Director of Clinical Research

What Does a Professional in this Career Do?

A Director of Clinical Research is responsible for the overall research strategy of an organization undertaking clinical trials, usually pharmacological drug testing.

Job Outlook

There were 46 Director of Clinical Research job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 1961 in the United States.

We do not have this data at this time.

Salary

Many new Director of Clinical Research jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.

National

The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $219,204.

State

The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $219,204.

Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Director of Clinical Research postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $170,888.

Education and Experience

Posted Director of Clinical Research jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.

Education Level	Percentage
Associate's Degree	0%
Bachelor's Degree	29.27%
Master's Degree	40.39%
Doctoral Degree	62.47%
Other	1.07%

Posted Director of Clinical Research jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.

Years of Experience	Percentage
0 to 2 years	3.67%
3 to 5 years	34.13%
6 to 8 years	25.52%
9+ years	36.68%

Skills

Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Director of Clinical Research positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.

Baseline Skills

A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.

Research (79.04%)
Leadership (69.86%)
Operations (50.48%)
Communication (48.65%)
Management (47.22%)
Innovation (31.16%)
Presentations (28.96%)
Ethical Standards And Conduct (26.42%)
Planning (21.32%)
Problem Solving (18.97%)

Defining Skills

A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.

Clinical Research (79.82%)
Clinical Trials (76.96%)
Pre-Clinical Development (44.98%)
Drug Development (27.2%)
Pharmaceuticals (27.35%)
Oncology (27.51%)
Good Clinical Practices (GCP) (18.51%)

Necessary Skills

A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.

Clinical Study Reports (18.2%)
Business Development (20.12%)
Key Opinion Leader Development (21.48%)
Project Management (12.95%)
Regulatory Documents (12.58%)
Regulatory Affairs (19.71%)
New Product Development (12.01%)
Clinical Study Design (8.89%)
Biomarkers (14.2%)
Pharmacovigilance (12.58%)
Translational Research (16.9%)
Medical Affairs (15.18%)
Data Analysis (15.39%)
Marketing (17.47%)
Institutional Review Board (IRB) (10.14%)
Translational Medicine (13.52%)
Data Management (6.81%)
Clinical Pharmacology (15.13%)
Biostatistics (15.76%)
Biology (11.08%)
Finance (5.2%)
Auditing (9.57%)
Immunology (13.36%)
Regulatory Requirements (8.11%)
Biotechnology (12.9%)
Statistics (10.82%)
Medical Research (11.39%)
Early Clinical Development (11.6%)
Statistical Analysis (6.86%)
Biopharmaceuticals (4.89%)
Standard Operating Procedure (5.46%)
Medical Devices (6.92%)
Clinical Leadership (12.58%)
Hematology (8.06%)
Regulatory Compliance (8.37%)
Clinical Practices (7.44%)
Lifecycle Management (5.82%)
Data Collection (8.94%)

Salary Boosting Skills

A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.

Drug Development (76.8%)
Project Management (36.56%)

Alternative Job Titles

Sometimes employers post jobs with Director of Clinical Research skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:

Principal Scientist
Clinical Oncology Specialist
Outcomes Manager
Research Principal
Clinical Research Scientist
Clinical Research Site Manager
Director of Research
Editor/Translator
Global Head

Similar Occupations

If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.

Common Employers

Here are the employers that have posted the most Director of Clinical Research jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.

United States

Merck & Co. (155)
Sanofi (138)
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company (92)
Johnson & Johnson (66)
Cardinal Health (60)
Sumitomo Pharma (54)
Novartis (37)
GlaxoSmithKline (36)
University of Pennsylvania (26)
Deborah Heart And Lung Center (23)

North Carolina

Novant Health (5)
Atrium Health (4)
University of North Carolina (3)
Actalent (2)
East Carolina University (2)
North Carolina Central University (2)
Merck & Co. (2)
Saga Diagnostics Ab (2)
UNC Health (2)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1)

NC State Programs Relevant to this Career

If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!

All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.

Science and Research