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

What is a senior principal scientist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. Betsy Smith

A Senior Principal Scientist leads a team of scientists in conducting research and analyzing results. He/she looks for ways of providing technical and scientific expertise in a specific field. The objectives of these scientific researches vary depending on the industry one is employed in, but they generally revolve around improving existing products and creating new ones.

A successful senior principal scientist should have the relevant technical skills, excellent research skills, communication skills, and analytical skills. He/she should be able to think through decisions clearly to make informed decisions and judgments.

A senior principal scientist should liaise with other professionals in their field to help them perform their role efficiently. Typically, they work full time, 40 hours a week from Monday to Friday, from 9 to 5. He/she may work for longer hours as they research since they need ample time to analyze to make clear decisions.

What general advice would you give to a senior principal scientist?

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 Principal ScientistUS Average

Salary

8.1

Avg. Salary $119,042

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.3

Growth rate 17%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.15%

Asian 26.47%

Black or African American 6.27%

Hispanic or Latino 9.48%

Unknown 4.07%

White 53.56%

Gender

female 19.72%

male 80.28%

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

6.3

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.8

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.7

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a senior principal scientist

Explore senior principal scientist education requirements

Most common senior principal scientist degrees

Bachelor's

52.1 %

Doctorate

34.1 %

Master's

11.0 %

Start to develop specific senior principal scientist skills

Skills	Percentages
Chemistry	7.78%
Drug Discovery	7.07%
Java	6.81%
Data Analysis	6.43%
Clinical Development	4.90%

Complete relevant senior principal scientist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New senior principal scientists 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 senior principal scientist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real senior principal scientist resumes.

Research senior principal scientist duties and responsibilities

Manage stability coordination activities for market drug products in accordance to company and ICH guidelines.
Maintain a GMP & GLP laboratory & facility.
Provide documents and information of the CMC section for IND/NDA.
Assist FDA to validate contractor-supply data against the original source data.

Get senior principal scientist experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a senior principal scientist. The most common roles before becoming a senior principal scientist include senior scientist, principal scientist team lead and research fellow.

Prepare your senior principal scientist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior principal scientist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a senior principal scientist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

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