How To Become A Senior Clinical Scientist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a senior clinical scientist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted Experts

Helen Mango Ph.D.,

Sharolyn Kawakami-Schulz Ph.D.

Working as a scientist is really tough, especially as a senior clinical scientist. These professionals manage other scientists in a laboratory who are responsible for analyzing physiology samples and interpreting results from diagnostic tests. They have extensive scientific knowledge for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases. Other than that, they also present their executive project summaries and research reports of their clinical trials to the senior team.

Normally, they study medical assisting services, occupational therapy, or nursing. The majority of the scientists in this profession have either a bachelor's or master's degree. Senior clinical scientists possess great leadership, communication, and observation skills. They have knowledge of regulatory documents, regulatory agencies, RN, patient care, and clinical trials.

The average hourly rate of senior clinical scientists is about $60. Their yearly earnings are more than $124,000. As expected, like other similar roles, this career can also grow in the future, producing more job opportunities in the US.

What general advice would you give to a Senior Clinical Scientist?

Helen Mango Ph.D.

Professor of Geology and Chemistry, Castleton University

Emphasize skills learned - field, laboratory, computer, writing.... Also, that geology is multi-disciplinary. It uses chemistry, physics, math, biology, tech.

ScoreSenior Clinical ScientistUS Average

Salary

8.2

Avg. Salary $124,181

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

6.3

Growth Rate 17%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.15%

Asian 24.37%

Black or African American 6.29%

Hispanic or Latino 9.51%

Unknown 4.08%

White 55.60%

Gender

female 66.75%

male 33.25%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress Level

6.3

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

8.8

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

4.7

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

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Key steps to become a senior clinical scientist

Explore senior clinical scientist education requirements

Most common senior clinical scientist degrees

Bachelor's

60.3 %

Master's

14.7 %

Associate

10.5 %

Start to develop specific senior clinical scientist skills

Skills	Percentages
Informed Consent	15.56%
Patients	14.31%
Clinical Pharmacology	3.71%
Clinical Operations	3.56%
Regulatory Agencies	3.46%

Complete relevant senior clinical scientist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New senior clinical scientists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a senior clinical scientist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real senior clinical scientist resumes.

Research senior clinical scientist duties and responsibilities

Prepare and manage annual budgets and subcontracts for various NIH fund projects.
Manage CROs and external investigators.
Manage pediatric dose development project, technology transfer project and alternate API supplier qualification project on budget and on schedule
Review datasets, TLG and documentations for NDA submissions.

Get senior clinical scientist experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a senior clinical scientist. The most common roles before becoming a senior clinical scientist include clinical scientist, clinical research associate team lead and research assistant.

Prepare your senior clinical scientist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior clinical scientist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a senior clinical scientist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Senior Clinical Scientist Resume templates

Build a professional Senior Clinical Scientist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Senior Clinical Scientist resume.

Apply for senior clinical scientist jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a senior clinical scientist job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams