Clinical Research Coordinators
Health ScienceO*NET 11-9121.01United States
Plan, direct, or coordinate clinical research projects. Direct the activities of workers engaged in clinical research projects to ensure compliance with protocols and overall clinical objectives.
- Median annual earnings
- $167,211
- Projected change
- +7.5%
- Typical education
- Bachelor's degree
- Employment
- 113.62K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
60.1% of the workforce
Growing to 122.16K by 2035
Explore this career by location
Compare nationwide estimates with state or county job-market data.
Showing United States
Loading available locations…
Build the skills
ASU learning related to this career
These courses and certificates are connected through catalog career relationships and Lightcast skill tags.
Loading related ASU learning
The work
What clinical research coordinators do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- Schedule subjects for appointments, procedures, or inpatient stays as required by study protocols.
- Perform specific protocol procedures such as interviewing subjects, taking vital signs, and performing electrocardiograms.
- Prepare study-related documentation, such as protocol worksheets, procedural manuals, adverse event reports, institutional review board documents, or progress reports.
- Inform patients or caregivers about study aspects and outcomes to be expected.
- Assess eligibility of potential subjects through methods such as screening interviews, reviews of medical records, or discussions with physicians and nurses.
- Record adverse event and side effect data and confer with investigators regarding the reporting of events to oversight agencies.
- Monitor study activities to ensure compliance with protocols and with all relevant local, federal, and state regulatory and institutional polices.
- Oversee subject enrollment to ensure that informed consent is properly obtained and documented.
- Maintain required records of study activity including case report forms, drug dispensation records, or regulatory forms.
- Review proposed study protocols to evaluate factors such as sample collection processes, data management plans, or potential subject risks.
- Identify protocol problems, inform investigators of problems, or assist in problem resolution efforts, such as protocol revisions.
- Collaborate with investigators to prepare presentations or reports of clinical study procedures, results, and conclusions.
- Track enrollment status of subjects and document dropout information such as dropout causes and subject contact efforts.
- Code, evaluate, or interpret collected study data.
- Direct the requisition, collection, labeling, storage, or shipment of specimens.
- Instruct research staff in scientific and procedural aspects of studies including standards of care, informed consent procedures, or documentation procedures.
- Maintain contact with sponsors to schedule and coordinate site visits or to answer questions about issues such as incomplete data.
- Prepare for or participate in quality assurance audits conducted by study sponsors, federal agencies, or specially designated review groups.
- Order drugs or devices necessary for study completion.
- Participate in the development of study protocols including guidelines for administration or data collection procedures.
- Contact outside health care providers and communicate with subjects to obtain follow-up information.
- Confer with health care professionals to determine the best recruitment practices for studies.
- Communicate with laboratories or investigators regarding laboratory findings.
- Review scientific literature, participate in continuing education activities, or attend conferences and seminars to maintain current knowledge of clinical studies affairs and issues.
- Organize space for study equipment and supplies.
- Develop advertising and other informational materials to be used in subject recruitment.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $79,706
- 25th percentile
- $119,434
- 50th percentile
- $167,211
- 75th percentile
- $221,541
- 90th percentile
- $316,846
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $167,211 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+7.5%faster than average
2025113,622 jobs
2035 projected122,156 jobs
8,534 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- Bachelor's degree
- 60.1%
- Certificate
- 11.6%
- Some college
- 9.2%
- High school diploma or less
- 7%
- Associate degree
- 5.9%
- Master's or Professional degree
- 4.8%
- Doctoral degree or more
- 1.3%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Science
- Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Clinical Research Coordinators7,694 postings
- 02Clinical Research Associates2,969 postings
- 03Clinical Research Assistants1,416 postings
- 04Clinical Trial Managers1,264 postings
- 05Oncology Clinical Research Associates1,128 postings
- 06Hematologists/Oncologists1,097 postings
- 07Clinical Project Managers769 postings
- 08Research Coordinators665 postings
- 09Clinical Research Managers628 postings
- 10Clinical Trial Associates470 postings
- 11Directors of Clinical Research460 postings
- 12Oncology Clinical Research Coordinators410 postings
- 13Principal Investigators353 postings
- 14Ophthalmology Clinical Directors310 postings
- 15Study Start Up Specialists299 postings
- 16Physician Reviewers235 postings
- 17Clinical Research Specialists210 postings
- 18Medical Oncologist Physicians183 postings
- 19Clinical Study Managers172 postings
- 20Medical Oncologists165 postings
Top employers
- 01Parexel3,551 postings
- 02Merck & Co.1,021 postings
- 03Actalent968 postings
- 04inVentiv Health948 postings
- 05Icon625 postings
- 06IQVIA590 postings
- 07Thermo Fisher Scientific411 postings
- 08Mount Sinai Health System398 postings
- 09University of Pennsylvania276 postings
- 10Emory University270 postings
- 11Sumitomo Pharma262 postings
- 12Herc254 postings
- 13University of Colorado System Office251 postings
- 14Cedars-Sinai231 postings
- 15University of California230 postings
- 16University of Alabama at Birmingham228 postings
- 17Ohio State University221 postings
- 18Stanford University214 postings
- 19Maximus212 postings
- 20Johns Hopkins University211 postings
Keep looking