Natural Sciences Managers Salary

The median natural sciences managers salary in the United States is $167,220 per year ($80.39/hour). Salaries range from $79,710 at the entry level to $316,850+ for the top 10% of earners. There are 108,690 natural sciences managers jobs nationwide. Employment is projected to grow 3.7% through 2034.

Last updated: June 2026 Β· Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Median Salary
$167,220
per year
Hourly Rate
$80.39
per hour
Employment
108,690
jobs in the U.S.

Salary Distribution

10th percentile
$79,710
25th percentile
$119,430
Median
$167,220
75th percentile
$221,540
90th percentile
$316,850

Job Growth (2024-2034)

+3.7%
As fast as average

Annual Openings

8,500
jobs/year (growth + replacements)

Education Required

Bachelor's degree
+ 5 years or more experience

Natural Sciences Managers Career Guide

Interview questions, resume templates, and a career ladder written specifically for natural sciences managerss.

Natural sciences managers run research groups at pharma (Pfizer, Merck, Eli Lilly, Bristol Myers Squibb, AbbVie), biotech (Genentech, Regeneron, Vertex, Moderna, Amgen), specialty chemicals (Dow, DuPont, 3M, BASF), and environmental / testing firms (Battelle, SRC, USGS, EPA labs, state DEP labs). They own the science and the P&L β€” lab budgets, grant portfolios, IND / NDA filings, headcount plans, and the promotion / hiring of PhD scientists. BLS reports a median of $167,220 across 108,690 jobs, with p10 at $94,190 and p90 at $239,200+. Pharma and biotech seats cluster $180-320k base + 20-40% bonus + $80-500k RSUs; academic and federal seats (NIH, USGS, national labs) cluster $130-210k. This is a doctorate-track ladder: nearly every seat requires a PhD in the underlying science plus 8-15 years of bench + line-management experience.

Core Skills Hiring Managers Screen For

Scientific depth in a specialty
Molecular biology, medicinal chemistry, structural biology, toxicology, formulation, environmental chemistry, or similar. You need to read a study, catch a flaw in an experimental design, and challenge a Sr Scientist's conclusion in a data review β€” a Manager who can't do this loses the room.
Project portfolio & pipeline management
Run 8-25 concurrent projects with milestones, kill-criteria, and stage-gate reviews. In pharma, this maps to discovery β†’ lead-optimization β†’ IND-enabling β†’ Phase I/II handoff. Kill fast on failing programs; concentrate spend on winners.
Lab budget & capex management
Own a $2-25M annual budget covering reagents, instruments (LC-MS, NMR, flow cytometry, cryo-EM slots), CRO spend, animal-facility charges, and headcount. Reforecast quarterly; defend variances to finance.
Hiring & developing PhD scientists
Recruit from top-25 doctoral programs and postdoc pools; run structured interview loops (research seminar + technical panel + culture round); manage up-or-out through Scientist β†’ Sr Scientist β†’ Principal Scientist tracks. Retention of top PhDs is the biggest single lever on productivity.
Regulatory strategy (IND, NDA, BLA, EPA, FIFRA)
Own the science that goes into filings. In pharma: IND-enabling tox, CMC, DMPK packages. In environmental: FIFRA, TSCA, REACH submissions. In diagnostics: FDA 510(k) or PMA. You don't write the whole filing but you own the data package and the scientific defensibility.
Cross-functional partnership (CMC, DMPK, Clinical, Regulatory, BD)
Discovery Managers hand programs to Development at the IND. If the handoff is sloppy, the program stalls 6-18 months. Great Managers build the receiving org into the discovery-plan from day one.
External science: KOLs, academic collaborations, CROs, licensing diligence
Represent the group at conferences (AACR, ACS, SfN, Gordon), evaluate in-licensing opportunities with BD, and manage the CRO network β€” Charles River, Covance/LabCorp, Evotec, WuXi. A Sr Manager's external network is a real asset.
Grant & governance discipline
In pharma: internal governance reviews (Portfolio Committee, Development Committee). In academia / federal: NIH R01/U01, DOE, NSF, DARPA grant writing and progress reports. Grant-funded seats depend on a rolling pipeline of successful applications.

How to Become a Natural Sciences Managers

  1. 1
    Earn a PhD in a natural science
    Biology, chemistry, biochemistry, pharmacology, toxicology, environmental science, or a related field. 5-7 years post-BS; expect $28-40k/yr stipend during. Top-25 program strongly preferred for pharma / biotech tracks.
  2. 2
    Complete a 2-4 year postdoc (pharma / biotech track)
    Postdoc at academia (Harvard / MIT / UCSF / Scripps / Rockefeller) or an industry postdoc (Genentech, Novartis, Merck). Publish 3-6 first-author papers. Federal / environmental tracks can skip postdoc into an entry Scientist seat.
  3. 3
    Start as Scientist / Sr Scientist at an industry lab or research org
    $115-165k base at Pfizer, Merck, Genentech, Regeneron, Vertex. $85-130k at academia / federal / non-profit research. 4-7 years at the bench, ideally leading a subgroup of 2-4 Associates by year 5.
  4. 4
    Move into a Group Leader / Principal Scientist seat
    $160-230k base + bonus + RSUs. Own a discovery target or a specific research program. First formal reports (3-8 people). This is the make-or-break rung: about half of Principal Scientists never move to Manager.
  5. 5
    Promote to Manager / Sr Manager / Director β†’ Executive Director / VP
    $180-450k+ base + bonus + RSUs. Manager runs one lab or discipline; Sr Manager runs a program or platform; Director runs a therapeutic area or full discovery site. VP / SVP Research owns pipeline strategy for the therapeutic area or the entire discovery organization.

Career Progression

Group Leader / Principal Scientist (managerial track)
8-12 yrs$160-230k base + 15-20% bonus + $40-120k RSUs
  • β€’Own a discovery target or a research program end-to-end
  • β€’Manage 3-8 Scientists / Associates; run weekly data-review meetings
  • β€’Present quarterly to Portfolio Committee; defend milestones and go/no-go decisions
  • β€’Own a $1-3M annual project budget including CRO spend
Next: Manager / Sr Manager Research at 11-15 years on portfolio-management maturity.
Manager, Research / Sr Manager, Research
11-16 yrs$180-260k base + 20-25% bonus + $80-200k RSUs
  • β€’Run a lab or subdiscipline (10-25 people mix of PhDs, MSc, RAs)
  • β€’Own 3-8 concurrent programs at various stages
  • β€’Hire, calibrate, and promote PhD scientists; own compensation planning
  • β€’Represent the group in cross-functional program teams and IND-enabling reviews
Next: Director / Sr Director at 14-19 years on multi-program leadership and successful IND(s).
Director / Sr Director, Research
14-20 yrs$220-340k base + 25-35% bonus + $150-350k RSUs
  • β€’Run a therapeutic area or discovery site (40-120 people)
  • β€’Own the target-selection process for the TA; kill or advance programs at portfolio review
  • β€’Partner with BD on in-licensing evaluations; sign off on the science of deals
  • β€’Represent the site externally at KOL meetings, conferences, and academic collaborations
Next: Executive Director / VP at 18-25 years on delivering multiple INDs and pipeline growth.
Executive Director / VP, Research
18+ yrs$300-450k+ base + 35-50% bonus + $250-500k+ RSUs + LTIP
  • β€’Own pipeline strategy for a therapeutic area (oncology, immunology, neurology, cardiometabolic, rare disease)
  • β€’Report to SVP / CSO; sit on the R&D leadership team
  • β€’Own $30-200M annual R&D budget for the TA
  • β€’Represent the company to investors, regulators, and academic partners on TA strategy
Next: SVP / CSO / Chief Scientific Officer at 22+ years; ownership of full R&D strategy and the pipeline.
SVP Research / CSO
22+ yrs$500-900k+ base + 50-80% bonus + $1-4M+ RSUs / performance shares + LTIP
  • β€’Own the entire R&D pipeline and scientific strategy
  • β€’Report to CEO; represent the company to the board on pipeline
  • β€’Own $200M-$3B annual R&D budget depending on company size
  • β€’Drive external scientific reputation β€” investor days, JPM Healthcare, ASH, AACR keynotes

Interview Questions & Answers

5 free questions below. Career Kit unlocks 15 total plus resume bullets for every level.

Q1. Walk me through a program you killed and how you decided.behavioral
Structure with concrete kill-criteria. Situation: a lead series in kinase inhibitor discovery with encouraging on-target potency (single-digit nM) but a hERG liability we could not engineer out across three chemistry cycles. Task: continue lead-optimization or kill. Action: I proposed a formal kill-review at Portfolio Committee β€” pulled together the SAR, the mitigation experiments we'd run, the CV safety-margin projection, and a competitive-landscape review showing three other companies had abandoned the same series for the same reason. Result: PC agreed, we killed after 18 months and $4.2M spent, redeployed the medicinal chemistry team onto a fresh target the following quarter, and avoided the $18-25M IND-enabling burn we'd have hit otherwise. Interviewers want to see you kill on data, not sunk-cost.
Q2. How do you decide which target to prosecute next?case
Three lenses. Scientific rationale β€” genetics, biology, target validation strength; is there human evidence (GWAS, patient tissue, natural genetic knockouts) or is it still cell-line biology? Druggability β€” is it a small-molecule-tractable pocket, or does it require a modality (biologic, RNAi, cell therapy, degrader) we have or need to build? Competitive landscape and speed-to-clinic β€” how many competitors are in it, what's their stage, and can we differentiate on mechanism, patient population, or a combination angle? At the Manager / Director level you're picking 3-5 targets a year out of 20-40 candidates. Get 2 of 5 into IND-enabling and you're above industry average.
Q3. Describe your biggest management failure.behavioral
STAR. Situation: I had a Sr Scientist with strong bench skills but was consistently undermining a Group Leader in program meetings. Task: fix the dynamic without losing either. Action: I first tried private coaching for the Sr Scientist β€” didn't work. I then tried mediated conversations with both β€” helped for 4-6 weeks then reverted. I finally moved the Sr Scientist to a different program under a different Group Leader; the underlying interpersonal conflict was more structural than I'd first recognized. Result: both people stayed and productivity rebounded, but I lost about 8 months of program velocity before making the call. Lesson: when repeated coaching doesn't move a dynamic, restructure earlier. Interviewers screen for people who own the mistake and name the specific lesson.
Q4. How do you handle a Scientist who publishes but doesn't deliver on program milestones?situational
Direct. Scientist and Sr Scientist promotions in industry are 60-70% program delivery, 20-30% publication and external reputation. If a Scientist is spending disproportionate time on their side-project publication, I re-anchor: 'The pathway to Principal here is delivering the CRC-1234 series to development-candidate nomination on the FY26 timeline. Publications from that work are welcome and I'll co-sign, but they can't crowd out the core program.' If they can't align, we manage them out to academia or a different company. Retention of the wrong scientist for the wrong reason is more costly than a transition.
Q5. Where do you see your career in 5 years?closer
Show the fork clearly. IC (Distinguished / Fellow) or manager (Director β†’ ED β†’ VP β†’ SVP β†’ CSO). I'm on the manager track β€” I want to own a therapeutic area or a research site, which means Sr Director within 3 years and Executive Director within 5-7. Specifically: 2 INDs delivered on my current programs, 1-2 in-licensing evaluations landed as VP-signed deals, and a group headcount growth from 12 to 25 with a documented promotion pipeline. That's a concrete answer that says you've thought about specific outcomes, not just 'grow at your company.'

Resume Template β€” Group Leader / Principal Scientist (managerial track, 8-12 yrs)

Copy these bullets into your resume as a starting point. Career Kit includes bullets for every level of the ladder.

Group Leader / Principal Scientist (managerial track, 8-12 yrs)
  • β–ΈGroup Leader for a 6-person oncology target-discovery team at [top-15 pharma]; delivered 2 development candidates and 1 IND filing in 30 months.
  • β–ΈOwned $2.4M annual program budget including CRO spend (Charles River, WuXi); reforecast quarterly to actual within 4%.
  • β–ΈHired 4 PhD scientists from top-10 programs (Harvard, MIT, Scripps, UCSF); 4/4 retained at 24 months.
  • β–ΈPhD Molecular Biology + 3 year postdoc; 14 peer-reviewed publications, 3 issued patents; $195k base + 18% bonus + $85k RSUs.

What Gets You Rejected

  • βœ—PhD from a low-tier program with no postdoc and no peer-reviewed publications β€” hard to defend at Portfolio Committee or in KOL settings.
  • βœ—Cannot criticize their own data β€” 'my data is clean' with no acknowledgment of confound or limitation ends the interview at Sr Director+ rounds.
  • βœ—Weak on kill-criteria β€” champions their favorite program past the point where the data supports it. Costs the company $10-50M per bad kill decision.
  • βœ—Poor cross-functional history β€” cannot name specific CMC, DMPK, Regulatory, or Clinical partners they've worked with by name and function.
  • βœ—No IND / NDA / BLA / 510(k) / EPA registration in their history at the Director+ level. Filing experience is table-stakes.
  • βœ—Retention problems in prior groups β€” turnover >20%/yr among PhD scientists is a management signal that comes up in reference calls.

Salary Negotiation Levers

  • βœ“Therapeutic area premium β€” oncology, cell / gene therapy, and rare-disease TAs command 15-25% premium over cardiometabolic or immunology at most pharma.
  • βœ“Modality premium β€” biologics, cell therapy, gene editing, and targeted-protein-degradation groups pay 10-20% over small-molecule medicinal chemistry.
  • βœ“Metro premium β€” Boston / Cambridge, SF Bay, San Diego, and NJ / NYC corridor pay 15-25% over Research Triangle, Indianapolis, and Kalamazoo.
  • βœ“RSUs / equity β€” the real long-term wealth driver. Ask for the annual refresher grant target and vesting schedule, not just the sign-on grant.
  • βœ“Sign-on to offset unvested equity β€” $100-500k standard at Director+ if you're leaving unvested RSUs. Get the vesting acceleration clause in writing.
  • βœ“LTIP / performance-share awards kick in at Executive Director / VP β€” 20-50% of base annually granted in 3-year performance shares tied to pipeline milestones.
  • βœ“Relocation package β€” full pack-and-ship + 90 days temp housing + closing-cost assistance is standard for Director+ moves; often negotiable to $75-150k lump sum.
  • βœ“Startup / small-cap biotech β€” trade base and bonus for larger equity stake (0.1-1.0% for a Director, 1-4% for a VP). The upside is IPO or acquisition; downside is dilution or wipeout.

Natural Sciences Managers Resume Review β€” $29

Personalized resume review from someone who has hired natural sciences managerss. Purchase, email your resume to support@weblabra.com, and receive detailed written feedback within 7 days.

  • βœ“ Occupation-specific critique (not generic)
  • βœ“ Rewrite suggestions for weak bullets
  • βœ“ Missing skills / keywords flagged
  • βœ“ Formatting + ATS-readability feedback
  • βœ“ 7-day turnaround, 100% refund if we miss it

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  • βœ“ All 15 interview questions with expert answers
  • βœ“ 7 real questions aggregated from Glassdoor, Blind, Reddit, LinkedIn
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  • βœ“ 3 copy-paste salary negotiation emails
  • βœ“ Resume bullets for every level of the career ladder
  • βœ“ 30–60–90 day plan for your first role
  • βœ“ Cover letter templates specific to this occupation
  • βœ“ Detailed salary negotiation script
  • βœ“ Ranked list of certifications with cost + ROI
  • βœ“ Downloadable PDF for offline access
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Natural Sciences Managers Salary by State

Best Cities (cost-adjusted) β†’

Salary Map β€” Click a state for details

$108K
$267Kβ–  No data

Top Paying States

Massachusetts
$267K
+60%
Connecticut
$211K
+26%
California
$210K
+26%
New Jersey
$207K
+24%
Washington
$182K
+9%
North Carolina
$174K
+4%
Maryland
$169K
+1%
Illinois
$160K
-5%
District of Columbia
$157K
-6%
Kansas
$154K
-8%
Vertical line = national median. Click a state for full details.
StateMedianvs. National
Massachusetts$267,290+59.8%
Connecticut$210,670+26.0%
California$210,230+25.7%
New Jersey$207,030+23.8%
Washington$182,480+9.1%
North Carolina$173,870+4.0%
Maryland$168,620+0.8%
Illinois$159,670-4.5%
District of Columbia$156,730-6.3%
Kansas$153,820-8.0%
1–10 of 48

Natural Sciences Managers Salary by Metro Area

Metro AreaMedianvs. National
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH$291,000+74.0%
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA$263,810+57.8%
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA$225,230+34.7%
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR$220,120+31.6%
Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT$217,480+30.1%
Kennewick-Richland, WA$215,860+29.1%
Worcester, MA$212,600+27.1%
Midland, MI$212,130+26.9%
New Haven, CT$210,670+26.0%
Boulder, CO$210,340+25.8%
1–10 of 211
Data Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). Data reflects the most recent annual survey.
How does this compare to pro athletes?
A natural sciences managers earning $167,220/year would need 356 years to match Stephen Curry's NBA salary, or 383 yearsto match Patrick Mahomes' NFL contract.
See all sports & celebrity salaries β†’
πŸ“ˆ See how natural sciences managers salaries have changed over the past decade.
View Natural Sciences Managers salary trend (2011–2024) β†’