How to hire a senior principal scientist

How to hire a senior principal scientist, step by step

Here's a step-by-step senior principal scientist hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a senior principal scientist job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new senior principal scientist
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a senior principal scientist do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your senior principal scientist job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a senior principal scientist for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect senior principal scientist also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   This list shows salaries for various types of senior principal scientists.

   Type of Senior Principal Scientist	Description	Hourly rate
   Senior Principal Scientist	Medical scientists conduct research aimed at improving overall human health. They often use clinical trials and other investigative methods to reach their findings.	$39-81
   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... Show more	$18-34
   Chemist	Chemists are generally responsible for observing and investigating chemical substances to create new and safe compounds essential for practical applications. They are often grouped depending on a particular area of specialization to focus and understand the complexities of the matter... Show more	$22-43

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Chemistry
   • Drug Discovery
   • Java
   • Data Analysis
   • Clinical Development
   • Clinical Trials
   • Visualization
   • Regulatory Submissions
   • Biomarkers
   • Early Development
   • Development Projects
   • C++
   • Analytical Methods
   • IND

   Check all skills

   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.
   • Select appropriate biomarkers to determine mechanism of toxicity.
   • Identify several candidate biomarkers that are confirmed in internal experiments.

   More senior principal scientist duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your senior principal scientist job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A senior principal scientist can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, senior principal scientists' average salary in iowa is 53% less than in california.
   • Seniority. Entry-level senior principal scientists 51% less than senior-level senior principal scientists.
   • Certifications. A senior principal scientist with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a senior principal scientist's salary.

   Average senior principal scientist salary

   $119,042yearly

   $57.23 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level senior principal scientist salary

   $83,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 20, 2025

   Average senior principal scientist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$149,653	$72
   2	New Jersey	$127,346	$61
   3	Indiana	$121,398	$58
   4	Illinois	$121,037	$58
   5	Connecticut	$120,464	$58
   6	Massachusetts	$115,660	$56
   7	Delaware	$110,000	$53
   8	Washington	$109,769	$53
   9	District of Columbia	$107,314	$52
   10	New York	$103,267	$50
   11	North Carolina	$102,705	$49
   12	Maryland	$101,803	$49
   13	Rhode Island	$99,058	$48
   14	Minnesota	$95,052	$46
   15	Louisiana	$94,536	$45
   16	Colorado	$94,135	$45
   17	Texas	$93,914	$45
   18	New Hampshire	$93,198	$45
   19	Arkansas	$91,073	$44
   20	Missouri	$86,575	$42

   Average senior principal scientist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Amazon	$156,827	$75.40	1,076
   2	Exelixis	$150,343	$72.28	9
   3	Riot Games	$146,190	$70.28	8
   4	Genentech	$145,711	$70.05	110
   5	Edwards Lifesciences	$139,380	$67.01	57
   6	Invitae	$135,593	$65.19
   7	Schrödinger Inc	$134,669	$64.74	4
   8	BNY Mellon	$134,026	$64.44	1
   9	Mars	$133,768	$64.31	4
   10	Nokia	$131,142	$63.05	3
   11	Amgen	$127,507	$61.30	47
   12	Bristol-Myers Squibb	$124,892	$60.04	69
   13	Novartis	$124,871	$60.03	4
   14	Xerox	$124,655	$59.93
   15	BlackBerry	$124,437	$59.83
   16	Eli Lilly and Company	$124,213	$59.72	112
   17	Rakuten Medical	$122,405	$58.85
   18	International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR)	$122,165	$58.73
   19	Black Enterprise	$122,082	$58.69
   20	Arcus Biosciences	$121,293	$58.31

4. Writing a senior principal scientist job description

   A job description for a senior principal scientist role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a senior principal scientist job description:

   Senior principal scientist job description example

   The Treasury department is responsible for the management of BNY Mellon's $442 Billion balance sheet. It assumes a variety of risks in its activities to generate greater than $3 Billion in annual net interest income, largely through the monetization of the firm's deposit base with a $156 Billion investment portfolio of fixed income securities. Additionally, the Treasury drives the allocation of the Firm's financial resources across the company, balancing capital and liquidity needs and demands and works to create the appropriate financial incentives for the businesses using these scare resources.
   
   The Interest Rate Risk in the Banking Book (IRRBB) oversight function is the second line of defense responsible for the oversight of the Asset and Liability Management on IRRBB at BNY Mellon. The team is meant to ensure that IRRBB is identified, measured, controlled, reported, and monitored by first line of defense; the main responsibilities include, but not limited to: Independently reviewing and challenging the first line of defense's IRRBB management processes; Owning the IRRBB limit framework; Reviewing and evaluating the IRRBB aspects of significant new products / services, business process changes, and entity structures/acquisitions/divestures changes. Key Treasury counterparts include Corporate Treasury, at the corporate level and across the world. Asset-Liability management, liquidity, and capital knowledge is critical to understanding deployment constraints and trade-offs. IRRBB oversight team works very actively with the other Treasury Risk functions, and within Risk & Compliance functions relating to interest rate risk. The team also considers regulatory implications of balance sheet activity. As BNY Mellon is a Global Systemically Important Bank (GSIB), the regulatory requirements and expectations for the Treasury and Treasury Risk are at the highest standard in the country.
   
   The Sr. Specialist, IRRBB is an individual contributor working within the Portfolio Risk team and will be responsible for a variety of activities including:
   
   * Develop an understanding of the end-to-end Risk Management process, Models, and Risk limits across various asset classes. Build a foundation to review and challenge and improve the existing framework.
   * Evaluate and present analysis on new risk-taking initiatives raised by IRRBB group.
   * Perform in depth risk analysis, reporting, and monitoring, in line with established practices.
   * Conducting deep dives on asset classes and individual securities as well as end-to-end risk management evaluations covering surveillance, valuation, impairment, and stress modeling.
   * Assisting in producing content for the Treasury Risk control committees and Business Committee, while building the necessary expertise in the area to participate in the future where relevant.
   * Engaging with portfolio managers and business partner areas in respect of new products, business process changes, or other emerging risks.
   * Working closely with Risk Managers from Liquidity Risk and Interest Rate risk to gain a holistic understanding of the guiding principles in those work streams.
   
   Responsibilities and opportunity will evolve with the rapid development of the IRRBB Risk function, Treasury Risk function, and Risk & Compliance department.
   
   Requirements:
   
   * Bachelor's Degree or the equivalent combination of education and experience is required. Master's degree preferred.
   * 15 years of total work experience is required. 10 years experience in financial services is preferred.
   * Background in math, statistics, finance, economics, risk management, operations research, or a similar field is preferred. Experience with QRM platform is a plus.
   * Ability to analyze and report on financial products and financial risk, macroeconomic issues, interest rate risk, credit risk, liquidity risk, and relevant regulation. (e.g., Volcker, CCAR, DFAST, SLR, IRRBB).
   
   BNY Mellon is an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. Minorities/Females/Individuals With Disabilities/Protected Veterans.
   
   Our ambition is to build the best global team - one that is representative and inclusive of the diverse talent, clients and communities we work with and serve - and to empower our team to do their best work. We support wellbeing and a balanced life, and offer a range of family-friendly, inclusive employment policies and employee forums.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find senior principal scientists for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any senior principal scientists they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level senior principal scientists with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your senior principal scientist job on Zippia to find and recruit senior principal scientist candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit senior principal scientists, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new senior principal scientist

   Once you've selected the best senior principal scientist candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   To prepare for the new senior principal scientist first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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