As a senior scientist in biology, you will be responsible for studying how living organisms relate to the environment. You could work in many different places depending on your specialization. You can be employed in a laboratory studying the properties of organisms, a pharmaceutical company developing new vaccines, or the research wing of a hospital discovering new cancer treatments. Also, you'll supervise junior scientists helping you with your research. Additionally, you'll support and participate in research and development meetings.
Employers expect applicants to have at least a master's degree in biological science, biochemistry, molecular biology, or related fields. Applicants must have a minimum of six years of experience in a related field. Key skills for this position include communication, analytical, presentation, record-keeping, and teamwork skills. Senior scientists, biology earn an average salary of $88,187 in a year, equivalent to $42.4 per hour. This falls between $60,000 and $127,000.
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a Senior Scientist, Biology. For example, did you know that they make an average of $41.99 an hour? That's $87,349 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 8% and produce 10,600 job opportunities across the U.S.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a Senior Scientist, Biology, we found that a lot of resumes listed 13.0% of Senior Scientists, Biology included Data Analysis, while 12.5% of resumes included Molecular Biology, and 10.8% of resumes included R. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
If you're interested in becoming a Senior Scientist, Biology, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 56.8% of Senior Scientists, Biology have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 15.8% of Senior Scientists, Biology have master's degrees. Even though most Senior Scientists, Biology have a college degree, it's impossible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a Senior Scientist, Biology. When we researched the most common majors for a Senior Scientist, Biology, we found that they most commonly earn Bachelor's Degree degrees or Doctoral Degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on Senior Scientist, Biology resumes include Master's Degree degrees or Associate Degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a Senior Scientist, Biology. In fact, many Senior Scientist, Biology jobs require experience in a role such as Research Assistant. Meanwhile, many Senior Scientists, Biology also have previous career experience in roles such as Doctoral Fellow or Research Fellow.