Biotechnology Jobs vs Biotechnology Careers
Biotechnology jobs are for short-term goals.
Biotechnology careers include your long-term goals. You can manage this journey through a combination of education, certifications and experience. Only then can you arrive at the destination you are most interested in.
Biotechnology jobs includeClinical Trials, Clinical Research, Quality, Regulatory, and Medical Affairs, Engineering and Software. Research in food, pharmaceuticals, biologics, and medical devices are sometimes lumped in with biotechnology.
Skip to Search for Jobs
Let’s begin your career progression with the end in mind:
Senior Vice President
The Senior Vice President title is usually given to a Vice President with significant experience and or one who oversees multiple Vice Presidents. These include regional Vice Presidents or Vice Presidents of specific therapies.
More information can be found on our Executive Search page.
Vice President
Vice Presidents lead the entire team of a department such as Quality, Regulatory Affairs, Clinical Development, Medical Affairs. It may also include a line of business such as Oncology. For more information, including job descriptions and major pitfalls visit our Executive Search page.
Head or Executive Director
The titles of Head of and Executive Director are uncommon in biotechnology. Typically, they are endowed when people have a particular expertise and an exacting level of performance is needed. Otherwise, a company could face devastating consequences. Examples include Head of Drug Safety, Head of Health Economics Outcomes Research (HEOR).
More information can be found on our Executive Search page.
Senior Director
A Senior Director is generally a Director with significant experience and may oversee the work of Directors and lower-level positions. Multiple industry certifications, 15 years or more of experience, and a Masters degree in science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) may be required for this level of position.
More information can be found on our Recruiting Page.
Director
By the time someone reaches Director level they ought to be considered a Subject Matter Expert (SME). They may have full responsibility for a subset of their department’s responsibilities, e.g. Director of CMC. Directors have management responsibilities for Associate Directors and below. At least one industry certification is usually required. Directors have 8-15 years of experience, more if the director does not have a Masters-level degree or higher.
More information can be found on our Recruiting Page.
Associate Director
Associate Director positions are not common. Some step directly from Manager positions into Director positions, depending on the size of an organization. Certifications are preferred at this level. More information can be found on our Recruiting Page.
Senior Manager
Senior Managers are responsible for managing their projects and perhaps managing a Manager and or team of specialists. More information can be found on our Recruiting Page.
Manager
Managers are responsible for managing their projects and perhaps managing one or two Specialists. More information can be found on our Recruiting Page.
Associate Manager
Associate Managers are generally responsible for managing their projects or a portion of a larger project. More information can be found on our Recruiting Page.
Associate or Specialist or Technician
Specialists typically have 0-4 years of experience and a relevant degree. In the case of biotechnology these are degrees in science, technology engineering, or math (STEM). These are line level positions that frequently perform repetitive tasks such as documentation, running tests, or assembling materials for submissions. Mentorship and oversight, whether formal or informal is critical at this stage. People who want to climb the ladder should begin looking at industry certifications at this point. More information can be found on our Recruiting Page.
