Assay Development Scientist
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
An Assay Development Scientist creates assays or systems to test and evaluate the effect of a chemical compound on an organism. Directs assay development as part of a research process to develop new drugs.
Job Outlook
There were 102 Assay Development Scientist job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 1677 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Chemist industry, which includes the Assay Development Scientist career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:
Salary
Many new Assay Development Scientist 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 $103,484.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $94,608.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Assay Development Scientist postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $83,296.
Education and Experience
Posted Assay Development Scientist 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 | 1.31% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 62.13% |
| Master's Degree | 50.92% |
| Doctoral Degree | 50.21% |
| Other | 0.6% |
Posted Assay Development Scientist 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 | 32.12% |
| 3 to 5 years | 39.04% |
| 6 to 8 years | 15.45% |
| 9+ years | 13.39% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Assay Development Scientist 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.
- Communication (43.35%)
- Troubleshooting (Problem Solving) (38.28%)
- Research (37.51%)
- Detail Oriented (29.16%)
- Writing (25.16%)
- Problem Solving (19.86%)
- Presentations (19.44%)
- Management (19.02%)
- Innovation (18.72%)
- Self-Motivation (17.83%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Assay Development (69.24%)
- Molecular Biology (40.04%)
- Data Analysis (36.42%)
- Chemistry (27.69%)
- Immunoassay (25.35%)
- Biochemistry (50.21%)
- Biology (55.15%)
- Biochemical Assays (82.18%)
- Cell Biology (25.41%)
- Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent (ELISA) Assay (37.51%)
- Flow Cytometry (22.03%)
- Immunology (28.18%)
- Cell Cultures (27.39%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Pre-Clinical Development (4.39%)
- Biopharmaceuticals (12.7%)
- Polymerase Chain Reaction (17.64%)
- Pharmaceuticals (11.38%)
- Virology (5.66%)
- Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reactions (20.89%)
- Process Development (11.32%)
- Experimental Design (6.38%)
- Standard Operating Procedure (11.26%)
- Workflow Management (15.23%)
- Experimental Data (6.08%)
- R (Programming Language) (9.57%)
- Analytical Techniques (14.33%)
- Oncology (7.1%)
- New Product Development (18.24%)
- Good Manufacturing Practices (20.59%)
- Electronic Lab Notebook (6.62%)
- Mammalian Cell Cultures (7.04%)
- Biomarkers (16.62%)
- Ribonucleic Acid Sequencing (8.37%)
- Auditing (2.95%)
- Antibodies (11.74%)
- Monoclonal Antibodies (3.85%)
- Life Sciences (7.83%)
- Biotechnology (20.41%)
- Laboratory Experience (12.76%)
- Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) (18.06%)
- Project Management (12.1%)
- Research And Development (6.62%)
- Laboratory Techniques (6.56%)
- Sample Preparation (6.92%)
- Quality Management Systems (4.82%)
- Drug Development (9.69%)
- Good Documentation Practices (5.36%)
- Reagent (14.51%)
- Clinical Trials (12.94%)
- Laboratory Equipment (12.64%)
- Automation (17.28%)
- Laboratory Safety (3.73%)
- Western Blot (6.98%)
- Drug Discovery (9.27%)
- Technology Transfer (4.94%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Bioassay Development (5.18%)
- Softmax (4.46%)
- Bioassays (9.21%)
- Cell-Based Bioassays (3.85%)
- Ligand Binding Assay (5.78%)
- Neutralization (3.55%)
- Reporter Gene (1.51%)
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.
- Chemistry (100%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Assay Development Scientist skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Scientist
- Associate Scientist
- Analytical Development Scientist
- Principal Scientist
- Bioanalytical Scientist
- Development Scientist
- Cellular Technician
- Flow Cytometry Specialist
- Staff Scientist
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.
- Cell Biologist
- Molecular Biologist
- Biologist (General)
- Biochemist
- Biomedical Scientist
- Research Technician
- Research Associate (General)
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Assay Development Scientist jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Eurofins (101)
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (61)
- Actalent (44)
- IQVIA (35)
- AbbVie (30)
- Thermo Fisher Scientific (25)
- Horizon Therapeutics (24)
- Zoetis (23)
- AstraZeneca (20)
- Just Evotec Biologics (19)
North Carolina
- IQVIA (22)
- Actalent (12)
- Bioagilytix (9)
- Novasyte (7)
- Q Solutions (6)
- Grail (5)
- Zoetis (5)
- Askbio (4)
- Alcami Corporation (4)
- Novozymes (3)
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.