Clinical Research Coordinators
Clinical Research Coordinators turn specialized knowledge, procedures, and judgment into practical decisions or services. In the U.S. BLS reference layer, this asset maps to Natural sciences managers with 2024 employment of 104.3k and a 2024 median annual wage of $161,180. FermatMind treats this path as a Investigative-first career: the question is whether you can sustain cross-functional ambiguity, people coordination, budget limits, and operational accountability over time.
Career Snapshot: U.S. BLS Reference
This snapshot uses the BLS 2024–2034 Occupational Projections and Worker Characteristics table as the U.S. labor-market fact layer. O*NET is used for definitions, tasks, and work-style interpretation where a data-level occupation exists.
| Occupation | Clinical Research Coordinators |
| BLS/SOC title | Natural sciences managers |
| SOC code | 11-9121 |
| O*NET code | 11-9121.01 |
| U.S. jobs in 2024 | 104.3k |
| Projected U.S. jobs in 2034 | 108.2k |
| 2024–2034 change | +3.9k |
| Projected growth | 3.7% |
| Annual openings | 8.5k |
| Median annual wage, 2024 | $161,180 |
| Entry education | Bachelor's degree |
| Work experience | 5 years or more |
| On-the-job training | None |
Occupation
Clinical Research Coordinators
BLS/SOC title
Natural sciences managers
SOC code
11-9121
O*NET code
11-9121.01
U.S. jobs in 2024
104.3k
Projected U.S. jobs in 2034
108.2k
2024–2034 change
+3.9k
Projected growth
3.7%
Annual openings
8.5k
Median annual wage, 2024
$161,180
Entry education
Bachelor's degree
Work experience
5 years or more
On-the-job training
None
Secondary Locale Reference
中国大陆暂无全国统一的临床研究协调员单职业官方中位薪资；国家统计局行业数据和招聘平台样本只能作为行业/岗位信号，不能理解为个人薪资预测。
| Salary data type | industry_proxy_or_job_posting_signal |
Salary data type
industry_proxy_or_job_posting_signal
How to Decide Whether This Career Fits You
RIASEC Fit
Investigative-primary means the work repeatedly rewards this core problem-solving and work-environment preference in Clinical Research Coordinators.
Conventional-secondary matters because the role often requires procedures, tools, coordination, evidence, clients, users, patients, learners, or teams.
Enterprising-support supports the role when decisions must be explained, delivered, documented, practiced, maintained, or coordinated.
This is a career-fit interpretation, not a destiny judgment or a guaranteed match score.
- Investigative-primary
- Conventional-secondary
- Enterprising-support
Personality Fit
This is not a personality diagnosis. It is a work-style interpretation that should be cross-checked with actual tasks, credentials, workplace setting, and risk tolerance.
Clinical Research Coordinators may fit people whose personality style supports sustained attention, feedback tolerance, and the daily work context behind the title.
- Conscientiousness helps with deadlines, documentation, safety, and follow-through.
- Openness helps when the role requires learning, interpretation, problem framing, or adaptation.
- Extraversion may help in client, public, team, teaching, service, or leadership settings, but it is not always required.
- Emotional stability matters when feedback, uncertainty, conflict, risk, or operational pressure is high.
What Does This Career Do?
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. May evaluate and analyze clinical data. The official fact boundary for this FermatMind career asset is SOC 11-9121 and O*NET 11-9121.01. That boundary separates occupational facts from informal job titles, local market examples, and editorial interpretation. In practice, Clinical Research Coordinators requires people to understand the work context, follow relevant standards, coordinate with stakeholders, document or communicate results, and manage the quality and risk of their decisions. FermatMind treats this role as a work-structure decision: the key question is not whether the title sounds attractive, but whether you can sustain the daily tasks, feedback loops, training requirements, and risk boundaries described in this page.
Core Responsibilities
- 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.
- Assess eligibility of potential subjects through methods such as screening interviews, reviews of medical records, or discussions with physicians and nurses.
- 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.
- Record adverse event and side effect data and confer with investigators regarding the reporting of events to oversight agencies.
Work Context
| Search intent | career_exploration |
| Search intent | career_fit |
| Search intent | salary_and_outlook |
| Search intent | how_to_evaluate_fit |
| Search intent | career_risk |
Search intent
career_exploration
Search intent
career_fit
Search intent
salary_and_outlook
Search intent
how_to_evaluate_fit
Search intent
career_risk
- Clinical Research Coordinators career
- Clinical Research Coordinators salary
- Clinical Research Coordinators job outlook
- how to become clinical research coordinators
- Clinical Research Coordinators personality fit
What Skills Does the Market Signal?
- Occupation
- Clinical Research Coordinators
- BLS/SOC title
- Natural sciences managers
- SOC code
- 11-9121
- O*NET code
- 11-9121.01
- U.S. jobs in 2024
- 104.3k
- Projected U.S. jobs in 2034
- 108.2k
- 2024–2034 change
- +3.9k
- Projected growth
- 3.7%
- Annual openings
- 8.5k
- Median annual wage, 2024
- $161,180
- Entry education
- Bachelor's degree
- Work experience
- 5 years or more
- On-the-job training
- None
This snapshot uses the BLS 2024–2034 Occupational Projections and Worker Characteristics table as the U.S. labor-market fact layer. O*NET is used for definitions, tasks, and work-style interpretation where a data-level occupation exists.
Adjacent Career Comparison
| Manager vs Specialist | Managers own resources, people, priorities, and accountability; specialists focus on domain execution. | People ready for ambiguity and responsibility |
| Operations manager vs Project manager | Operations managers sustain systems; project managers deliver time-bounded initiatives. | People who prefer ongoing systems |
| Manager vs Consultant | Managers own implementation; consultants advise or diagnose from outside the line. | People who want direct ownership |
Manager vs Specialist
Managers own resources, people, priorities, and accountability; specialists focus on domain execution.
People ready for ambiguity and responsibility
Operations manager vs Project manager
Operations managers sustain systems; project managers deliver time-bounded initiatives.
People who prefer ongoing systems
Manager vs Consultant
Managers own implementation; consultants advise or diagnose from outside the line.
People who want direct ownership
Will AI Replace This Career?
7/10
FermatMind internal AI exposure rubric
Career Risks
- This page is for career exploration. It is not an income forecast, licensing guarantee, job-placement promise, medical/legal advice, or psychological diagnosis.
This page is for career exploration. It is not an income forecast, licensing guarantee, job-placement promise, medical/legal advice, or psychological diagnosis.
Contract and Project Risks
This page is for career exploration. It is not an income forecast, licensing guarantee, job-placement promise, medical/legal advice, or psychological diagnosis.
What should you prepare next?
Build a factual brief
- Confirm the SOC/O*NET or China occupation identity.
- Review the BLS/O*NET or China public-source definition.
- List tasks, tools, work settings, and source boundaries.
Test interest fit
- Take the RIASEC/Holland test first.
- Compare with MBTI and Big Five only as secondary signals.
- Look for mismatch between interest and real work context.
Observe the job market
- Review LinkedIn, Robert Half, Hays, Zhaopin, Liepin, and employer postings as market signals only.
- Do not treat a single job posting as a national salary fact.
Practice one work sample
- Create a sample report, lesson plan, service script, inspection checklist, portfolio item, analysis, repair log, or case summary depending on the role.
Manage risk
- Identify credential, safety, income, automation, location, and schedule risks before committing.
FAQ
Is Clinical Research Coordinators a good fit for my personality?
It may fit if your work style matches the role's RIASEC pattern: Investigative-primary, Conventional-secondary, Enterprising-support. This is not a personality diagnosis; it is a way to test whether you can sustain the daily work environment, feedback, procedures, and responsibility of Clinical Research Coordinators.
Is Clinical Research Coordinators financially stable?
The BLS exact reference for this asset is: $161,180 median annual wage and 3.7% projected growth when a BLS row exists. These are labor-market facts, not personal income guarantees; location, credentials, employer type, hours, and experience can change outcomes.
Will AI replace Clinical Research Coordinators?
AI may accelerate research, records, drafting, scheduling, reporting, or data tasks, but this page does not claim the occupation will or will not be replaced. The safer question is which parts of the work require human judgment, safety responsibility, relationships, or field context.
Related next pages
Sources
- BLS Occupational Projections and Worker Characteristics, 2024–2034 - U.S. employment, wage, growth, education, experience, and training fields when a mapped BLS row exists
Boundary notice
Last reviewed: 2026-05-03. Next review due: 2026-08-03.
Next step
Use RIASEC to check your career-interest structure before making a job-path decision.
Test whether your career interests fit Clinical Research Coordinators / 测我的职业兴趣是否适合临床研究协调员