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.

What Does a Senior Scientist, Biology Do

When it comes to the most important skills required to be a senior scientist, biology, we found that a lot of resumes listed 9.0% of senior scientists, biology included data analysis, while 8.8% of resumes included cell biology, and 6.2% of resumes included next-generation sequencing. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.

Learn more about what a Senior Scientist, Biology does

How To Become a Senior Scientist, Biology

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.

Learn More About How To Become a Senior Scientist, Biology

Senior Scientist, Biology Career Paths

Average Salary for a Senior Scientist, Biology

Senior Scientists, Biology in America make an average salary of $88,965 per year or $43 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $139,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $56,000 per year.
Average Senior Scientist, Biology Salary
$88,965 Yearly
$42.77 hourly

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Roles and Types of Senior Scientist, Biology

The role of a senior scientist, biology includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general senior scientist, biology responsibilities:

  • Develop and transfer cell-based functional assays to monitor immunogenicity to support merck biologics
  • The successful candidate will be part of a research group that will study the mechanistic interactions of anti tnf biologics with various cells within the context of diseased tissues primarily in skin. The goal of the studies will be to shed light on observed clinical results. The ideal candidate should be a critical scientific thinker
  • Work under the general guidance of a scientific director to develop

There are several types of senior scientist, biology, including:

Scientist

Role:

Science plays an important role in all our lives. It creates new knowledge, improves education, and increases the quality of our lives. If you like the idea of exploring the world around you and making new discoveries, then you should consider becoming a scientist. If you decide to become a scientist, you could end up working in either the public or private sector. Scientists work in a wide range of settings, including chemical and pharmaceutical companies, research institutes, universities, food and drink manufacturers, hospitals, and environmental agencies.

As part of their job, scientists plan and carry out experiments and then record and analyze the data. They typically specialize in a particular field, such as geoscience, meteorology, or pharmacology. It is crucial that scientists follow the scientific method as a means of ensuring their results are accurate.

Research scientists need a bachelor's degree in a closely related field for most positions. Usually, a master's degree or a PhD is preferred.

  • Average Salary: $97,344
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Research Scientist

Role:

A research scientist is a professional who gathers information by performing both theoretical and experimental research in a specific scientific field. A research scientist can work in many different areas, such as medicine, natural science, computer science, and social science.

Research scientists collect data, interpret the results of experiments, and form hypotheses in an attempt to answer questions about the natural world or the man-made world, depending on their field. They can be found working in government agencies, as well as private companies.

Some research scientists also work at universities where they not only conduct experiments but also teach the student population about a particular branch of science. No matter who they work for, research scientists spend many of their working hours in laboratories, and other related facilities, to perform experiments and further study their field of science.

Common skills of a research scientist include strong analytical and research skills, critical thinking, and organizational and communications skills. They also usually have a number of hard skills, involving specific kinds of computer software, and devices used for experiments and data collection.

To become a research scientist, you must obtain at least a bachelor's degree in a specific field of science, such as biology, chemistry, or computer science. Many research scientists also have master's degrees in their specialized area of science, and those that teach tend to have PhDs in their field.

  • Average Salary: $89,998
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Research And Development Scientist

Role:

A research and development scientist spends his/her time conducting research, scientific studies, and experiments to develop new products or technologies and improve existing ones. You would spend a lot of your time in the laboratory, not just conducting scientific studies and research but collaborating with other experts in the field, providing recommendations for products, and performing product reviews.

You will be expected to conduct regular assessments and reviews to ensure there are no weak areas and to ensure that all products adhere to safety standards and regulations. You must be able to utilize all laboratory equipment and incorporate technology into your research. You should also be able to present your reports using the slideshow.

You will earn about $61,000 a year at an entry-level position, although the average RD scientist earns about $84,000. The minimum educational qualification is a bachelor's degree in a science-based course. Relevant skills for this role are research, data analysis, and python. You will usually find jobs in technology, manufacturing, and pharmaceutical companies.

  • Average Salary: $90,278
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Senior Scientist, Biology Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active senior scientist, biology jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where senior scientists, biology earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Senior Scientist, Biology Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California3,292$111,077
2Massachusetts1,858$92,131
3New York1,371$69,512
4Virginia1,038$74,206
5Texas1,009$64,090
6Illinois949$77,512
7Maryland889$73,774
8New Jersey879$91,187
9Pennsylvania851$80,538
10North Carolina821$62,695
11Florida795$60,069
12Washington707$80,835
13Georgia434$56,186
14Ohio433$66,352
15Colorado409$67,382
16Oregon342$84,621
17Minnesota336$88,014
18Missouri336$46,659
19Wisconsin332$67,116
20Michigan299$76,195
21Indiana296$76,879
22Connecticut288$93,000
23Arizona277$77,830
24South Carolina234$52,271
25Tennessee231$73,288
26Iowa187$55,804
27Utah185$56,348
28Kansas160$55,779
29New Mexico156$63,157
30Alabama144$55,186
31Delaware141$84,129
32Kentucky141$59,844
33New Hampshire123$76,679
34Louisiana109$50,185
35Idaho103$70,537
36South Dakota99$60,014
37Maine88$96,636
38Nevada86$92,958
39Montana79$89,613
40Nebraska79$55,892
41Rhode Island76$105,260
42Arkansas73$62,265
43North Dakota69$59,466
44Alaska67$98,050
45Vermont67$79,899
46Hawaii67$86,862
47West Virginia66$68,849
48Oklahoma60$62,723
49Mississippi59$55,384
50Wyoming49$67,284

Senior Scientist, Biology Education

Senior Scientist, Biology Majors

25.8 %
10.2 %

Senior Scientist, Biology Degrees

Bachelors

56.8 %

Doctorate

25.2 %

Masters

15.8 %

Top Colleges for Senior Scientist, Biologys

1. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

2. Duke University

Durham, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,695

Enrollment

6,596

3. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$50,420

Enrollment

7,582

4. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI • Private

In-State Tuition

$15,262

Enrollment

30,079

5. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$59,430

Enrollment

8,216

6. Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,740

Enrollment

5,567

7. Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN • Private

In-State Tuition

$49,816

Enrollment

6,840

8. University of California - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$13,226

Enrollment

31,568

9. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,987

Enrollment

18,946

10. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

Top Skills For a Senior Scientist, Biology

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 9.0% of senior scientists, biology listed data analysis on their resume, but soft skills such as communication skills and observation skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Senior Scientist, Biology Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Senior Scientist, Biology templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Senior Scientist, Biology resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Senior Scientist, Biology diversity

Senior Scientist, Biology Gender Distribution

Female
Female
50%
Male
Male
50%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among senior scientists, biology, 50.3% of them are women, while 49.7% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among senior scientists, biology is White, which makes up 53.3% of all senior scientists, biology.

  • The most common foreign language among senior scientists, biology is Spanish at 37.5%.

Online Courses For Senior Scientist, Biology That You May Like

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1. Chemical Biology

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Chemical biology is a burgeoning field that has rapidly risen to prominence. This surge of interest has been fuelled by chemical biology’s applicability to understanding critical processes in live cells or model organisms in real time. This success has arisen because chemical biology straddles a nexus between chemistry, biology, and physics. Thus, chemical biology can harness rapid chemistry to observe or perturb biological processes, that are in turn reported using physical assays, all in an...

2. Network Analysis in Systems Biology

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An introduction to data integration and statistical methods used in contemporary Systems Biology, Bioinformatics and Systems Pharmacology research. The course covers methods to process raw data from genome-wide mRNA expression studies (microarrays and RNA-seq) including data normalization, differential expression, clustering, enrichment analysis and network construction. The course contains practical tutorials for using tools and setting up pipelines, but it also covers the mathematics behind...

3. General Biology I: Foundations of Biology

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An essential course in Biology for students of all ages...

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Best States For a Senior Scientist, Biology

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a senior scientist, biology. The best states for people in this position are California, Rhode Island, Alaska, and Maine. Senior scientists, biology make the most in California with an average salary of $111,077. Whereas in Rhode Island and Alaska, they would average $105,260 and $98,050, respectively. While senior scientists, biology would only make an average of $96,636 in Maine, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. California

Total Senior Scientist, Biology Jobs: 3,292
Highest 10% Earn:
$175,000
Location Quotient:
1.5

2. Massachusetts

Total Senior Scientist, Biology Jobs: 1,858
Highest 10% Earn:
$137,000
Location Quotient:
2.7

3. Alaska

Total Senior Scientist, Biology Jobs: 67
Highest 10% Earn:
$148,000
Location Quotient:
1.07
Full List Of Best States For Senior Scientists, Biology

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Top Senior Scientist, Biology Employers

Most Common Employers For Senior Scientist, Biology

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Theranos$116,893$56.204
2Natera$107,596$51.732
3AbbVie$101,841$48.9613
4Bio-Rad Laboratories$100,180$48.162
5Merck$96,477$46.3836
6Allergan plc$96,154$46.234
7Ionis Pharmaceuticals$91,390$43.942
8Glaxosmithkline$90,084$43.315
9OncoMed Pharmaceuticals$89,957$43.253
10Teva Pharmaceuticals$89,696$43.123