Senior staff scientists oversee the activities of a scientific project. They may be employed by a private company or the government to lead or manage a team of scientists. Senior staff scientists handle everything from technical and budgetary responsibilities to the day-to-day activities of other scientists.
Depending on the team's size, senior staff scientists may also conduct research, collate data, and test hypotheses. They may also supervise equipment care and clean up. Senior staff scientists perform an experiment or a group of experiments in their area of specialization. These contribute to their life's work and often complement each other.
To be a senior staff scientist, you need years of experience in your chosen field. But first, you'll need a bachelor's and advanced degrees in your specialization. The job also requires skills like observation and critical thinking.
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a Senior Staff Scientist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $64.33 an hour? That's $133,804 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 Staff Scientist, we found that a lot of resumes listed 16.0% of Senior Staff Scientists included R, while 13.2% of resumes included Data Analysis, and 12.2% of resumes included PHD. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
If you're interested in becoming a Senior Staff Scientist, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 58.5% of Senior Staff Scientists have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 14.8% of Senior Staff Scientists have master's degrees. Even though most Senior Staff Scientists 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 Staff Scientist. When we researched the most common majors for a Senior Staff Scientist, we found that they most commonly earn Bachelor's Degree degrees or Doctoral Degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on Senior Staff Scientist resumes include Master's Degree degrees or Associate Degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a Senior Staff Scientist. In fact, many Senior Staff Scientist jobs require experience in a role such as Staff Scientist. Meanwhile, many Senior Staff Scientists also have previous career experience in roles such as Senior Scientist or Research Assistant.
