientist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$128,608	$62
   2	Minnesota	$106,136	$51
   3	Indiana	$102,870	$49
   4	Arizona	$97,450	$47
   5	New Jersey	$93,912	$45
   6	Massachusetts	$93,884	$45
   7	Illinois	$93,326	$45
   8	Colorado	$89,595	$43
   9	Maryland	$87,747	$42
   10	Pennsylvania	$82,496	$40
   11	New York	$81,799	$39
   12	West Virginia	$80,090	$39
   13	Missouri	$74,641	$36
   14	North Carolina	$73,484	$35
   15	Alabama	$71,633	$34
   16	Florida	$63,717	$31

   Average formulation scientist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	BioMarin	$108,091	$51.97	4
   2	Ironwood Pharmaceuticals	$105,427	$50.69
   3	Alkermes	$104,649	$50.31	2
   4	PTC Therapeutics	$104,269	$50.13	8
   5	Sutro Biopharma	$103,842	$49.92
   6	Ashland	$103,306	$49.67	8
   7	AbbVie	$103,134	$49.58	67
   8	Bayer	$101,775	$48.93	52
   9	Promega	$101,548	$48.82	4
   10	NovaBay Pharmaceuticals	$100,970	$48.54
   11	Corteva	$98,705	$47.45	3
   12	Intellia Therapeutics	$98,343	$47.28
   13	DuPont	$97,347	$46.80	4
   14	Regeneron	$97,292	$46.77	35
   15	Vertex Pharmaceuticals	$97,170	$46.72	7
   16	Nesher Pharmaceuticals	$97,116	$46.69
   17	PII Holdings Inc	$96,396	$46.34
   18	Pfizer	$95,657	$45.99	44
   19	Product Quest	$95,493	$45.91
   20	Valent U.S.A	$95,454	$45.89	1

4. Writing a formulation scientist job description

   A job description for a formulation scientist role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a formulation scientist job description:

   Formulation scientist job description example

   The incumbent will perform & coordinate developmental/experimental activities to support R&D activities in the research, preclinical within the research department supporting new formulation and process development. Will be a member of the extended project team and contribute in the lab as well as in technical documentation of activities, both in a notebook and online technical reports.
   Major Job Functions
   Designs and executes formulation, compatibility, and process studies to support phase appropriate development of NBPI’ s drug product portfolio. Duties will include, but not limited to design of programs, evaluation of data, recommendations on strategy, and authoring reports. Prepares technical reports and makes recommendations to senior management based on research outcomes. Manages and authors appropriate development reports and other documents for internal use and support of regulatory filings. Supports project activities and collaborates with colleagues in performing formulation, compatibility, and analytical studies as needed. Supports the organization in maintaining a safe working environment focused on quality and that fosters learning, respect, open communication, collaboration, integration, and teamwork. Sustains expertise and proficiency in parenteral drug product development. Sustains knowledge of formulation, process development. Sustains written and verbal communication skills to effectively interface across functional teams and present technical concepts and results. Sustains ability to identify and resolves critical issues, implement technical and operational plans. Sustains problem-solving skills and demonstrate good judgment and decision-making experience.
   
   Education, Licensure and/or Experience
   Academic qualifications (Ph.D. 3-5 years) in chemistry, bioengineering, chemical engineering or a closely related discipline. Formulation and product development experience (5 years) with drug delivery systems, biophysical, and molecular biology techniques. Hands-on experience with liposome or nanoparticle drug delivery systems. Basic knowledge of GMP and regulatory CMC. You will plan and perform laboratory formulation development and scale up experiments. Detail oriented and a highly meticulous laboratory approach.
   
   Preferred Qualifications
   Liposomal si RNA/mRNA/mi RNA/drug delivery experience. Familiarity with stages of the product development and cGMP concept. Knowledge of analytical methods for testing lipid nanoparticles. Understanding of the in-vitro and in-vivo experiments used for screening for candidate formulation. Knowledge of delivery systems incorporating polymers, conjugates and small molecules.
   
   Physical Job Requirements:
   Office/Lab environment. Lifting up to 20 pounds may be required. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to use their hands and fingers to operate a computer keyboard, mouse, and telephone keypad or to write, as well as talk and hear. They are required to stand, walk or sit, reach with hands and arms, stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to focus P-OCE-03

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5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right formulation scientist for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

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

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting formulation 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.

   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 formulation scientist

   Once you've decided on a perfect formulation 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.

   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.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new formulation 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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