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Science and Research | Clinical Trial Manager

Clinical Trial Manager

What Does a Professional in this Career Do?

A Clinical Trial Manager is responsible for planning and managing all aspects of an organization's program of clinical trials, usually for an organization undertaking pharmacological drug testing.

Job Outlook

There were 280 Clinical Trial Manager job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 6984 in the United States.

In combination with other careers in the Clinical Research Coordinator / Manager industry, which includes the Clinical Trial Manager career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:

Salary

Many new Clinical Trial 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 $113,235.

State

The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $108,006.

Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Clinical Trial Manager postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $82,921.

Education and Experience

Posted Clinical Trial 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 LevelPercentage
Associate's Degree0%
Bachelor's Degree45.98%
Master's Degree17.3%
Doctoral Degree6.31%
Other7.77%

Posted Clinical Trial 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 ExperiencePercentage
0 to 2 years26.01%
3 to 5 years49.64%
6 to 8 years18.9%
9+ years5.44%

Skills

Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Clinical Trial 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.

  • Management (37.89%)
  • Communication (36.46%)
  • Research (31.93%)
  • Operations (26.75%)
  • Leadership (25.52%)
  • Planning (19.68%)
  • Problem Solving (16.31%)
  • Writing (14.97%)
  • Timelines (14.94%)
  • Coordinating (14.94%)

Defining Skills

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

  • Clinical Research (46.71%)
  • Clinical Trials (74.21%)
  • Good Clinical Practices (GCP) (28.52%)
  • Project Management (24.7%)
  • Pharmaceuticals (25.12%)
  • Trial Master File (6.64%)

Necessary Skills

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

  • Regulatory Documents (7.89%)
  • Informed Consent (16.61%)
  • Administrative Support (2.21%)
  • Biotechnology (9.59%)
  • Auditing (16.68%)
  • Medical Research (12.09%)
  • Biology (7.45%)
  • Data Collection (12.15%)
  • Data Management (14.18%)
  • Pre-Clinical Development (10.67%)
  • Clinical Trial Management Systems (15.43%)
  • Case Report Forms (10.62%)
  • Standard Operating Procedure (13.44%)
  • Electronic Data Capture (EDC) (9.05%)
  • Finance (7.35%)
  • Life Sciences (14.14%)
  • Milestones (Project Management) (7.58%)
  • Invoicing (8.22%)
  • Oncology (12.13%)
  • Nursing (14.54%)
  • Drug Development (12.65%)
  • Process Improvement (10.18%)
  • Mitigation (2.78%)
  • Site Selection (9.33%)

Alternative Job Titles

Sometimes employers post jobs with Clinical Trial Manager skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:

  • Patient Observer
  • Clinical Research Monitor
  • Study Manager
  • Local Trial Manager
  • Clinical Trial Specialist
  • Clinical Trial Operations Manager
  • Clinical Affairs Manager
  • Medical Technologist
  • Ophthalmologist

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 Clinical Trial Manager jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.

United States

  • Actalent (202)
  • Aureus Medical Group (159)
  • Icon (142)
  • Johnson & Johnson (139)
  • Merck KGaA Darmstadt Germany (134)
  • Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corporation (125)
  • Pearson Education (100)
  • IQVIA (93)
  • Edwards Lifesciences (81)
  • Stryker (71)

North Carolina

  • IQVIA (25)
  • Accellacare (15)
  • Thermo Fisher Scientific (13)
  • Duke University (11)
  • Atrium Health (10)
  • TELUS (9)
  • Labcorp (9)
  • Actalent (7)
  • CaroMont Health (6)
  • UNC Health (6)

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!