Human factors scientist vs staff scientist

The differences between human factors scientists and staff scientists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a human factors scientist and a staff scientist. Additionally, a staff scientist has an average salary of $93,941, which is higher than the $87,720 average annual salary of a human factors scientist.

The top three skills for a human factors scientist include human subjects, consumer products and data collection. The most important skills for a staff scientist are data analysis, research projects, and molecular biology.

Human factors scientist vs staff scientist overview

	Human Factors Scientist	Staff Scientist
Yearly salary	$87,720	$93,941
Hourly rate	$42.17	$45.16
Growth rate	10%	17%
Number of jobs	78,875	121,054
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 70%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Average age	42	41
Years of experience	4	4

What does a human factors scientist do?

A human factors scientist conducts analysis and research on human behavior. Depending on which industry they are in, they analyze human behavior relevant settings and apply that data. They also review technical data and scientific literature. They may serve as a technical consultant on some scientific boards or committees in the behavioral science field. They develop new methods and techniques to solve existential problems.

What does a staff scientist do?

The primary role of a Staff Scientist is to develop and manage scientific research projects with minimal supervision. They are also responsible for the technical and budgetary aspects of scientific research projects.

Human factors scientist vs staff scientist salary

Human factors scientists and staff scientists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Human Factors Scientist	Staff Scientist
Average salary	$87,720	$93,941
Salary range	Between $59,000 And $129,000	Between $63,000 And $137,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Redwood City, CA
Highest paying state	New Jersey	California
Best paying company	Amazon	Etsy
Best paying industry	-	Technology

Differences between human factors scientist and staff scientist education

There are a few differences between a human factors scientist and a staff scientist in terms of educational background:

	Human Factors Scientist	Staff Scientist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 70%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Most common major	Psychology	Chemistry
Most common college	Duke University	Duke University

Human factors scientist vs staff scientist demographics

Here are the differences between human factors scientists' and staff scientists' demographics:

	Human Factors Scientist	Staff Scientist
Average age	42	41
Gender ratio	Male, 55.0% Female, 45.0%	Male, 67.8% Female, 32.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.7% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 11.6% Asian, 11.2% White, 68.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 26.5% White, 53.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage	4%	8%

Differences between human factors scientist and staff scientist duties and responsibilities

Human factors scientist example responsibilities.

Develop and manage third party claim investigations and contractor remedial oversight for various insurance companies.
Recommend revision to policies in the handling and documentation of the FDA regulate investigational products.
Research methods include surveys, questionnaires, laboratory experiments, usability testing, task analyses, prototyping, and human-in-the-loop simulations.
Work with external vendor to ensure quality changes to GUI used by CSRs and agents.
Project manager for environmental assessments, geotechnical soils inspection, and materials testing contracts.

Staff scientist example responsibilities.

Lead efforts to replace a critical radioactive immunoassay with a non-radioactive format to measure clinical samples.
Manage clinical sample testing using MSD and ELISA in LIMS, including data review and approval using LIMS.
Assist in managing and maintenance of HPLC and Prep-HPLC systems to ensure maximum productivity for the process development group.
Manage pediatric dose development project, technology transfer project and alternate API supplier qualification project on budget and on schedule
Assist with RNA and DNA extractions from FFPE tissue and blood.
Supervise temps performing HPLC assays and validations during development and production campaigns under GMP conditions.

Human factors scientist vs staff scientist skills

Common human factors scientist skills

Human Subjects, 16%
Consumer Products, 8%
Data Collection, 7%
Statistical Analysis, 7%
User Experience, 7%
Data Analysis, 6%

Common staff scientist skills

Data Analysis, 9%
Research Projects, 7%
Molecular Biology, 5%
Next-Generation Sequencing, 4%
Statistical Analysis, 4%
RNA, 4%

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Human Factors Scientist vs Staff Scientist

Updated January 8, 2025

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