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.
Principal chemist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real principal chemist resumes:
- 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.
- Conduct weekly titration tests at production plants to ensure products are performing effectively.
- Remain up-to-date on chemical hygiene plan and HSE laboratory safety standards.
Principal chemist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 13% of Principal Chemists are proficient in Analytical Chemistry, R, and Product Development. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Communication skills, and Interpersonal skills.
We break down the percentage of Principal Chemists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Analytical Chemistry, 13%
served as a resource for problem solving related to analytical chemistry sample handling and analysis difficulties.
- R, 10%
Used R, SSL, and SQL programming to identify and fix multiple processing and GUI problems with StarLIMS v9.
- Product Development, 6%
Coordinate analytical activities in support of new product development as well as existing product support.
- HPLC, 6%
Implemented a screening program to evaluate relative protein binding affinities for Discovery programs using immobilized protein HPLC columns.
- Sops, 5%
Write necessary technical reports for clients, investigations and departmental SOPs.
- USP, 5%
Performed instrumental and wet chemical analysis of raw materials and finished products for stability and experimental purposes according to USP methods.
Common skills that a principal chemist uses to do their job include "analytical chemistry," "r," and "product development." You can find details on the most important principal chemist responsibilities below.
Analytical skills. The most essential soft skill for a principal chemist to carry out their responsibilities is analytical skills. This skill is important for the role because "chemists and materials scientists need to evaluate the results of experiments to ensure accuracy in their research." Additionally, a principal chemist resume shows how their duties depend on analytical skills: "evaluate existing and new technologies (mainly analytical instrumentation) in support of growth projects and manufacturing. "
Communication skills. Many principal chemist duties rely on communication skills. "chemists and materials scientists must be able to convey information clearly in reports and presentations for both technical and nontechnical audiences.," so a principal chemist will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways principal chemist responsibilities rely on communication skills: "utilized on a daily basis for data analysis, recording, and timely communication with other departments. "
Interpersonal skills. principal chemists are also known for interpersonal skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to principal chemist responsibilities, because "chemists and materials scientists typically work on teams and need to be cooperative." A principal chemist resume example shows how interpersonal skills is used in the workplace: "demonstrated interpersonal skills by working with medicinal chemists to solve chemistry problems inherent in scale-up of organic reactions. "
Math skills. A big part of what principal chemists do relies on "math skills." You can see how essential it is to principal chemist responsibilities because "chemists and materials scientists regularly use calculus, algebra, statistics, and other math for calculations." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical principal chemist tasks: "computed vibrational spectra of fluorocarbons to enable quantitative ir analysis methods. "
Organizational skills. Another crucial skill for a principal chemist to carry out their responsibilities is "organizational skills." A big part of what principal chemists relies on this skill, since "chemists and materials scientists must document processes carefully when conducting experiments, tracking outcomes, and analyzing results." How this skill relates to principal chemist duties can be seen in an example from a principal chemist resume snippet: "well versed in implementing standard operating procedures, organizational policies, and analytical methodologies accurately and consistently. "
Problem-solving skills. Another skill commonly found on principal chemist job descriptions is "problem-solving skills." It can come up quite often in principal chemist duties, since "chemists’ and materials scientists’ work involves posing questions during research and finding answers through results." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day principal chemist responsibilities: "trained individuals on dissolution, hplc, and other general analytical techniques. "
The three companies that hire the most principal chemists are:
- Amgen1 principal chemists jobs
- Ecolab1 principal chemists jobs
- Edwards Lifesciences1 principal chemists jobs
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Compare different principal chemists
Principal chemist vs. Chemist, development
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.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, principal chemist responsibilities require skills like "analytical chemistry," "laboratory practices," "communicate results," and "sops." Meanwhile a typical chemist, development has skills in areas such as "laboratory equipment," "method development," "technical support," and "analytical procedures." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
On average, chemists, development reach similar levels of education than principal chemists. Chemists, development are 2.7% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 10.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Principal chemist vs. Wet chemistry analyst
A research and development chemist primarily works at laboratories to conduct extensive tests and experiments aiming to develop new products and technologies. Although the extent of their duties may vary, it typically revolves around conducting research and studies, observing chemical reactions, maintaining records and databases, collaborating with fellow experts, and identifying the strengths and weaknesses of existing components or mixtures. They can find employment in different areas, such as manufacturing companies, private laboratories, government agencies, and even education.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that principal chemist responsibilities requires skills like "analytical chemistry," "r," "laboratory practices," and "communicate results." But a wet chemistry analyst might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "wet chemistry," "analytical methods," "laboratory equipment," and "lims."
In general, wet chemistry analysts achieve similar levels of education than principal chemists. They're 3.9% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 10.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for principal chemists in the next 3-5 years?
Dr. Betsy Smith
Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Elmira College
Principal chemist vs. Research and development chemist
A Quality Control Chemist uses chemistry lab skills to test and measure materials, usually in a manufacturing or pharmaceutical field. They analyze samples using scientific equipment, prepare study protocols, collect data, and identify and investigate abnormal test results.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a principal chemist is likely to be skilled in "analytical chemistry," "laboratory practices," "communicate results," and "sops," while a typical research and development chemist is skilled in "laboratory equipment," "analytical methods," "synthesis," and "d chemist."
Research and development chemists typically earn similar educational levels compared to principal chemists. Specifically, they're 4.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 9.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Principal chemist vs. Quality control chemist
Types of principal chemist
Updated January 8, 2025
