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Growing Federal Jobs: Biotechnology

Life sciences, technology, manufacturing – it’s all a part of biotechnology. With new discoveries being made every day, and the threats of evolving bacteria and pandemic diseases looming on the horizon, there is a lot of incentive to rise to the call. Because the biotechnology industry is experiencing such rapid growth, biotechnology jobs often expect workers to be more skilled than those that are currently available; therefore, many agencies are enrolling employees in training programs and subsidizing the costs.

The biotechnology industry has several stages of jobs, including:

- Research and Development (R&D): conduct groundbreaking scientific research with state-of-the-art scientific technology.
- Biotech R&D Technicians: Take the first steps toward curing the world’s deadliest diseases. They design state-of-the-art products and services to meet the needs of scientists in the worldwide biomedical research community. This dynamic career path offers opportunities in a variety of research fields.
- Quality Control and Assurance: Perfect the systems and procedures of cutting-edge research and production. Making a biotechnology product involves meeting specifications for precision and safety. Quality Assurance requires the product to meet certain standards and specifications. These are the people who ensure that products are what the labels say they are.
- Manufacturing and Production: – build innovative and life-saving scientific technology. Biomanufacturing is an essential component of today’s biotech industry. A career in biomanufacturing requires creativity and innovative thinking. Biomanufacturing technicians are the experts on the development and maintenance of biotech machinery. They play an integral role in biotech research and are responsible for developing and maintaining the technology and innovative equipment that drives industry research.

In Demand Occupations

Biomedical Engineers
Projected Salary: $70,000
Employees Needed: 6,000
Projected Growth: 18% – 26%
Average Education Level: College or Higher
Who’s Hiring: Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Health and Human Services, Department of Defense

Medical Scientists
Projected Salary: $55,000
Employees Needed: 45,000
Projected Growth: 18% – 26%
Average Education Level: College or Higher
Who’s Hiring: Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, Department of Interior

Biological Technicians
Projected Salary: $44,000
Employees Needed: 41000
Projected Growth: 9% – 17%
Average Education Level: College or Higher
Who’s Hiring: Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Health and Human Services, Army

Biochemists and Biophysicists
Projected Salary: $56,000
Employees Needed: 7,000
Projected Growth: 9% – 17%
Average Education Level: College or Higher
Who’s Hiring: Navy, Food and Drug Administration, Consumer Product Safety Commission

Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians
Projected Salary: $35,000
Employees Needed: 46,000
Projected Growth: 9% – 17%
Average Education Level: Some College or Higher
Who’s Hiring: Department of Agriculture, Health Inspection Services, Department of Veterans Affairs

How to Prepare

Strong understanding of statistical and mathematical principles are desirably for most jobs in the biotechnology industry.

Information Compiled from CareerVoyages.gov and 2006-16 BLS Projections.

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