What does a scientific director do?
A scientific director is primarily in charge of spearheading and overseeing the researching programs in an institution, medical facility, or company. It is their duty to set goals and objectives, hire researchers and other experts, establish guidelines, liaise with sponsors and key personnel, and develop strategies to optimize laboratory procedures. Furthermore, as a scientific director, it is essential to lead and encourage the workforce to reach goals, all while implementing the policies and regulations of the organization, including its vision and mission.
Scientific director responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real scientific director resumes:
- Lead a team of 11 direct reports and 35 indirect reports to solve development problems for multicapillary electrophoresis instruments.
- Establish analytical and QC workflows for client data.
- Compose and submit grants and proposals to NIH and DOD
- Establish quantitative ELISA assay to assess goat antisera titers.
- Negotiate alliances with NIH, Biogen, Merck and other industry partners.
- Perform GC and HPLC analysis on starting materials, intermediates and finish products.
- Develop or optimize methods to be validate in accordance with ICH and cGMP guidelines.
- Develop HPLC and IC methods for the analysis of pharmaceutical, biological and environmental samples.
- Optimize processes for high- and medium-throughput assays to screen for potential small- molecule inhibitors of viral replication.
- Implement genotyping, gene sequencing, SNP testing, probe manufacture, contract research services, and FDA product release testing.
- Supervise analytical chemistry lab, comprising of scientists and technicians.
- Develop pharmacological mouse/rat models and tissue culture assays to progress drug candidates and/or targets.
- Design fully-functional modern immunology laboratory.
- Design fully-functional modern immunology laboratory.
Scientific director skills and personality traits
We calculated that 12% of Scientific Directors are proficient in Medical Affairs, Clinical Development, and Clinical Research. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Leadership skills, and Management skills.
We break down the percentage of Scientific Directors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Medical Affairs, 12%
Analyzed and interpreted scientific and clinical information for Commercial Operations, Medical Affairs, and Clinical Research teams.
- Clinical Development, 11%
Represented Field Medical on the Medical Product Team to guide clinical development via the Medical Product Plan.
- Clinical Research, 11%
Succeeded at bringing talented physicians and clinical researchers to advocate status.
- Pharmaceutical Industry, 10%
Worked directly with thought leaders in the development of pharmaceutical industry supported and non-supported CME programs.
- FDA, 9%
Represented clinical pharmacology at the FDA meetings and teleconferences on Overactive Bladder.
- Immunology, 7%
Designed fully-functional modern immunology laboratory.
"medical affairs," "clinical development," and "clinical research" are among the most common skills that scientific directors use at work. You can find even more scientific director responsibilities below, including:
Communication skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a scientific director to have is communication skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "medical scientists must be able to explain their research in nontechnical ways." Scientific directors often use communication skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "provided medical communications services including literature reviews, presentation development, and medical writing. "
The three companies that hire the most scientific directors are:
- Merck89 scientific directors jobs
- Johnson & Johnson56 scientific directors jobs
- Catalent Pharma Solutions22 scientific directors jobs
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Compare different scientific directors
Scientific director vs. Fellow
A fellow's responsibility will depend on the organization or industry where one belongs. However, most of the time, a fellow's duty will revolve around conducting research and analysis, presiding discussions and attending dialogues, handle lectures while complying with the guidelines or tasks set by supervisors, and assist in various projects and activities. Furthermore, a fellow must adhere to the institution or organization's policies and regulations at all times, meet all the requirements and outputs involved, and coordinate with every person in the workforce.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a scientific director are more likely to require skills like "medical affairs," "clinical development," "clinical research," and "pharmaceutical industry." On the other hand, a job as a fellow requires skills like "patients," "professional development," "veterans," and "mathematics." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Fellows really shine in the professional industry with an average salary of $67,978. Comparatively, scientific directors tend to make the most money in the pharmaceutical industry with an average salary of $118,962.fellows tend to reach similar levels of education than scientific directors. In fact, fellows are 1.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 24.7% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Scientific director vs. Research fellow
A research fellow is an academic researcher who conducts research and analysis of comprehensive literature, data, and results and provides literature reviews. He/She supervises research assistants and recruits study participants to interview them for a particular study. To become a research fellow, a candidate should have a doctorate in a relevant discipline and publish peer-reviewed papers. Also, a research fellow can be an independent investigator or be supervised by a principal investigator.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that scientific director responsibilities requires skills like "medical affairs," "clinical development," "clinical research," and "pharmaceutical industry." But a research fellow might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "patients," "cell culture," "crispr," and "cell biology."
On average, research fellows earn a lower salary than scientific directors. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, research fellows earn the most pay in the non profits industry with an average salary of $57,261. Whereas scientific directors have higher pay in the pharmaceutical industry, with an average salary of $118,962.research fellows earn similar levels of education than scientific directors in general. They're 3.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 24.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Scientific director vs. Phd researcher
The primary job of a Ph.D. researcher is to plan and conduct experiments and analyzing their outcome. You will collect, organize, and analyze data and opinions to solve issues and predict trends. Other tasks you will perform include doing fieldwork to collect samples, writing reports, research papers, and reviews, and organizing materials testing. In addition, you need to liaise with research and production staff, develop ways to resolve problems, and supervise junior research staff.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, scientific directors are more likely to have skills like "medical affairs," "clinical development," "clinical research," and "pharmaceutical industry." But a phd researcher is more likely to have skills like "python," "chemistry," "renewable energy," and "c++."
Phd researchers earn the highest salary when working in the technology industry, where they receive an average salary of $79,949. Comparatively, scientific directors have the highest earning potential in the pharmaceutical industry, with an average salary of $118,962.phd researchers typically earn similar educational levels compared to scientific directors. Specifically, they're 4.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.7% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Scientific director vs. Postdoctoral research associate
A postdoctoral research associate is responsible for assisting the educational institution's research department, writing research reports, analyzing research methods, and collecting information and related studies to support the research claims. Postdoctoral research associates must have excellent communication skills, both oral and written, reporting research updates to the research head, performing adjustments as needed, and gaining more expertise on the subject by brainstorming and discussing strategic procedures for the study. They may also conduct field investigation or coordinate with other institutions for additional reference, depending on the research's scope and limitation.
Types of scientific director
Updated January 8, 2025
