Senior formulation scientist vs principal scientist

The differences between senior formulation scientists and principal 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 senior formulation scientist and a principal scientist. Additionally, a principal scientist has an average salary of $119,982, which is higher than the $102,574 average annual salary of a senior formulation scientist.

The top three skills for a senior formulation scientist include dosage forms, scale-up and formulation development. The most important skills for a principal scientist are oncology, data analysis, and drug discovery.

Senior formulation scientist vs principal scientist overview

	Senior Formulation Scientist	Principal Scientist
Yearly salary	$102,574	$119,982
Hourly rate	$49.31	$57.68
Growth rate	17%	17%
Number of jobs	48,668	80,899
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 61%	Bachelor's Degree, 51%
Average age	41	41
Years of experience	4	4

What does a senior formulation scientist do?

As a senior formulation scientist, your main aim is to have clinical trials as well as to conduct some tests to compare the reaction of potential customers to that of your previous formulations. You need to design pre-formulation studies. By doing this, you can understand the formulation of different types of medical trials performed. You also need to assist in the pharmaceutical formulation to form a great report for the company.

The main skills which are required to become a senior formulation scientist are observational as well as critical thinking skills. You need to have proper report-making skills so that you can research and analyze the data from your formulations and then condense them into important medical documents. You should be able to communicate clearly to your team members so that they can help and assist you in the formulations as well as develop different ideas.

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.

Senior formulation scientist vs principal scientist salary

Senior formulation scientists and principal scientists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Senior Formulation Scientist	Principal Scientist
Average salary	$102,574	$119,982
Salary range	Between $74,000 And $141,000	Between $84,000 And $169,000
Highest paying City	South San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Exelixis	PayPal
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	Finance

Differences between senior formulation scientist and principal scientist education

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

	Senior Formulation Scientist	Principal Scientist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 61%	Bachelor's Degree, 51%
Most common major	Pharmacy	Chemistry
Most common college	Duke University	Duke University

Senior formulation scientist vs principal scientist demographics

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

	Senior Formulation Scientist	Principal Scientist
Average age	41	41
Gender ratio	Male, 81.2% Female, 18.8%	Male, 76.8% Female, 23.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.4% 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, 6.3% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.6% Asian, 26.4% White, 53.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between senior formulation scientist and principal scientist duties and responsibilities

Senior formulation scientist example responsibilities.

Identify 10 leads with IC50 o MOA study reveal non-genomic effect though PPAR.
Forge and manage collaborative relationships with DoD and academia.
Manufacture of supplies for animal bio-studies and GMP supplies for clinical trials.
Provide scale-up and tech transfer support to commercial manufacturing facilities through process validation and subsequent manufacturing activities.
Generate monthly GMP reports and schedule of GMP training for scientists.
Lead feather keratin peptides for cosmetic, leather tanning, bio-adhesive application.

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.

Senior formulation scientist vs principal scientist skills

Common senior formulation scientist skills

Dosage Forms, 15%
Scale-Up, 10%
Formulation Development, 10%
GMP, 7%
CMC, 4%
Data Analysis, 4%

Common principal scientist skills

Oncology, 7%
Data Analysis, 6%
Drug Discovery, 5%
GMP, 3%
Experimental Design, 3%
Clinical Trials, 3%

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Senior Formulation Scientist
Senior Formulation Scientist vs Principal Scientist

Updated January 8, 2025

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