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Job outlook for senior research managers in the United States
Senior research manager job growth summary. After extensive research, interviews, and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
The projected senior research manager job growth rate is 19% from 2018-2028.
About 150,300 new jobs for senior research managers are projected over the next decade.
Senior research manager salaries have increased 5% for senior research managers in the last 5 years.
There are over 11,214 senior research managers currently employed in the United States.
There are 50,561 active senior research manager job openings in the US.
The average senior research manager salary is $104,701.
Are senior research manager jobs in demand?
Senior research manager job and salary trends over time
Senior research manager jobs over time
Senior research manager job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 11,214 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 10,638 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 10,458 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 9,837 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 9,193 | 0.00% |
Average senior research manager salary over time
Senior research manager salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $104,701 | $50.34 | +3.2% |
| 2024 | $101,487 | $48.79 | +1.1% |
| 2023 | $100,421 | $48.28 | --0.2% |
| 2022 | $100,596 | $48.36 | +1.1% |
| 2021 | $99,530 | $47.85 | +0.7% |
Senior research manager jobs by state
Most common states for senior research managers
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 161 | 23% |
| 2 | Vermont | 623,657 | 104 | 17% |
| 3 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 157 | 15% |
| 4 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 589 | 14% |
| 5 | Nebraska | 1,920,076 | 243 | 13% |
| 6 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 174 | 13% |
| 7 | Delaware | 961,939 | 121 | 13% |
| 8 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 983 | 12% |
| 9 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 675 | 12% |
| 10 | South Dakota | 869,666 | 105 | 12% |
| 11 | California | 39,536,653 | 4,325 | 11% |
| 12 | Pennsylvania | 12,805,537 | 1,434 | 11% |
| 13 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 748 | 11% |
| 14 | Colorado | 5,607,154 | 604 | 11% |
| 15 | New Jersey | 9,005,644 | 903 | 10% |
| 16 | Utah | 3,101,833 | 305 | 10% |
| 17 | Illinois | 12,802,023 | 1,107 | 9% |
| 18 | Connecticut | 3,588,184 | 323 | 9% |
| 19 | New Mexico | 2,088,070 | 188 | 9% |
| 20 | Maine | 1,335,907 | 126 | 9% |
Most common cities for senior research managers
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Juneau | 5 | 15% | $95,893 |
| 2 | Frankfort | 4 | 14% | $77,300 |
| 3 | Dover | 4 | 11% | $126,602 |
| 4 | Annapolis | 4 | 10% | $79,947 |
| 5 | Hartford | 5 | 4% | $86,460 |
| 6 | Des Moines | 6 | 3% | $79,152 |
| 7 | Tallahassee | 5 | 3% | $67,738 |
| 8 | Baltimore | 10 | 2% | $79,969 |
| 9 | Urban Honolulu | 6 | 2% | $75,393 |
| 10 | Baton Rouge | 4 | 2% | $84,851 |
| 11 | Boston | 8 | 1% | $99,769 |
| 12 | Denver | 6 | 1% | $87,916 |
| 13 | Indianapolis | 6 | 1% | $69,479 |
| 14 | Washington | 6 | 1% | $96,997 |
| 15 | Atlanta | 5 | 1% | $94,511 |
| 16 | Miami | 5 | 1% | $67,244 |
| 17 | Sacramento | 5 | 1% | $129,020 |
| 18 | Phoenix | 5 | 0% | $93,163 |
| 19 | Chicago | 4 | 0% | $92,214 |
Senior Research Manager job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of senior research manager experts
North Dakota State University
University of Nebraska - Omaha
Middlebury College
Lafayette College
Pepperdine University
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Grove City College
Humboldt State University
University of the Incarnate Word
Morehouse School of Medicine
New York University
McMurry University
The University of Iowa
State University of New York at Oswego
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Portland State University
Pennsylvania State University
University of La Verne
What general advice would you give to a Senior Research Manager?
Christina Weber PhD: There are a number of skills that will be important. Soft skills such as creativity, adaptability, collaboration, emotional intelligence, and persuasion. In addition, there is a growing need for folks who have high cultural competence, especially with understanding the experiences of diverse groups. Finally, there is a need for folks to have skills in social science research—understanding how to develop research projects, conduct surveys, focus groups, as well as experience with programs such as GIS, SPSS, and r-studio.
What Senior Research Manager skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Christina Weber PhD: As stated above, I think that having the skills listed above with help a lot with this. I also think that doing research on the field they are entering, so they know the typical salary can help folks with negotiating their salary.
What general advice would you give to a Senior Research Manager?
John Lyden: Research skills (ability to find and interpret information), oral and written communication skills (ability to present information clearly), data analysis and interpretation, language interpretation and translation. Computer facility will be highly valued. Employers will include those in higher education, government, non-profits, research institutes, and museums.
What Senior Research Manager skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
John Lyden: You should realize that your degree can lead to many careers, and that you can even change your career direction easily. Your degree has given you important skills in communication, critical thinking, analysis, and problem solving. Employers will see that you are good at adapting to new tasks and learning new skills that go well beyond the content you have studied.
What Senior Research Manager skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Jeffrey Knopf: Getting your foot in the door is still the most important first step. For example, if you can get a government job, even if it's not your preferred position, it becomes easier to learn about other openings and to move lateral to something better. Doing a good job also helps. If you prove your worth to employers, they will want to keep you and promote you, or your bosses may want to bring you with them if they move elsewhere. Finally, it is good to have specific skills or training you can highlight. These might include being fluent in other languages or having data analytics skills, among others.
What will help Senior Research Managers increase their earning potential?
Jeffrey Knopf: It's a good idea to be open to different possibilities. If a graduate is willing to say yes to an opportunity, even if it is not ideally what they were looking for, this can open the door to better opportunities down the road. Relationships with other people are also very important. The better you can get along with and work with other people, the more those people will become part of your network and maybe able to help you later on.
What Senior Research Manager skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Brett Hendrickson PhD, MDiv (he/him): Religious Studies majors who wish to maximize their salary potential should be bold in articulating the digital research tools that they learned as part of their education. Religious Studies graduates know how to use and assess historical and cultural data from multiple online data sources. They should also emphasize their excellent interpersonal skills and that they are well-versed in interacting with diverse people on highly sensitive topics.
What general advice would you give to a Senior Research Manager?
Lori Bruce MA, MBE, HEC-C: Multidisciplinary partnership is critical, since bioethicists can be “gatekeepers;” their policies may influence which members of the public receive certain health services, and which do not receive them. Knowledge, applied cautiously! It’s important to have a nuanced understanding of many bioethics principles and theories, and apply them with caution, so that the most relevant values are influencing your work.
What will help Senior Research Managers increase their earning potential?
Lori Bruce MA, MBE, HEC-C: Multidisciplinary partnership is critical, since bioethicists can be “gatekeepers;” their policies may influence which members of the public receive certain health services, and which do not receive them.
Knowledge, applied cautiously! It’s important to have a nuanced understanding of many bioethics principles and theories, and apply them with caution, so that the most relevant values are influencing your work.
What Senior Research Manager skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Anna Penner: Market yourself strategically. Think about what you learned by getting a sociology degree--the ability to do original research and analyze data, the ability to understand how institutions shape society and individuals, the ability to think critically about problems you see in the world around you. Make sure to highlight the assets that you bring to the table as a possible outsider to the industry you are applying for. Also be aware that you may need to spend some time making less than you'd like, but know what you're worth, and after some time proving yourself at your organization make sure you're properly compensated for what you add to the team.
Giovanna Percontino
Communication Career Coach, M.Ed.What Senior Research Manager skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Giovanna Percontino: The soft skills are really important now: Communication, Adaptability, Reliability, Leadership, Writing, Rigor
What will help Senior Research Managers increase their earning potential?
Giovanna Percontino: Take a salary negotiation workshop at U Career Success. Research the current trends and salaries.
What's a day at work look like for a Senior Research Manager?
Heidi Jo Newberg: A recent graduate will be expected to search through data (usually using Python), communicate results effectively through lectures and written reports, and carefully assess the significance of findings.
What's a good job out of college for Senior Research Managers?
DJ Wagner Ph.D.: What constitutes "a good job" will vary by the individual. Every graduate has their own set of priorities. Some need to feel they are helping to address societal issues. Others want to earn a certain minimum salary to support a desired lifestyle. Still others want to be on the cutting edge of research, addressing the unanswered questions of physics. The AIP SRC provides data on different aspects of physics majors' job satisfaction, such as job security, level of responsibility, and intellectual challenge. (https://www.aip.org/statistics/reports/physics-bachelors-initial-employment2014.) But as their research manager Patrick Mulvey puts it, "a high satisfaction score does not necessarily mean it is a 'good job.'" In my personal opinion, a good job is one that you enjoy pursuing, that takes advantage of your unique abilities and knowledge, that provides opportunities for personal and intellectual/professional growth, and that pays you enough to support your household. The weight assigned to each of those characteristics will depend upon the individual graduate. The diverse career paths pursued by physics graduates reflect such diverse priorities.
What soft skills should all Senior Research Managers possess?
Dr. Anne Paulet Ph.D.: In terms of soft skills, those probably won't change much, they will simply be practiced differently. Being flexible is important since jobs may switch between home and office and since one may be dealing with someone else working from home and the challenges that can present-what cat owner hasn't had their cat walk in front of the camera or step on the wrong computer key? The ability to work in groups will continue to have importance as well as the ability to manage your own time and meet deadlines. At the same time, the nature of computer camera interaction means that people will have to learn to "read" others differently than they would in an in-person environment. Many recent articles have talked about how it is harder to read facial cues or detect emotional responses on the computer. Again, those presently taking synchronous classes have the opportunity to practice these skills--providing students turn on their cameras rather than relying only on audio. If the past year has demonstrated anything, it is that people need to be more culturally aware and sensitive and also be able to work with people of diverse backgrounds. History classes are a great way for students to better understand what others have gone through and how that might impact interaction today. Additionally, history classes-as well as college in general-should provide students with the skills to help create the kind of changes in institutions and companies that need to be made to make them more inclusive. Perhaps the greatest skill college students have is the ability to learn. I never intended to teach online, yet here I am doing just that. It required learning new ways to approach teaching, reconsideration of the ways students learned in the new environment, and figuring out new online programs to make all this happen. I was forced to do this as a result of the pandemic but most students will find that this sort of adjustment-whether foreseen or not-will be a regular part of their career path. The ability to learn these new skills, to apply new methods and to approach issues in new and innovative ways will help them stand out when it comes to looking for a job.
What are the biggest trends we'll see in the Senior Research Manager job market given the pandemic?
Lopita Nath Ph.D.: Everything has changed due to the pandemic; life has changed, education and work has changed. Remote learning and working from home have become the new normal. All jobs related to technology and online have grown and are going to grow. The ability to work remotely regardless of career field will be the new demand. This has brought new expectations for education and educators, and students and faculty are going to be asked to adapt and change at the slightest notice. The notions of career have changed, for example telehealth, telemedicine, etc. And we are producing for a market that is changing so fast that it is hard to keep up.
One of the biggest trends in this new changing world is that broad skills are going to be important. Students will have to focus on a variety of skills and acquisition of those skills. A growing trend will be: One Skill vs. Skills. Skill acquisition beyond your traditional discipline will be the new norm. For a student graduating with a History degree, the skills that they learn, critical thinking, reading and writing, research, analyzing data, presentation skills will and always remain the biggest trends in the job market. Especially with remote work, Zoom, and the online work culture, these skills will always remain in high demand. People will have to think broadly about the skills they have and how these skills can be translated to marketable skills for the changing workforce.
Adaptability will be the main trend, as students will change careers often. This will also lead to continuing education and more certificate programs in schools. The job market is going to shift from routine to non-routine, cognitive and manual jobs. The key piece in career transformation in the post pandemic world will be skill acquisition and development.
What general advice would you give to a Senior Research Manager?
Lopita Nath Ph.D.: A general advice to a graduate is to understand that demand for soft skills: Communication, Creativity and Collaboration is likely to increase as automation becomes more widespread. These skills are impossible to automate, and people with such skills are going to be valuable to their organizations in the future. The young graduates have to realize that it is not about a career or a job, it is about a vocation. I would recommend that students not pursue their passions only for success but think hard at what makes them happy. Students have to get their priorities straight. Realities are going to shift and change in the post-pandemic world, especially with the advancements in technology. Historical Consciousness is important to understand shifts. In the post-pandemic world when we have become more global, knowledge about the world, historical knowledge and understanding of trends will always be a valuable tool to have when making decisions in the workplace.
Dr. DeQuan Smith
Assistant Director, Graduate Education & Career ConnectionsMorehouse School of Medicine
Division of Graduate Education in Biomedical Sciences
What soft skills should all Senior Research Managers possess?
Dr. DeQuan Smith: Adaptability, collaboration, learning agility, emotional intelligence, creativity, interpersonal communication, growth mindset, focus mastery, and innovation.
What technical skills for a Senior Research Manager stand out to employers?
Frédérique Aït-Touati: Technical skills tend to change with time. Adaptability, listening to others, desire to improve and know more, ability to work with others, initiative, responsiveness, and reliability are skills that stand out whatever the context.
Daniel Patten Ph.D.
Assistant ProfessorMcMurry University
Department of Sociology and Criminology
What's a day at work look like for a Senior Research Manager?
Daniel Patten Ph.D.: Of course, the answer will vary based on the work being done. There are a few changes that we have seen already that will likely stick around for a while including working from home more often, more flexibility in works hours, typical business meetings being replaced by video conferencing, especially when air travel was needed before, automation of menial (and even more complex) work, and a strong use of technology (not previously used) in the workplace.
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Senior Research Managers?
Daniel Patten Ph.D.: I think it is safe to say yes. The tougher question is what those impacts are likely to be. Some of those impacts can already be seen. According to some recent research, COVID has impacted students very differently, usually split down lines of social class. For example, many students have delayed graduation with the poorest students most likely to do so. Other impacts have been the loss of a job, internship, or job offer after graduation. All of these will likely have lasting impacts for the future. Most prominently, many graduates can expect lower earnings for longer parts of their career than past generations. Unfortunately, this effect will be more pronounced for students coming from low-income families. One reason for this among many is a lack of social networking opportunities. College can be a time where low-income students expand their social capital by building relationships with others of different social backgrounds. The COVID world is even more segregated than before despite technological systems designed to keep us connected.
All of these impacts say nothing about health-related impacts. Of course, little is known about the long-term health complications associated with COVID. Yet, medical bills may linger alongside college debt for many students. College is also a time for heightened anxiety without COVID where mental illness tends to manifest. COVID can only serve to exacerbate such an issue. Many of these issues could be alleviated to some degree depending on our societal response to these problems. However, at this time, many students are finding little succor for major problems.
Lastly, it is hard to say what the impacts of limiting social life will be. Many students will have to go without entirely or experience quite different alternatives to many traditional social gatherings. It is often in these spaces and through these experiences we gain informal skills that employers seek such as oral communication skills, especially those that are more impromptu.
What are the biggest trends we'll see in the Senior Research Manager job market given the pandemic?
Katina Lillios: Anthropologists are trained in critical thinking and in developing solutions to the challenges that we face in our global community. Because of their distinctive skills in critical thinking and in analyzing problems that engage with cultural differences, graduates with anthropology degrees are found in a wide range of job settings, from educational institutions, governmental agencies, non-profit organizations, and corporations, particularly those involving cross-cultural markets and goods. Most students graduating with a BA or BS in Anthropology do not go into academia. The pandemic has created significant budget challenges in all these settings, however. Given that, there with likely be a bottleneck in new positions for a few years, and college graduates will need to be patient, resourceful, and flexible. They should seek or create opportunities to keep up their skills, perhaps even in settings they did not imagine working in, and maintain connections with the communities they hope to work with and in. In academic institutions, there will likely be an increasing shift to online delivery of courses, so aspiring instructors (students graduating with an MA or PhD) might want to think about developing the skills and content for some online courses they hope to teach.
What skills stand out on Senior Research Manager resumes?
Katina Lillios: While the precise skills that are desired depend on the job, there are some that all graduates from an Anthropology program should work on developing. These include experience contributing to group projects, collaborating with diverse communities, strong communication and writing skills, versatility, and mastery of a specialized skill, such as GIS, a foreign language, statistics, and other digital technologies.
Ryan Barker
Visiting InstructorState University of New York at Oswego
Departments of Biological Sciences and Health Promotion and Wellness
What general advice would you give to a Senior Research Manager?
Ryan Barker: Put your time in, get your experience, make your bosses proud and move on. So long as there is a strong market, don't waste time "waiting" for the perfect job, leave. Go out and get it, just don't level on bad terms and make sure you provided value at the time of your departure.
What Senior Research Manager skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Ryan Barker: Gap years are great for experience, do your best to find a job on the ground in your local area but keep mastering things like Zoom or Webex and other telecommunication services. Take the time to set up a designated site in your apartment or home and be prepared to use it because foriegn firms want American talent to strength their presence in the American and global market.
Alex Small Ph.D.
Professor of PhysicsCalifornia State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Physics and Astronomy Department
What Senior Research Manager skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Alex Small Ph.D.: What to do in a gap year depends on whether you're more of a hands-on person or a numbers person. If you're a numbers person, do programming projects and develop a portfolio of things that showcase how you can work with data and simulations, and how you troubleshoot. If you're a hands-on person, do something that shows how you can troubleshoot a piece of technology, diagnose what's going on, get it working, and verify that it's performing well once you have it working. Everything I hear from students getting interviews is that they want to hear about a problem you solved and see how well you can present it and explain the troubleshooting process.
What experience really stands out on Senior Research Manager resumes?
David Cadiz MBA, Ph.D.: Based on feedback I have been getting from organizations that have been interviewing and hiring our new graduates, there are two primary components on new graduate resumes that are setting these new graduates apart in terms of those getting more interest for interviews versus those who are not. First, students who have had at least one HR-specific internship (multiple internships would be even better) are definitely seeing more interest from employers. A lot of entry-level HR jobs are asking for applicants with some HR experience and those with internships can meet that requirement and essentially get passed that first hurdle. Second, I am a bit biased here because I am a faculty advisor for a Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) student group at PSU, but students that actively participate and take on a leadership role in a student group have seen a lot of interest from employers. By participating in these groups, the students are able to show employers that they have gained some leadership skills and are willing to go over and beyond in terms of spending time volunteering for a group that is focused on developing HR professionals.
Stephen A. Matthews Ph.D.
Liberal Arts Professor of Sociology, Anthropology, Demography and Geography Director, Graduate Program in Demography Faculty Director, Graduate Programs in Applied Demography Editor, Spatial Demography Associate Editor, Mathematical Population StudiesPennsylvania State University
Department of Socilogy na Criminology
What skills stand out on Senior Research Manager resumes?
Stephen A. Matthews Ph.D.: Our program is too broad and complex to answer this in any meaningful way (see my opening paragraph). I hope our Ph.D. graduates have both soft skills (e.g., people skills, communication (writing/speaking), team science/work skills, critical thinking skills) as well as the technical skills (e.g., data analysis, data visualization, data ethics, IRB experience, etc.). As mentioned, I also hope they are flexible and adaptive vis-a-vis other perspectives (interdisciplinary outlook).
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Senior Research Managers?
Allyson Brantley Ph.D.: For most of our History majors -- as with any others -- I'm sure there will be an impact, but it's hard to say whether or not it will be long-lasting. Since some of our graduates go into fields like museum work and public history, they may find it challenging to enter into those fields right away, given that museums have been facing severe budgetary constraints. There may be some impacts down the line in terms of the ability to get an internship or entry-level position in these fields.
I think we may also see an uptick in the number of history undergraduates who choose to go into master's or Ph.D. programs (something that indeed occurred in the wake of the Great Recession); without many job options, many pursue additional degrees.