How To Become A Lead Research Specialist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a lead research specialist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Anthony Miller

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a lead research specialist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $24.74 an hour? That's $51,452 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 19% and produce 150,300 job opportunities across the U.S.

What's a day at work look like for a lead research specialist?

Anthony Miller

Assistant Professor of History, Hanover College

Honestly, right now a recent graduate's "day at work" for one day to the next will likely not look the same. I think it should be expected that recent graduates will spend one day working remotely from the home, and the next be called into workspace with their colleagues face-to-face. Recent graduates will also likely have their jobs go from having no travel at present, to a time in the near future when work trips will be a regular expectation from their employer. The one feature that I would expect to be a regular, day-to-day, part of the job would be continuing education to learn new platforms and technologies to enhance their performance at work. So, spending an hour or two each day researching or acquiring new skills, that is something that I think will become a daily routine.

ScoreLead Research SpecialistUS Average

Salary

4.0

Avg. Salary $51,452

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.9

Growth rate 19%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.13%

Asian 14.03%

Black or African American 4.69%

Hispanic or Latino 11.14%

Unknown 4.88%

White 65.12%

Gender

female 64.43%

male 35.57%

Age - 34

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 34

Stress level

4.9

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.2

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.6

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a lead research specialist

Explore lead research specialist education requirements

Most common lead research specialist degrees

Bachelor's

57.7 %

Master's

21.1 %

Associate

10.6 %

Start to develop specific lead research specialist skills

Skills	Percentages
Laboratory Tests	15.86%
Experimental Procedures	12.87%
Laboratory Techniques	12.67%
Laboratory Processes	9.94%
Complex Research	9.44%

Complete relevant lead research specialist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New lead research specialists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a lead research specialist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real lead research specialist resumes.

Research lead research specialist duties and responsibilities

Lead social path-to-purchase study, incorporating social media analytics into insight community to identify spectrum of social engagement among customers.
Used traditional PCR methods for genotyping.
Utilize enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to identify and measure HIV-1 infection.
Understand and present macro and micro economics and financial concepts and advances impacting small and mid-size manufacturing businesses in California.

Prepare your lead research specialist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your lead research specialist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a lead research specialist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable lead research specialist resume templates

Build a professional lead research specialist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your lead research specialist resume.

Apply for lead research specialist jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a lead research specialist job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do lead research specialists rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Lead research specialist reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2020

Pros

It's all about getting data, follow up on project, ensuring that jobs are done properly, write reports after a project is done. You travel if the job or project you're handling is out station.