A senior clinical research associate is responsible for the management of all clinical activities involved in clinical studies and trials. They handle the day-to-day operations of the clinical investigative phase of drug development. They supervise a team of clinical research associates in conducting research studies and the ultimate design and implementation of clinical trials. They perform studies and trials on medication and medical procedures and evaluate their benefits and risks before they are released to the market.

Senior clinical research associates work closely with other research professionals to share results and agree on conclusions. They usually work in hospitals, research companies, pharmaceutical companies, universities, and government agencies. A successful senior clinical research associate should have proficiency in clinical research, analytical skills, research skills, attention to detail, organization skills and communication skills.

Senior clinical research associates mostly work in a laboratory setting. They work 40 hours a week. The role involves occasional travel to clinical sites.

What Does a Senior Clinical Research Associate Do

There are certain skills that many senior clinical research associates have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed communication skills, interpersonal skills and leadership skills.

Learn more about what a Senior Clinical Research Associate does

How To Become a Senior Clinical Research Associate

If you're interested in becoming a senior clinical research associate, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 66.0% of senior clinical research associates have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 16.6% of senior clinical research associates have master's degrees. Even though most senior clinical research associates have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

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Senior Clinical Research Associate Career Paths

Average Salary for a Senior Clinical Research Associate

Senior Clinical Research Associates in America make an average salary of $95,878 per year or $46 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $142,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $64,000 per year.
Average Senior Clinical Research Associate Salary
$95,878 Yearly
$46.10 hourly

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Roles and Types of Senior Clinical Research Associate

The role of a senior clinical research associate includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general senior clinical research associate responsibilities:

  • Study planning and conduct: acts as primary point of contact for vendors, investigational sites
  • Regulatory documentation assures compliance with cfr, state regulations, ich
  • The senior clinical research associate must manage clinical study sites to ensure subject safety

There are several types of senior clinical research associate, including:

Clinical Research Coordinator

Role:

A clinical research coordinator is a research professional who helps in formulating, implementing, and organizing research processes to conduct clinical trials. He/She ensures the study complies with all relevant government laws and regulations. He/She hires and screens potential study participants and performs intake assessments. Furthermore, he/she creates and maintains all documents and records related to the study. Also, he/she serves as a point of reference for study participants. Clinical Research Coordinators may work for pharmaceutical companies, research institutions, hospital research departments, or private businesses.

A bachelor's degree in nursing, health science, or a related field is a prerequisite for a clinical research coordinator role. To succeed in the role, candidates must possess analytical, communication, time management, and organizational skills. You must possess at least a year of related work experience. You must understand medical terminologies and standard clinical procedures. These experts earn an annual income of $53,315 on average. This is between $38,000 and $74,000.

  • Average Salary: $52,459
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Research Nurse

Role:

Contrary to popular belief, research nurses do not work the night shift and don't have to work 12-hour shifts like the other nurses. Their working hours are the regular 40 hours per week, usually from 8 AM to 5 PM. A research nurse can make an average of $55,973 in one year. The minimum education requirement for the position of a research nurse is a bachelor's degree with most majors being in nursing science and healthcare administration. Skills required to succeed in the research nurse field include knowledge of study protocol procedures (training is mostly offered before beginning the job), knowledge of proper data collection and documentation, and the ability to incorporate institutional guidelines and protocol policies while demonstrating clinical competence.

A research nurse's primary role is to conduct scientific research and studies for medical development and healthcare. They work for learning institutions, medical facilities, government agencies, and private clinics. Roles include coordinating with other experts to join ideas, gathering and analyzing samples through scientific methods, developing treatment, and making healthcare plans to improve patient outcomes and services.

  • Average Salary: $53,463
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Clinical Project Manager

Role:

A Clinical Project Manager is an incremental part of every clinical research project. They are there to organize and orchestrate the projects and follow and ensure that all involved follow the necessary clinical protocols, regulations, and goals.

Amongst other things to achieve their main tasks, the Manager must do medical, legal, and administrative research, work with others to establish and follow the goals of this clinical trial, craft processes and plans specific to this project and the staff, coordinate the location, budget, and duration of the project, work with clients and subjects and presenting their interests.

A person hoping to become a Clinical Project Manager will generally need to have a Bachelor's degree in a medical subject such as Nursing or Life Sciences, and previous experience working in a similar position within the medical and pharmaceutical industries is required. They also must have analytical and good communication skills.

  • Average Salary: $100,510
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Senior Clinical Research Associate Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active senior clinical research associate jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where senior clinical research associates earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Senior Clinical Research Associate Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California8,153$106,949
2Texas3,133$78,986
3Florida2,915$74,115
4New York2,313$92,527
5Pennsylvania2,277$90,621
6New Jersey2,017$92,331
7Illinois2,011$78,687
8Massachusetts1,918$94,789
9North Carolina1,846$79,579
10Georgia1,530$72,986
11Ohio1,489$83,392
12Virginia1,418$77,704
13Michigan1,373$85,807
14Minnesota1,225$77,757
15Colorado1,134$71,835
16Washington1,069$109,194
17Arizona1,011$89,345
18Oregon992$86,233
19Missouri955$70,138
20Indiana950$77,412
21Maryland888$87,457
22Tennessee863$65,236
23Wisconsin798$70,416
24Connecticut688$93,465
25Utah532$71,487
26Louisiana489$71,510
27Kentucky461$68,429
28Kansas451$67,009
29Oklahoma431$63,126
30South Carolina429$85,478
31Iowa401$84,179
32New Mexico379$93,715
33Nebraska349$70,092
34Alabama322$65,050
35Maine311$84,960
36Nevada293$91,134
37Arkansas276$66,119
38Rhode Island271$86,436
39New Hampshire264$95,388
40West Virginia222$75,178
41Idaho221$87,704
42Montana220$80,984
43Mississippi215$72,559
44Delaware196$91,468
45South Dakota166$73,080
46North Dakota163$79,982
47Hawaii156$96,136
48Vermont141$94,902
49Wyoming83$73,195
50Alaska49$84,478

Senior Clinical Research Associate Education

Senior Clinical Research Associate Majors

24.2 %
19.7 %

Senior Clinical Research Associate Degrees

Bachelors

66.0 %

Masters

16.6 %

Associate

8.5 %

Top Colleges for Senior Clinical Research Associates

1. Duke University

Durham, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,695

Enrollment

6,596

2. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

3. Yale University

New Haven, CT • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,430

Enrollment

5,963

4. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI • Private

In-State Tuition

$15,262

Enrollment

30,079

5. Georgetown University

Washington, DC • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,104

Enrollment

7,089

6. University of California - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$13,226

Enrollment

31,568

7. University of Virginia

Charlottesville, VA • Private

In-State Tuition

$17,653

Enrollment

16,405

8. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,987

Enrollment

18,946

9. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$59,430

Enrollment

8,216

10. Chamberlain College of Nursing - Arlington

Arlington, VA • Private

In-State Tuition

$19,375

Enrollment

506

Top Skills For a Senior Clinical Research Associate

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 11.1% of senior clinical research associates listed patients on their resume, but soft skills such as communication skills and interpersonal skills are important as well.

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Senior Clinical Research Associate diversity

Senior Clinical Research Associate Gender Distribution

Female
Female
72%
Male
Male
28%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among senior clinical research associates, 71.8% of them are women, while 28.2% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among senior clinical research associates is White, which makes up 62.8% of all senior clinical research associates.

  • The most common foreign language among senior clinical research associates is Spanish at 40.5%.

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Best States For a Senior Clinical Research Associate

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a senior clinical research associate. The best states for people in this position are Washington, California, Hawaii, and New Hampshire. Senior clinical research associates make the most in Washington with an average salary of $109,194. Whereas in California and Hawaii, they would average $106,949 and $96,136, respectively. While senior clinical research associates would only make an average of $95,388 in New Hampshire, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. California

Total Senior Clinical Research Associate Jobs: 8,153
Highest 10% Earn:
$165,000
Location Quotient:
1.57

2. New Mexico

Total Senior Clinical Research Associate Jobs: 379
Highest 10% Earn:
$144,000
Location Quotient:
1.09

3. Massachusetts

Total Senior Clinical Research Associate Jobs: 1,918
Highest 10% Earn:
$144,000
Location Quotient:
1.17
Full List Of Best States For Senior Clinical Research Associates

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Top Senior Clinical Research Associate Employers

We've made finding a great employer to work for easy by doing the hard work for you. We looked into employers that employ senior clinical research associates and discovered their number of senior clinical research associate opportunities and average salary. Through our research, we concluded that Covance was the best, especially with an average salary of $88,389. QuintilesIMS follows up with an average salary of $89,751, and then comes Parexel International with an average of $101,523. In addition, we know most people would rather work from home. So instead of having to change careers, we identified the best employers for remote work as a senior clinical research associate. The employers include Edwards Lifesciences, QuintilesIMS, and Emmes

Most Common Employers For Senior Clinical Research Associate

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1AbbVie$111,452$53.5821
2Merck$111,192$53.4615
3Novartis$108,166$52.0028
4Parexel International$101,523$48.81104
5Abbott$101,226$48.6723
6Novo Nordisk$99,603$47.8913
7Medtronic$98,495$47.3515
8Clinipace$91,315$43.9015
9Pharm-Olam$91,311$43.9016
10Premier Research$91,304$43.9034

Senior Clinical Research Associate Videos

Becoming a Senior Clinical Research Associate FAQs

How Much Does A Senior Cra Make?

A senior CRA makes $90,498 a year, on average. That equates to $43.51 an hour.

The pay range for a senior CRA is $64,000 for entry-level positions and upwards of $127,000 for the top 10% of earners. Senior CRA pay varies greatly depending on location, industry, and various other demographics.

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