Counted October 17, 2026 · from employers’ own postings
Science & clinical research: 5,772 open roles, 913 entry level.
The lab and the trial — scientists, chemists, clinical research, regulatory affairs, quality and validation.
2,605 of these postings state no level; the entry-level count is over the ones that do, plus any that ask for a year or less and are not titled senior. Pay is the median of posted bands, in USD, only where eight or more roles posted one; 1 posted figure that could not be a year's pay was left out. Only open roles are counted.
The roles, as the postings name them
Open roles and posted pay by role.
| Role | Open roles | Median posted band |
|---|---|---|
| Scientist | 316 | $140K |
| Cra | 262 | $124K |
| Clinical Research Associate | 222 | $115K |
| Research Associate | 219 | $80K |
| Research Technician | 142 | $45K |
| Manager | 97 | $164K |
| Lab Assistant | 92 | $41K |
| Director | 89 | $247K |
| Clinical Research Nurse | 80 | $109K |
| Medical Science Liaison | 78 | $190K |
| Lab Technician | 66 | $66K |
| Clinical Trial Manager | 64 | $172K |
What each pays, on its own page: Clinical Research Associate, Research Associate, Research Technician, Lab Assistant, Clinical Research Nurse, Medical Science Liaison, Lab Technician, Clinical Trial Manager, Medical Writer, Validation Engineer, Regulatory Affairs Specialist, Medical Laboratory Technician.
A role is the posting’s own title with its level, shift and schedule set aside, so “Registered Nurse – ICU (Nights)” and “Senior Registered Nurse” are one role. The twelve most posted; pay is the median of posted bands, where eight or more roles posted one.
The skills, as the postings name them
What the postings ask for.
| Skill | Postings | At entry |
|---|---|---|
| Investigation | 1,911 | 37% |
| Clinical Trials | 1,800 | 39% |
| Accessibility | 1,025 | 30% |
| Continuous Improvement | 959 | 10% |
| Regulatory Compliance | 864 | 7% |
| Data Analysis | 737 | 12% |
| Process Documentation | 693 | 13% |
| Project Management | 644 | 7% |
| Laboratory Science | 627 | 8% |
| Spreadsheet Analysis | 616 | 15% |
| Statistics | 604 | 11% |
| Registered Nursing | 577 | 6% |
A count of open postings naming each skill, the twelve most named; “at entry” is the share of the 913 entry-level postings that name it. Never a trend, never a score of you. Which of these you already have, and what you would learn first, is on your CareerVersion.
The ladder, by level
What each rung pays.
| Level | Open roles | Median posted band | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|
| INTERN | 86 | $41K | $41K–$41K |
| JUNIOR | 630 | $82K | $64K–$103K |
| MID | 466 | $52K | $45K–$85K |
| SENIOR | 922 | $134K | $109K–$169K |
| STAFF | 209 | $111K | $80K–$142K |
| PRINCIPAL | 162 | $174K | $145K–$192K |
| MANAGEMENT | 692 | $178K | $135K–$231K |
Levels as the postings name them. A rung shows a median only where eight or more postings at that level carried a band; the middle half is the twenty-fifth to seventy-fifth percentile of those bands.
Who is hiring
The employers with the most open.
| Employer | Open roles | Entry level |
|---|---|---|
| Thermofisher | 552 | 73 |
| ICON | 514 | 152 |
| Syneoshealth | 279 | 9 |
| Labcorp | 191 | 57 |
| Fortrea | 172 | 40 |
| Abbott | 146 | 17 |
| Regeneron | 120 | 11 |
| Umiami | 119 | 74 |
| University of Chicago | 98 | — |
| Psu | 90 | 10 |
Counted from employers’ own job boards. The twelve with the most open roles in this career tonight; “entry level” is how many of those ask for no prior experience.
Where the work is
9% of open science & clinical research roles are remote.
- Remote9%525 roles
- Hybrid1%86 roles
- On site63%3,638 roles
- Not stated26%1,523 roles
As the boards state it. Nothing in the postings supports a city-level figure, so none is given.
How this was counted
Every figure here is counted from 5,772 open postings read from 570 employers’ own job boards on October 17, 2026, and recounted every night. Pay is the band the employer posted — never an estimate, never a model: a level shows a median only where eight or more postings carried one, and 2,141 of these postings did. 1 posted bands whose midpoint could not be a year's pay in US dollars were left out of every figure. Titles are grouped by the words the postings use, with levels, shifts and schedules removed, so one role is one row. The same counts as Markdown are at facts.md.
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Counted October 17, 2026 from 5,772 open postings; refreshed nightly. Facts as Markdown: facts.md.