IRB Coordinator
Impact: Ethical oversight, Research integrity, Human subject protection
Facilitates the ethical review and approval process for research involving human subjects, ensuring compliance with institutional and federal regulations.
What the day looks like
- People interaction
- Extensive
- Team vs solo
- 60% Team / 40% Solo
- Client facing
- Sometimes
- Impact visibility
- High
- Travel
- Minimal
- Schedule flexibility
- Flexible
- Remote work
- Hybrid
- Typical work hours
- 40 hours/week
- Stress level
- Moderate
At a glance
- Median salary
- $70,000
- Entry-level
- $45,000 - $55,000
- Senior
- $120,000 - $150,000
- Growth by 2033
- 7% (as fast as average)
- Demand
- Growing
- Freelance potential
- Low
- Salary growth potential
- High to 100-150% growth from entry to senior
- Typical student debt
- $25,000 - $45,000
Skills you'll use
Hard skills
- Regulatory compliance
- Research ethics
- Protocol review
- Documentation management
- Data management
- Project coordination
Soft skills
- Attention to detail
- Interpersonal skills
- Communication
- Problem-solving
- Organization
- Time management
Technical complexity: Moderate
How to get there
- Minimum education
- Bachelor's Degree
- Licensing
- No
- Years to mid-career
- 3-5 years
- Years to senior
- 7-10 years
- Career switching
- Moderate
Where this career leads
How people arrive here
Where you can go from here
Typical progression
- IRB Coordinator
- Senior IRB Coordinator
- IRB Manager
- Director of Research Compliance
Future outlook
- Automation probability
- 20% to low risk due to complex judgment and interpersonal communication
- AI disruption risk
- Low
- Demand trend
- Growing
How people feel about it
- Overall satisfaction
- 3.5/10
- Meaning
- 3.8/10
- Work-life balance
- 3.5/10
- Prestige
- 6.5/10
- Social perception
- Moderate