Post job

Principal scientist vs scientist

The differences between principal scientists and scientists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a principal scientist and a scientist. Additionally, a principal scientist has an average salary of $119,982, which is higher than the $97,344 average annual salary of a scientist.

The top three skills for a principal scientist include oncology, data analysis and drug discovery. The most important skills for a scientist are chemistry, data analysis, and patients.

Principal scientist vs scientist overview

Principal ScientistScientist
Yearly salary$119,982$97,344
Hourly rate$57.68$46.80
Growth rate17%17%
Number of jobs80,89962,467
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 51%Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Average age4141
Years of experience44

What does a principal scientist do?

A Principal Scientist is focused on leading scientific teams and conducting research. They ensure that their teams have the resources to properly perform research tasks.

What does a scientist do?

A scientist is responsible for researching and analyzing the nature and complexities of the physical world to identify discoveries that would improve people's lives and ignite scientific knowledge for society. Scientists' duties differ in their different areas of expertise, but all of them must have a broad comprehension of scientific disciplines and methods to support their experiments and investigations. They collect the sample for their research, record findings, create research proposals, and release publications. A scientist must know how to utilize laboratory equipment to support the study and drive results efficiently and accurately.

Principal scientist vs scientist salary

Principal scientists and scientists have different pay scales, as shown below.

Principal ScientistScientist
Average salary$119,982$97,344
Salary rangeBetween $84,000 And $169,000Between $67,000 And $140,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CARedwood City, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaCalifornia
Best paying companyPayPalAirbnb
Best paying industryFinanceTechnology

Differences between principal scientist and scientist education

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

Principal ScientistScientist
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 51%Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Most common majorChemistryChemistry
Most common collegeDuke UniversityUniversity of Southern California

Principal scientist vs scientist demographics

Here are the differences between principal scientists' and scientists' demographics:

Principal ScientistScientist
Average age4141
Gender ratioMale, 76.8% Female, 23.2%Male, 56.9% Female, 43.1%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 6.3% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.6% Asian, 26.4% White, 53.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%Black or African American, 6.5% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 26.3% White, 53.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage8%8%

Differences between principal scientist and scientist duties and responsibilities

Principal scientist example responsibilities.

  • Manage pediatric dose development project, technology transfer project and alternate API supplier qualification project on budget and on schedule
  • Provide development of and line support for assign immunoassay reagents, calibrators and controls.
  • Transfer controls to manufacturing for product launch and include all require studies, testing and documentation under GMP guidelines.
  • Maintain several lab documents for ISO certification.
  • Understand drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics and design stable molecules.
  • Image visualization and manipulation of background plates for animation and post-processing.
  • Show more

Scientist example responsibilities.

  • Lead a cross-functional team to return an HIV combination product to market on random-access instrument.
  • Design the VERIS HIV-1 quantitative PCR assay which achieve Conformit Europ enne (CE) marking.
  • Manage an elemental analytical laboratory that include operating, maintaining and troubleshooting an ICP-OES, ICPMS, MXRF, and IC.
  • Develop and manage third party claim investigations and contractor remedial oversight for various insurance companies.
  • Manage study protocols and study conduct, intimately involve in the toxicology and pharmacokinetic study protocol development process.
  • Manage sample inventory via in-house laboratory information management system (LIMS) and implement additional systems for sample and chemical organization.
  • Show more

Principal scientist vs scientist skills

Common principal scientist skills
  • Oncology, 7%
  • Data Analysis, 6%
  • Drug Discovery, 5%
  • GMP, 3%
  • Experimental Design, 3%
  • Clinical Trials, 3%
Common scientist skills
  • Chemistry, 9%
  • Data Analysis, 7%
  • Patients, 7%
  • Molecular Biology, 4%
  • Cell Culture, 4%
  • Java, 3%

Browse life, physical, and social science jobs