Research and Development Manager
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Research and Development Manager is responsible for day-to-day management their organization's research and development department(s). Responsible for ensuring that the department meet the organization's objectives for researching and developing new products or technologies and improve existing products.
Job Outlook
There were 88 Research and Development Manager job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 2622 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Natural Science Research Manager industry, which includes the Research and Development Manager career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:
Salary
Many new Research and Development 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 $89,793.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $90,820.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Research and Development Manager postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $59,805.
Education and Experience
Posted Research and Development 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 | 2.4% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 50.99% |
| Master's Degree | 36.69% |
| Doctoral Degree | 22.31% |
| Other | 5.07% |
Posted Research and Development 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 | 17.06% |
| 3 to 5 years | 49.89% |
| 6 to 8 years | 19.63% |
| 9+ years | 13.42% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Research and Development 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 (80.05%)
- Communication (41.34%)
- Management (36.23%)
- Leadership (29.94%)
- Operations (25.9%)
- Writing (22.08%)
- Innovation (19.15%)
- Presentations (18.65%)
- Problem Solving (17.89%)
- Detail Oriented (16.78%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Project Management (39.31%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Quantitative Research (7.24%)
- Clinical Research (10.75%)
- Qualitative Research (8.79%)
- Market Research (5.34%)
- Data Analysis (19.48%)
- Marketing (17.7%)
- Research Experiences (8.74%)
- Data Collection (17.3%)
- Research And Development (20%)
- New Product Development (23.16%)
- Finance (10.57%)
- Research Funding (3.45%)
- Biology (12.24%)
- Research Methodologies (7.99%)
- Data Management (6.26%)
- Grant Applications (2.99%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Research and Development Manager skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Research Manager
- Research and Development Intern
- Research Operations Manager
- Research Support Manager
- Research Project Manager
- Project Manager
- Internship Program Manager
- Technology Development Intern
- Research Intern
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.
- Research Analyst
- Natural Science Research Manager (General)
- Research Associate (General)
- Research Assistant
- Research Scientist
- Market Research Analyst (General)
- Vice President (General)
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Research and Development Manager jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Johnson & Johnson (59)
- Georgia Institute of Technology (36)
- University of Miami (32)
- Educational Testing Service (32)
- University of Chicago (32)
- Bayer (31)
- Pennsylvania State University (29)
- Deloitte (29)
- Amgen (25)
- Merck (20)
North Carolina
- University of North Carolina (8)
- North Carolina State University (6)
- Labcorp Drug Development (5)
- Ricoh Electronics (4)
- Butterball (3)
- Appalachian State University (3)
- Grifols (2)
- Novartis (2)
- Intertape Polymer Group (2)
- Duke University (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!
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.