Clinical Research Manager
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Clinical Research Manager is responsible for managing the day-to-day research operations of an organization undertaking clinical trials, usually pharmacological drug testing.
Job Outlook
There were 64 Clinical Research Manager job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 2774 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Clinical Research Coordinator / Manager industry, which includes the Clinical Research Manager career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:
Salary
Many new Clinical Research Manager 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 $112,898.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $112,898.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Clinical Research Manager postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $92,645.
Education and Experience
Posted Clinical Research Manager 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 | 6.45% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 74.95% |
| Master's Degree | 44.16% |
| Doctoral Degree | 10.85% |
| Other | 4.15% |
Posted Clinical Research Manager 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 | 15.67% |
| 3 to 5 years | 64% |
| 6 to 8 years | 16.23% |
| 9+ years | 4.09% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Clinical Research Manager 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 (85.08%)
- Management (63.52%)
- Operations (50.68%)
- Communication (48.59%)
- Leadership (48.31%)
- Coordinating (32.48%)
- Writing (25.52%)
- Problem Solving (22.35%)
- Planning (20.04%)
- Organizational Skills (19.97%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Project Management (35.22%)
- Good Clinical Practices (GCP) (38.22%)
- Clinical Trials (68.94%)
- Clinical Research (96.31%)
- Institutional Review Board (IRB) (31.2%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Biology (7.67%)
- Performance Appraisal (8.88%)
- Quality Improvement (3.98%)
- Oncology (19.36%)
- Workflow Management (10.23%)
- Pre-Clinical Development (6.8%)
- Regulatory Compliance (10.74%)
- Customer Relationship Management (11%)
- Life Sciences (3%)
- Data Management (17.1%)
- Pharmacovigilance (3.95%)
- Financial Management (4.38%)
- Medical Terminology (8.51%)
- Pharmaceuticals (10.12%)
- Data Collection (19.95%)
- Nursing (17.46%)
- Standard Operating Procedure (16.66%)
- Human Subject Research (15.89%)
- Clinical Trial Management Systems (16.77%)
- FDA Regulations (10.41%)
- Auditing (22.29%)
- Hematology (3.73%)
- Operations Management (3.84%)
- Informed Consent (12.13%)
- Performance Review (8.48%)
- Process Improvement (8.48%)
- Site Selection (8.62%)
- Regulatory Documents (10.41%)
- Data Entry (6.87%)
- Case Report Forms (9.32%)
- Clinical Research Coordination (13.74%)
- Performance Management (5.26%)
- Finance (9.9%)
- Drug Development (2.7%)
- Billing (7.89%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Clinical Trial Planning (6.25%)
- Investigational New Drug Application (2.56%)
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.
- Clinical Trial Planning (70.95%)
- Investigational New Drug Application (29.05%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Clinical Research Manager skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Clinical Research Supervisor
- Clinical Research Project Manager
- Clinical Research Program Manager
- Oncology Clinical Research Manager
- Clinical Research Data Manager
- Clinical Research Coordinator
- Regional Clinical Research Associate
- Clinical Research Nurse
- Clinical Research Site Manager
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.
- Clinical Research Associate
- Clinical Trial Manager
- Clinical Research Director
- Clinical Research Coordinator
- Clinical Project Manager
- Natural Science Research Manager (General)
- Clinical Quality Manager
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Clinical Research Manager jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Merck (241)
- University of California (139)
- Actalent (76)
- Stanford University (64)
- Massachusetts General Hospital (46)
- University of Chicago (43)
- Labcorp Drug Development (38)
- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (36)
- University of Pennsylvania (34)
- UT Southwestern Medical Center (30)
North Carolina
- Duke University (10)
- Labcorp Drug Development (8)
- Archway Physician Recruitment (5)
- Wake Forest Baptist Health (5)
- Atrium Health (4)
- University of North Carolina (4)
- Institute For Medical Research (3)
- Flatiron Health (2)
- Wake Forest (2)
- Delricht Research (2)
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!
- Health Physics Graduate Certificates
- Microbiology Undergraduate Certificates
- Textile Chemistry Master's Degrees
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.