How To Become A Principal Chemist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a principal chemist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. Betsy Smith

Principal chemists are scientists passionate about innovation and chemistry. They are responsible for leading chemical research projects by analyzing and synthesizing chemical processes and discovering optimal procedures related to formulation design.

Cutting-edge chemistry techniques and the development of new materials should be right up your alley if you want to consider this role. You will be the scientific leader of a research team and work in a fast-paced and exciting environment. Your job will be to come up with new compositions of matter to use in various innovative applications.

This will likely be a high-pressure position with urgent priorities. You will need to be able to contribute to research efforts across various platforms. You will probably need expertise in areas closely related to chemistry, such as biology, engineering, nanotechnology, or a related area.

What general advice would you give to a Principal Chemist?

Dr. Betsy Smith

Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Elmira College

I would advise students just graduating to be flexible and open-minded in their job search. Chemistry is a challenging major, and students who succeed in it have learned how to learn, so they shouldn't assume that pure chemistry is the only thing they can do. One growing field is biomedical research, and chemistry majors are often qualified for jobs in that area. If you have other strengths like writing, there are often jobs that can combine them as a technical writer or work for a science journal. There are jobs out there that might be perfect for you that you haven't heard of until you see an ad for it, so be open to different possibilities.

ScorePrincipal ChemistUS Average

Salary

5.8

Avg. Salary $74,065

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.7

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.25%

Asian 29.22%

Black or African American 5.84%

Hispanic or Latino 8.49%

Unknown 4.29%

White 51.92%

Gender

female 27.36%

male 72.64%

Age - 40

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 40

Stress level

5.7

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

10.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.2

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a principal chemist

Explore principal chemist education requirements

Most common principal chemist degrees

Bachelor's

73.3 %

Doctorate

13.3 %

Master's

10.5 %

Start to develop specific principal chemist skills

Skills	Percentages
Analytical Chemistry	12.99%
R	10.03%
Product Development	6.31%
HPLC	5.60%
Sops	5.36%

Complete relevant principal chemist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New principal chemists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a principal chemist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real principal chemist resumes.

Research principal chemist duties and responsibilities

Accomplish ISO and CFR certifications for laboratory operations.
Ensure compliance with regulate standards to comply with FDA regulations.
Train individuals on dissolution, HPLC, and other general analytical techniques.
Implement systems and procedures per FDA guidance, ICH requirements, and CFR regulations.

Prepare your principal chemist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your principal chemist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a principal chemist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

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