Virology director vs principal scientist

The differences between virology directors and principal scientists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a virology director and a principal scientist. Additionally, a principal scientist has an average salary of $119,982, which is higher than the $67,183 average annual salary of a virology director.

The top three skills for a virology director include cell biology, and . The most important skills for a principal scientist are oncology, data analysis, and drug discovery.

Virology director vs principal scientist overview

	Virology Director	Principal Scientist
Yearly salary	$67,183	$119,982
Hourly rate	$32.30	$57.68
Growth rate	17%	17%
Number of jobs	5,922	80,899
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Doctoral Degree, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 51%
Average age	41	41
Years of experience	4	4

Virology director vs principal scientist salary

Virology directors and principal scientists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Virology Director	Principal Scientist
Average salary	$67,183	$119,982
Salary range	Between $30,000 And $148,000	Between $84,000 And $169,000
Highest paying City	-	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	-	California
Best paying company	-	PayPal
Best paying industry	-	Finance

Differences between virology director and principal scientist education

There are a few differences between a virology director and a principal scientist in terms of educational background:

	Virology Director	Principal Scientist
Most common degree	Doctoral Degree, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 51%
Most common major	Microbiology	Chemistry
Most common college	Duke University	Duke University

Virology director vs principal scientist demographics

Here are the differences between virology directors' and principal scientists' demographics:

	Virology Director	Principal Scientist
Average age	41	41
Gender ratio	Male, 33.3% Female, 66.7%	Male, 76.8% Female, 23.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.6% Unknown, 3.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.4% Asian, 27.9% White, 56.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%	Black or African American, 6.3% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.6% Asian, 26.4% White, 53.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between virology director and principal scientist duties and responsibilities

Virology director example responsibilities.

Manage technology transfer for clinical API supply delivery.
Collaborate with academics to further develop compounds that inhibit HCV growth in tissue culture.
Design fully-functional modern immunology laboratory.
Design fully-functional modern immunology laboratory.

Principal scientist example responsibilities.

Manage pediatric dose development project, technology transfer project and alternate API supplier qualification project on budget and on schedule
Provide development of and line support for assign immunoassay reagents, calibrators and controls.
Transfer controls to manufacturing for product launch and include all require studies, testing and documentation under GMP guidelines.
Maintain several lab documents for ISO certification.
Understand drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics and design stable molecules.
Image visualization and manipulation of background plates for animation and post-processing.

Virology director vs principal scientist skills

Common virology director skills

Cell Biology, 100%

Common principal scientist skills

Oncology, 7%
Data Analysis, 6%
Drug Discovery, 5%
GMP, 3%
Experimental Design, 3%
Clinical Trials, 3%

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Virology Director
Virology Director vs Principal Scientist

Updated January 8, 2025

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