Staff chemist vs senior research chemist

The differences between staff chemists and senior research chemists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a senior research chemist has an average salary of $95,520, which is higher than the $84,235 average annual salary of a staff chemist.

The top three skills for a staff chemist include chemistry, ms and GC. The most important skills for a senior research chemist are R, chemistry, and product development.

Staff chemist vs senior research chemist overview

	Staff Chemist	Senior Research Chemist
Yearly salary	$84,235	$95,520
Hourly rate	$40.50	$45.92
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	70,982	55,511
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 79%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	-	-

Staff chemist vs senior research chemist salary

Staff chemists and senior research chemists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Staff Chemist	Senior Research Chemist
Average salary	$84,235	$95,520
Salary range	Between $55,000 And $127,000	Between $69,000 And $130,000
Highest paying City	Berkeley, CA	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	Delaware	Washington
Best paying company	Seagate Technology	Crunchbase
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	Pharmaceutical

Differences between staff chemist and senior research chemist education

There are a few differences between a staff chemist and a senior research chemist in terms of educational background:

	Staff Chemist	Senior Research Chemist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 79%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Most common major	Chemistry	Chemistry
Most common college	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Staff chemist vs senior research chemist demographics

Here are the differences between staff chemists' and senior research chemists' demographics:

	Staff Chemist	Senior Research Chemist
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 71.4% Female, 28.6%	Male, 79.1% Female, 20.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.7% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.3% Asian, 18.3% White, 59.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 6.5% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 27.5% White, 52.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	5%	5%

Differences between staff chemist and senior research chemist duties and responsibilities

Staff chemist example responsibilities.

Test developmental compounds to ASTM standards and manage certification submissions.
Support manufacturing processes by using HPLC, GC and IR.
Complete projects in compliance with FDA GLP and cGMP regulations.
Prepare reports using LIMS databases.
Create spectral databases for FTIR and Raman systems.
Operate GC-FID and GC-TID in addition to HPLC for pilot plant support.

Senior research chemist example responsibilities.

Manage an analytical laboratory, which include SEM-EDS, GC-MS, GPC, FT-IR, ICP-MS, TGA and DSC equipment.
Conduct HPLC analysis of two main products to support equivalency programs.
Establish the fast HPLC column screening system and serve as super user.
Calculate amounts of unknown components of a distillation bottoms mixture using NMR.
Train over twenty plant operators and scientists to use the FTIR system.
Act as leading analyst to provide analytical services to several GMP API productions.

Staff chemist vs senior research chemist skills

Common staff chemist skills

Chemistry, 12%
Ms, 10%
GC, 6%
R, 6%
Gas Chromatography, 5%
Liquid Chromatography, 4%

Common senior research chemist skills

R, 16%
Chemistry, 14%
Product Development, 8%
Analytical Laboratory, 6%
Organic Synthesis, 4%
Polymer, 4%

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Staff Chemist vs Senior Research Chemist

Updated January 8, 2025

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