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Job outlook for senior research specialists in the United States
Senior research specialist job growth summary. After extensive research, interviews, and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
The projected senior research specialist job growth rate is 19% from 2018-2028.
About 150,300 new jobs for senior research specialists are projected over the next decade.
Senior research specialist salaries have increased 5% for senior research specialists in the last 5 years.
There are over 14,973 senior research specialists currently employed in the United States.
There are 57,586 active senior research specialist job openings in the US.
The average senior research specialist salary is $65,071.
Are senior research specialist jobs in demand?
Senior research specialist job and salary trends over time
Senior research specialist jobs over time
Senior research specialist job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 14,973 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 14,515 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 13,905 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 12,901 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 12,046 | 0.00% |
Average senior research specialist salary over time
Senior research specialist salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $65,071 | $31.28 | +3.2% |
| 2024 | $63,074 | $30.32 | +1.1% |
| 2023 | $62,412 | $30.01 | --0.2% |
| 2022 | $62,520 | $30.06 | +1.1% |
| 2021 | $61,858 | $29.74 | +0.7% |
Senior research specialist jobs by state
Most common states for senior research specialists
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 277 | 40% |
| 2 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 2,336 | 34% |
| 3 | Vermont | 623,657 | 124 | 20% |
| 4 | Delaware | 961,939 | 170 | 18% |
| 5 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 696 | 17% |
| 6 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 179 | 17% |
| 7 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 893 | 16% |
| 8 | Nebraska | 1,920,076 | 306 | 16% |
| 9 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 211 | 16% |
| 10 | Colorado | 5,607,154 | 847 | 15% |
| 11 | California | 39,536,653 | 5,354 | 14% |
| 12 | Utah | 3,101,833 | 439 | 14% |
| 13 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 1,114 | 13% |
| 14 | Iowa | 3,145,711 | 395 | 13% |
| 15 | South Dakota | 869,666 | 112 | 13% |
| 16 | North Dakota | 755,393 | 95 | 13% |
| 17 | Wyoming | 579,315 | 75 | 13% |
| 18 | Illinois | 12,802,023 | 1,533 | 12% |
| 19 | Washington | 7,405,743 | 868 | 12% |
| 20 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 125 | 12% |
Most common cities for senior research specialists
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Juneau | 1 | 3% | $80,803 |
| 2 | Baltimore | 13 | 2% | $63,079 |
| 3 | Atlanta | 10 | 2% | $55,137 |
| 4 | Iowa City | 1 | 1% | $64,283 |
| 5 | Naperville | 1 | 1% | $64,915 |
| 6 | Chicago | 6 | 0% | $65,330 |
| 7 | Detroit | 2 | 0% | $77,167 |
| 8 | Anchorage | 1 | 0% | $81,026 |
| 9 | Arlington | 1 | 0% | $73,108 |
| 10 | Baton Rouge | 1 | 0% | $58,432 |
| 11 | Boston | 1 | 0% | $79,403 |
| 12 | Madison | 1 | 0% | $58,826 |
| 13 | Montgomery | 1 | 0% | $51,020 |
| 14 | Phoenix | 1 | 0% | $53,786 |
| 15 | San Francisco | 1 | 0% | $108,640 |
Senior Research Specialist job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of senior research specialist experts
Earlham College
Northeastern State University
SUNY Stony Brook
Pepperdine University
University of Hawaii at Manoa
University of Dallas
University of San Diego
New Mexico State University
Santa Fe College
What general advice would you give to a Senior Research Specialist?
Christopher Vitek Ph.D.: My research focuses on disease vectors, mostly mosquitoes, so I explore factors that influence how quickly they develop, where they spread, what time of year they are found, etc. I also do research in effective control methods, and even a little bit in disease transmission. Depending on your research area, you may be involved in looking at mathematical models, life history tables, species interactions, and more.
What Senior Research Specialist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Christopher Vitek Ph.D.: Population biology, especially biology that focuses on disease vectors, is a great field to pursue. People will always want to get rid of mosquitoes, so there is always a demand for learning when, where, and how to control them, as well as helping to identify risks for disease transmission. Newly available molecular tools help us understand more about the biological underpinnings that control characteristics like population growth and distribution.
What general advice would you give to a Senior Research Specialist?
Dr. Taufika Williams PhD: Finding a job at with an undergraduate degree may be quite doable but upward mobility in your career often requires a terminal degree (i.e. PhD). Stay in school for as long as you can! Some students will work in biotechnology for a few years after their undergraduate studies are over and then return to school for graduate education. The work experience can tremendously benefit graduate research.
What Senior Research Specialist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dr. Taufika Williams PhD: Wet-laboratory skills will always be important, however, data interrogation is a key space of growth, as biotechnology research is being driven by big data. Seek education in scientific writing, computer programming, delivering scientific presentations, statistics and the analysis of large datasets.
What general advice would you give to a Senior Research Specialist?
Frank David MD, PhD: In many biopharma industry positions, the annual cash bonus can be a sizable chunk of the compensation. So if you start out in a job like this, make sure you understand how you’ll be evaluated at the end of the year so you can make sure you knock it out of the park and get the highest possible ratings. If you go into a biopharma R&D; position straight out of undergrad, you should try to figure out relatively soon if you’ll want to go back to school for a PhD. Most science-based jobs will require a PhD to advance, but in many 'science-adjacent' jobs you’ll be able to move up without an advanced degree. Either is fine, but it would be great to figure out which direction you want to go within 2-4 years of entering the industry so you can plan accordingly.
Camellia Okpodu
What Senior Research Specialist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Camellia Okpodu: My advise would be to continue to network by joining affiliated associations in botany and Keep learning, stay updated on research, and explore new areas.
Mr. Brian Zimmerman III
Assistant Vice President of Strategic CommunicationsEarlham College
Drama/Theatre Arts And Stagecraft
What general advice would you give to a Senior Research Specialist?
Mr. Brian Zimmerman III: Apply, interview, and negotiate! The landscape of science is a competitive one - both for biologists and their employers. Many graduates, particularly ones who hold identities that have been historically excluded from science, tend to apply for job opportunities only if they perfectly fit the advert description. This is actually not a great strategy! Having been on the academic job market recently, I learned that job adverts tend to describe the absolute perfect candidate; employers know that person does not exist and are shooting for the moon with their adverts. If you have any of the skills, qualifications, or experiences that are mentioned or are related to a particular job advert, then apply for it! When interviewing, it's also important to take ownership of the identity you want to have; visualize yourself as, for example, a lab manager looking for their institution rather than a recent undergraduate looking for their first job. The transformation into a professional scientist begins with your mindset, as this will influence your behavior. Plus, it's easier to advocate and negotiate for yourself if you view your interviews and application through the lens of discerning if this employer has what you need to be successful, rather than the framing of hoping you're "good enough" to work there. This is all to say that once you land the interview and you've decided the employer has what you need to be successful, do not be afraid to negotiate creatively! Do some research on the cost of living of the town and the average wages for the position in that area or in an area where the cost of living is similar. When you negotiate, you can ask for more than salary - inquire about benefits, childcare, immigration/visa support, retirement contributions and matching, career development opportunities or stipends, remote work, etc. Even if you're unable to negotiate a higher salary, there are other benefits that you can leverage to make that money go farther or prepare you for a promotion earlier in your career. Additionally, if you are able, do not be afraid to apply for other jobs and share your better offers with your current employer to see if they can match or beat the competing offer. As you grow in your career, you may outgrow your current employer - and that's okay; it's an opportunity to find a new place that recognizes your increased value! At the end of the day, chances are that you are worth more than what you're currently being paid, so do not be afraid to ask questions to position yourself for success!
What Senior Research Specialist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Mr. Brian Zimmerman III: An emerging trend in my particular field is deep-sequencing or "big data" analysis. Many techniques that investigate the identities, regulation, and networks of biological molecules are high-throughput, meaning they generate huge quantities of data that require specialized programs and training to analyze. Developing a background in bioinformatics, data literacy, programming, or computer science will definitely make a student highly marketable and sought after when on the job market. There are several online and in-person courses, workshops, and webinars to learn about these techniques and the accompanying data analysis; I encourage recent graduates or soon-to-be graduates to explore these opportunities as these skills are transferrable to several disciplines and career paths.
What will help Senior Research Specialists increase their earning potential?
Dulanjani Wijayasekara Ph.D.: Biology is a vast field with a lot of opportunities. The highest paying jobs in the field include health care, biostatisticians, data analysts, ecologists, genetic counselors, pharmacists, molecular biologists and research scientists/technicians in pharmaceutical companies. Depending on what area you would like to focus on, it would be a good idea to improve some basic skill sets that will give you an added advantage in the job market. If you are a fresh graduate many online certificate courses can be completed to give you these additional skills. You can improve upon IT skills such as biotechnology and computer literacy, research skills, and data analysis including biostatistics. You also can get some research experience by either volunteering in research labs or by gaining a master’s degree in molecular biology. This will open up many more job opportunities for you in the pharmaceutical area. Find out what career you love and work towards that by improving your skills and experience.
What will help Senior Research Specialists increase their earning potential?
Ross Weatherman Ph.D.: The jobs that our graduates in biochemistry and molecular biology are taking are really diverse in terms of the types of companies and in the types of job requirements. They are not all big jobs in pharmaceutical and biotech companies. Many start working for smaller diagnostic labs or support labs for manufacturing or food processing. Also, I tell our students to expect to change jobs or employers in a few years. For our students, the job market seems to be pretty dynamic for them in the first 5-10 years either because they choose to change jobs or their companies go through some sort of change.
What general advice would you give to a Senior Research Specialist?
Dr. Vitaly Citovsky: One cannot get high salaries with a bachelor's degree in biology. To maximize your future salary you need to get a terminal degree such as PhD or MD. Alternatively one could go to law school. If you still want to begin working after BSc, look for industry jobs; these would be low-level technicians but make much more money than in academia.
What Senior Research Specialist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dr. Vitaly Citovsky: Advanced degrees, bioinformatics, hi-tech research (synthetic biology), but classical molecular biology and genetics and biochemistry skills will remain critical
What general advice would you give to a Senior Research Specialist?
Rachel Tan Ph.D.: I do not have an answer for this. My response would be to be proactive during undergraduate studies, to discern where you find joy and curiosity. Pursue that topic. I do not think that the salary should be the priority when considering careers.
What general advice would you give to a Senior Research Specialist?
Qing Li: Develop your specialty and be good at one thing; jobs will be after you rather than you after jobs.
What Senior Research Specialist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Qing Li: AI will become more important and prevalent in the field in the next 3-5 years but laboratory experiments will continue to make new discoveries.
What will help Senior Research Specialists increase their earning potential?
Dr. Prajay Patel Ph.D.: Think and operate one level above your position. For example, as a senior graduate student, you should operate like a postdoc. Postdocs work on independent research while learning how to write grants, so as a senior graduate student, you should consider looking for fellowships and similar funding opportunities. Learn what your supervisors/bosses are doing effectively that you can apply when you are in their position. Also, know your strengths and weaknesses. Acknowledge to yourself that you have weaknesses and try to mitigate them, but figure out where you can showcase your strengths in the projects you will get. Finally, keep your doors open to doing and learning new things. You never know what skills you learn early in your career that can pay off later.
What will help Senior Research Specialists increase their earning potential?
Nicole Danos PhD: In addition to many sought after hard skills that our Biology program graduate have been trained in (cell and microbial culture, DNA sequencing and bioinformatics, antibody staining, data analysis and biostatistics), graduates should remember to leverage the other scientific skills they learned. This includes things like researching and summarizing the state of knowledge in a field, distilling relevant information for peers and supervisors, presenting experimental designs and results and all around thinking about problems from start to finish. All of our graduates should be able to leverage these soft science skills, since they all had to do an independent research project.
What general advice would you give to a Senior Research Specialist?
Dr. Melanie Wilcox Ph.D., ABPP: There are some exciting new career pathways for Experimental Psychologists as technology continues to shift the world of work; for example, User Experience (UX) research is a great potential career pathway for Experimental Psychologists.
What will help Senior Research Specialists increase their earning potential?
Dr. Melanie Wilcox Ph.D., ABPP: This is more difficult to answer as it highly depends on the person! What matters most in career choice is whether the chosen occupation is a good fit for your interests, skills, values, and priorities. If you enjoy research, consider yourself to be a data-driven and curious person, and like to engage in work that benefits people, organizations, and/or society, Experimental Psychology could be a great fit. If you prefer to help people more directly such as through psychological services, then Clinical, Counseling, or School psychology may be a better fit; Experimental Psychology is solely a research-focused path.
What Senior Research Specialist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dr. Michael Marchetti: My general advice to graduating biology majors would be to get actual hands-on experience in whatever field/sub-discipline you decide you want to specialize in. This could take various forms depending on your circumstances, for example: an internship (even short term), a job in a field that is similar or adjacent to the field you are interested in, pursue a master's degree in the field, or even volunteer in some capacity while you get a job to pay the bills, etc. It seems that in today's professional science environment that having some experience in the thing you want to do helps a lot to get your foot in the door.
What will help Senior Research Specialists increase their earning potential?
Meghan McGee-Lawrence Ph.D.: Cast a wide net! A huge variety of career paths can be pursued with a degree like this, including industry, academic research, healthcare, education, and more. It is a very versatile degree, and can be a foundation for a multitude of different professions. Talk to recent graduates from your program (as many as possible!) and see what they did with their degree – the more information you can collect, the better prepared you’ll be to seek out opportunities yourself. Take the time to figure out where your interests lie – and understand that you may have to try a few different paths out before you find the right one for you. The first position you land after graduation doesn’t have to be the job you perform for the next 30 years of your life – so use each opportunity as a learning experience to figure out what you’d really like to do long-term.
What general advice would you give to a Senior Research Specialist?
Michael Marks: A few things: First, feel free to say "no" to things. As a new faculty member, more senior faculty may think they are being helpful by suggesting you take service duties, committee work, etc. But take your first year or two to get established. If you feel too many "opportunities" are coming your way, a good response might be "That sounds great, maybe that can be something I take on once I get my lab established." Second, advertise yourself. Build a website with your own domain, off of your employer's servers. This is a great way to attract graduate advisees and lab members, post your publications and data, and make yourself available to people interested in your research. I say get your own domain because employers will often change things with hosting, which can cause access issues. Finally, even if you don't post, follow some social media accounts of prominent figures in the field to keep abreast of developments, debates, and current issues.
Luz Garcini PhD, MPH
Assistant ProfessorWhat will help Senior Research Specialists increase their earning potential?
Luz Garcini PhD, MPH: Build a unique niche and new skills (another language), disseminate your work via high impact networks/avenues, get mentoring in negotiation.
Karen Wallach
What Senior Research Specialist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Karen Wallach: Hi Alex, Just wanted to circle back on this, do you still want me to put something together?
What general advice would you give to a Senior Research Specialist?
Kristopher Koudelka Ph.D.: There are two skillsets, and one field I see become more important. The first skillset is application of material. You must know the language of your field; however, most content can be quickly found through simple research. People who can apply this knowledge, and formulate the new questions are more valuable employees. The second skill set is troubleshooting. Very often experiments fail or give strange results, how one can glean as much information as possible from the experiment and then plan the next course of action is a huge asset. The field I see becoming more important is computer programming. Very often these fields deal with large datasets that are so big, complex, or repetitive that computer assistance isn’t just helpful… but mandatory.
What will help Senior Research Specialists increase their earning potential?
Kristopher Koudelka Ph.D.: Always keep learning. These fields change fast! The leading edge is always unveiling new information that can be applied to the area you are working on, and there will be new techniques developed that allow you to answer questions in more efficient ways. You must learn to regularly update yourself through conversations, reading, conferences, and trainings. This change is fun and exciting, embrace it. It will keep your job feeling new.
What general advice would you give to a Senior Research Specialist?
Jeff Heslep: Find a starting job that gives you a wide range of work to perform. The more experience you can gain during the first few years will help you to hone your skills, decide what areas interest you the most, and give you the opportunity to choose. Learn as much as you can about the various equipment, analytical techniques, processes, and how to troubleshoot minor problems. Take the initiative and ask to learn how to use instruments you aren't familiar with. It is unlikely someone will deny you the opportunity to broaden your knowledge. Take every chance you have to network and get to know the people within your local biotechnology industry. Networking plays a major role in employment opportunities. Work on your written and verbal communication skills. Communicating well will help you stand out. Being able to effectively convey complex scientific concepts in such a way that anyone can understand it can be a powerful skill.