How To Become A Research Technician Lead: What It Is and Career Path

What is a research technician lead and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Helen Mango Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a research technician lead. For example, did you know that they make an average of $30.7 an hour? That's $63,864 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 9% and produce 7,700 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a research technician lead?

Helen Mango Ph.D.

Professor of Geology and Chemistry, Castleton University

Emphasize skills learned - field, laboratory, computer, writing.... Also, that geology is multi-disciplinary. It uses chemistry, physics, math, biology, tech.

ScoreResearch Technician LeadUS Average

Salary

5.0

Avg. Salary $63,864

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.9

Growth rate 9%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 2.18%

Asian 15.53%

Black or African American 11.69%

Hispanic or Latino 14.06%

Unknown 5.88%

White 50.65%

Gender

female 35.02%

male 64.98%

Age - 37

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 37

Stress level

4.9

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.8

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

8.1

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a research technician lead

Explore research technician lead education requirements

Most common research technician lead degrees

Bachelor's

61.7 %

Master's

16.1 %

Associate

10.9 %

Start to develop specific research technician lead skills

Skills	Percentages
Emerging Technologies	13.63%
Laboratory Equipment	12.29%
R	7.69%
Troubleshoot	7.25%
Independent Research	5.87%

Complete relevant research technician lead training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New research technician leads learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a research technician lead based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real research technician lead resumes.

Research research technician lead duties and responsibilities

General laboratory duties; coordinate maintenance of equipment, maintain ingredient and prototype inventory, manage shipping and receiving.
Train temporary staff and interns, create training materials, troubleshoot technical issues.
Develop, in collaboration with others, efficient methods for the sequencing of DNA.
Execute lab techniques, including protein complementation, PCR, ligations and high throughput robotics.

Prepare your research technician lead resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your research technician lead resume.

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