Exciting science-based careers in Clinical Research

Science is undoubtedly a brilliant subject to study and discover. It can lead to myriad careers, but which is a perfect fit for you?

Enter clinical research. As a healthcare science that ascertains how safe and effective drugs, devices and diagnostic products are, it’s the perfect industry for bright and talented science aficionados to get involved in.

Clinical Research Associate

If you’ve got a degree in science, bio-medicine, nursing or pharmacy, you could be the ideal candidate for a Clinical Research Associate position.

Known as a CRA, this role is an excellent stepping stone in the clinical research field, giving professionals an experience of a corporate environment as well as a strong connection with science. It’s a rewarding career with plenty of demand – but what’s the next step?

Here are two more science-based career paths you can take at ICON:

Clinical Trial Manager

One usual career path in clinical research is to begin in a Clinical Trial Assistant role, progressing to Clinical Research Associate once you have built up your knowledge and expertise before advancing to a highly-reputable Clinical Trial Manager role.

Here are the core responsibilities of a Clinical Trial Manager:

• Site selection, trial set-up, study execution and trial closure

• Keep clinical operations deliverables progressing on time

• Lead the study team, providing members with updates on the deliverable status

• Have reports available for real time tracking of trial status.

• Issue escalation

• Creation of trial-specific training materials

• Maintain excellent working relationships with internal stakeholders

• Ensure compliance with global Health Authority regulations

Clinical Project Manager

A project management career in clinical research can be a highly rewarding one. You’ll be responsible for overseeing pre-clinical, early phase development and phase I-IV studies. Being the main point of contact, this role is an opportunity to develop successful client relationships whilst leading cross-functional teams. To be a brilliant project manager you’ll need excellent communication skills to lead your team and achieve the right balance between listening and delegating. In return you’ll expand your project management, drug development and therapeutic expertise.

Bring your clinical research career to ICON

Whichever direction you want your career to take, we’re here to help make it happen. ICON know that to achieve our goal to become the CRO partner of choice in drug development we need to invest in our team and that’s why we offer various training and career development opportunities.

Check ICON’s Clinical Research Associates jobs currently available or browse our broader Clinical Research roles.