Principal chemist vs chemist, development

The differences between principal chemists and chemists, development can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a principal chemist has an average salary of $74,065, which is higher than the $71,571 average annual salary of a chemist, development.

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

Principal chemist vs chemist, development overview

	Principal Chemist	Chemist, Development
Yearly salary	$74,065	$71,571
Hourly rate	$35.61	$34.41
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	42,121	57,547
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 73%	Bachelor's Degree, 80%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	-	-

What does a principal chemist do?

Principal chemists require a bachelor's or master's degree, or even a doctorate, with a post-doctoral fellowship to gain hands-on experience doing research and chemistry, math, science, communication, problem-solving, and analytical skills. They will be expected to conduct quantitative and qualitative experiments on chemical substances for quality control, as well as develop new products or knowledge about said products, and conduct a battery of experiments on organic and inorganic compounds.

What does a chemist, development do?

A development chemist is responsible for delivering products that are specially created for a customer. You will be responsible for conducting qualitative and quantitative chemical analyses for process or quality control. Other tasks that you will perform include researching chemical substances, conducting laboratory experiments, and evaluating the effects of chemical compounds in different situations. Additionally, you will be responsible for determining chemical properties by analyzing compounds and helping resolve quality issues. As a development chemist, you are also responsible for evaluating safety procedures in laboratories and maintaining laboratory equipment.

Principal chemist vs chemist, development salary

Principal chemists and chemists, development have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Principal Chemist	Chemist, Development
Average salary	$74,065	$71,571
Salary range	Between $52,000 And $105,000	Between $46,000 And $109,000
Highest paying City	Richland, WA	Kingsport, TN
Highest paying state	Washington	Washington
Best paying company	Edwards Lifesciences	FutureFuel
Best paying industry	-	Health Care

Differences between principal chemist and chemist, development education

There are a few differences between a principal chemist and a chemist, development in terms of educational background:

	Principal Chemist	Chemist, Development
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 73%	Bachelor's Degree, 80%
Most common major	Chemistry	Chemistry
Most common college	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Principal chemist vs chemist, development demographics

Here are the differences between principal chemists' and chemists, development' demographics:

	Principal Chemist	Chemist, Development
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 72.6% Female, 27.4%	Male, 65.1% Female, 34.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 5.8% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.5% Asian, 29.2% White, 51.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	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%
LGBT Percentage	5%	5%

Differences between principal chemist and chemist, development duties and responsibilities

Principal chemist example responsibilities.

Accomplish ISO and CFR certifications for laboratory operations.
Ensure compliance with regulate standards to comply with FDA regulations.
Train individuals on dissolution, HPLC, and other general analytical techniques.
Implement systems and procedures per FDA guidance, ICH requirements, and CFR regulations.
Establish statistical quality controls in the laboratory to bring data and laboratory practices in compliance with ISO regulations.
Evaluate efficacy of extraction solvents and dosing methodology for soil degradation studies, determining reduction of chemical compounds in control environment.

Chemist, development example responsibilities.

Manage an analytical laboratory, which include SEM-EDS, GC-MS, GPC, FT-IR, ICP-MS, TGA and DSC equipment.
Involve in FDA, vendor and foreign agencies audits and knowledgeable in USP and GMP regulations.
Work with analytical instruments such as FTIR, DSC, and TGA.
Follow all ISO quality and environmental standards as provided in the various procedural manuals.
Enhance operational performance by training lab technicians and chemists in protein dialysis, HPLC analysis, and formulation process.
Design, fabricate and operate pilot-scale synthesis and purification equipment for GMP API syntheses (contract and salary).

Principal chemist vs chemist, development skills

Common principal chemist skills

Analytical Chemistry, 13%
R, 10%
Product Development, 6%
HPLC, 6%
Sops, 5%
USP, 5%

Common chemist, development skills

Laboratory Equipment, 12%
Method Development, 11%
R, 10%
Product Development, 7%
HPLC, 6%
GMP, 4%

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Principal Chemist vs Chemist, Development

Updated January 8, 2025

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