Principal chemist vs field chemist

The differences between principal chemists and field chemists 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 $66,162 average annual salary of a field chemist.

The top three skills for a principal chemist include analytical chemistry, R and product development. The most important skills for a field chemist are CDL, non-hazardous waste, and customer sites.

Principal chemist vs field chemist overview

	Principal Chemist	Field Chemist
Yearly salary	$74,065	$66,162
Hourly rate	$35.61	$31.81
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	42,121	51,922
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 73%	Bachelor's Degree, 82%
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 field chemist do?

Field chemists are scientists responsible for researching reactions that occur between different substances and creating procedures for safe handling of those substances by individuals, businesses, or factories. They are involved in gathering research data, implementing regulatory standards for hazardous substances, and assisting with the clean-up process for incidents such as spills. The data gathered is used to help develop new products for use in hazardous waste management, medicine, manufacturing, and other industries.

Principal chemist vs field chemist salary

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

	Principal Chemist	Field Chemist
Average salary	$74,065	$66,162
Salary range	Between $52,000 And $105,000	Between $43,000 And $101,000
Highest paying City	Richland, WA	-
Highest paying state	Washington	-
Best paying company	Edwards Lifesciences	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between principal chemist and field chemist education

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

	Principal Chemist	Field Chemist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 73%	Bachelor's Degree, 82%
Most common major	Chemistry	Chemistry
Most common college	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	University of California, Berkeley

Principal chemist vs field chemist demographics

Here are the differences between principal chemists' and field chemists' demographics:

	Principal Chemist	Field Chemist
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 72.6% Female, 27.4%	Male, 82.6% Female, 17.4%
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, 8.1% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.5% Asian, 18.1% White, 59.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	5%	5%

Differences between principal chemist and field chemist 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.

Field chemist example responsibilities.

Manage and audit projects to ensure compliance of state, federal and OSHA regulations.
Manage projects involving the development of GC/MS methods, particle collection systems, and Raman spectral database creation.
Achieve and maintain ISO 9001-2000 certification by creating and implementing policies and serving as management representative.
Utilize analytic testing on new compounds using the following techniques: GC-MS, HPLC and ICP.
Test products for QC using standard procedures.
Analyze air samples by HPLC following EPA methods.

Principal chemist vs field chemist skills

Common principal chemist skills

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

Common field chemist skills

CDL, 39%
Non-Hazardous Waste, 7%
Customer Sites, 7%
Household Hazardous Waste, 6%
OSHA, 5%
Laboratory Equipment, 5%

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Principal Chemist vs Field Chemist

Updated January 8, 2025

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