Principal chemist vs process chemist

The differences between principal chemists and process chemists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a process chemist has an average salary of $81,542, which is higher than the $74,065 average annual salary of a principal chemist.

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

Principal chemist vs process chemist overview

	Principal Chemist	Process Chemist
Yearly salary	$74,065	$81,542
Hourly rate	$35.61	$39.20
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	42,121	29,813
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 73%	Bachelor's Degree, 76%
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 process chemist do?

Process chemists are lab professionals who perform qualitative and quantitative analyses of chemicals in laboratories for quality control or to develop new products. These chemists are required to develop synthetic plans and run experiments to test their suitability for large-scale use. They must use different analytical methods and modeling software to monitor the reaction processes of chemicals as well as determine how changes in the process affect the final product. Process chemists must also be familiar with regulations from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA).

Principal chemist vs process chemist salary

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

	Principal Chemist	Process Chemist
Average salary	$74,065	$81,542
Salary range	Between $52,000 And $105,000	Between $54,000 And $121,000
Highest paying City	Richland, WA	Wilmington, DE
Highest paying state	Washington	Delaware
Best paying company	Edwards Lifesciences	Bio-Rad Laboratories
Best paying industry	-	Manufacturing

Differences between principal chemist and process chemist education

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

	Principal Chemist	Process Chemist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 73%	Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Most common major	Chemistry	Chemistry
Most common college	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	University of Southern California

Principal chemist vs process chemist demographics

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

	Principal Chemist	Process Chemist
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 72.6% Female, 27.4%	Male, 77.3% Female, 22.7%
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, 20.5% White, 57.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	5%	5%

Differences between principal chemist and process 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.

Process chemist example responsibilities.

Manage synthesis and production of specialty chemicals for carpet and textile industry.
Support new, modify and existing chemical processes by developing and validating HPLC and GC methods with a rapid turnaround time.
Analyze unknown materials with FTIR, Raman, and SEM-EDS.
Display improving working knowledge of business processes as they relate to GMP manufacturing.
Create titration solution and other solutions such as stock solutions used in analysis.
Show a desire to learn about and understand advance chemistry principles underlying project assignments.

Principal chemist vs process chemist skills

Common principal chemist skills

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

Common process chemist skills

Lab Equipment, 7%
HPLC, 6%
R, 5%
GMP, 5%
NMR, 4%
Sigma, 4%

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Principal Chemist vs Process Chemist

Updated January 8, 2025

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