How To Become A Senior Biologist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a senior biologist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted experts

Dr. Betsy Smith,

Louis Santiago Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a senior biologist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $31.8 an hour? That's $66,143 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 1% and produce 100 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a senior biologist?

Dr. Betsy Smith

Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Elmira College

I would advise students just graduating to be flexible and open-minded in their job search. Chemistry is a challenging major, and students who succeed in it have learned how to learn, so they shouldn't assume that pure chemistry is the only thing they can do. One growing field is biomedical research, and chemistry majors are often qualified for jobs in that area. If you have other strengths, like writing, there are often jobs that can combine them as a technical writer or work for a science journal. There are jobs out there that might be perfect for you that you haven't heard of until you see an ad for it, so be open to different possibilities.

ScoreSenior BiologistUS Average

Salary

5.2

Avg. Salary $66,143

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.2

Growth rate 1%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.71%

Asian 15.40%

Black or African American 3.03%

Hispanic or Latino 8.52%

Unknown 5.29%

White 67.05%

Gender

female 42.21%

male 57.79%

Age - 39

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 - 39

Stress level

5.2

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.6

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a senior biologist

Explore senior biologist education requirements

Most common senior biologist degrees

Bachelor's

73.0 %

Master's

16.0 %

Doctorate

5.5 %

Start to develop specific senior biologist skills

Skills	Percentages
Renewable Energy	28.26%
Data Collection	13.21%
Species ACT	9.91%
Research Projects	5.41%
Sops	4.11%

Research senior biologist duties and responsibilities

Lead teams involve in preclinical toxicity assessment of anticancer NCEs and establishment of GLP compliant toxicology division.
Design a bedbug assay used for GLP testing.
Assist in development of the GPS data dictionaries used for the project.
Participate in the design and implementation of genetic DNA contract research with NCI.

Get senior biologist experience

Generally, it takes 6-8 years to become a senior biologist. The most common roles before becoming a senior biologist include biologist, research assistant team lead and research associate.

Prepare your senior biologist resume

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