Interested in this Research Scientist role at ICON plc?
Apply Now →About This Role
Senior Research Scientist\- Onsite, Lenexa, KS\- Full\-Time; Flow Cytometry
ICON is a global healthcare intelligence and clinical research organisation united by a mission to bring new medicines and treatments to patients faster.
As a values\-driven organisation, integrity, collaboration, agility, and inclusion are at the heart of how we work and interact with each other, customers, patients and suppliers.
At ICON, it’s our people that set us apart. Our diverse teams enable us to become a better partner to our customers and help us to fulfil our mission to advance and improve patients’ lives.
Our ‘Own It’ culture is driven by four key values that bring us together as individuals and set us apart as an organisation: Accountability \& Delivery, Collaboration, Partnership and Integrity. We want to be the Clinical Research Organisation that delivers excellence to our clients and to patients at every touch\-point. In short, to be the partner of choice in drug development.
That’s our vision. We’re driven by it. And we need talented people who share it.
If you’re as driven as we are, join us. You’ll be working in a dynamic and supportive environment, with some of the brightest and the friendliest people in the sector, and you’ll be helping shape an industry.
Desired Experience (flow experience required, ligand binding experience preferred)
- Ligand binding assays
+ ELISA, ECLIA
+ PK, PD, and immunogenicity
+ Usage of relevant software (e.g. SoftMax Pro, Watson)
- Flow cytometry
+ Panel design
+ Gating strategy design
+ Usage of cytometry software (e.g. FACSDiva, FCS express)
+ Experience with Spectral Flow
Method Development
- Designs and executes experiments for method development under supervision or independently depending on level
- Develops new scientific approaches to method development and communicates these to the global science team
- Depending on level the scientist may:
+ Mentor more junior scientists and advise operation on developed methods
+ Reviews and approves data of other scientists
+ Communicate with team members and management regarding project status, purpose, scheduling, problems, etc.
+ Communicate and/or participate in communication with clients regarding project status.
Scientific
- Maintain knowledge and skill in all techniques where you perform your work.
- Provide scientific input to management and BD about new technology investments and lines of service.
- Discusses scientific results with sponsors together with project manager
- Promotes ICON/PRA utilizing their scientific skills through scientific communication such as external publication of posters and journal articles.
- Perform R\&D projects
- Training of technicians on technical aspects
- Mentor and train staff on scientific topics
Quality and Timely Work Execution
- Takes initiative in process development and SOP/WI writing
- Legible, logical and reproducible documentation of all experimentation
- Has a thorough understanding and complies with GLP and other appropriate regulations
- Develops rugged and economical assays
- Performs data review of other scientist’s work
Sample Analysis and Assay Validation
- Provides key assay input to the validation and bioanalysis team(s) to ensure successful execution
- Assay troubleshooting
- May perform and document maintenance, trouble\-shooting and repairs on advanced instrumentation with support of service engineers or other trained supervisory personnel.
Qualifications
- Read, write and speak fluent English
- BS in Science \+ 5\-7 years of experience in a relevant laboratory field
- MS or PhD with applicable research in a relevant scientific field preferred
- Presenter/Publisher in Regulated relevant field preferred
- The level offered will be dependent on relevant experience and education
Benefits of Working in ICON:
Our success depends on the quality of our people. That’s why we’ve made it a priority to build a culture that rewards high performance and nurtures talent.
We offer very competitive salary packages. And to keep them competitive, we regularly benchmark them against our competitors. Our annual bonuses reflect delivery of performance goals – both ours and yours.
We also provide a range of health\-related benefits to employees and their families and offer competitive retirement plans – and related benefits such as life assurance – so you can save and plan with confidence for the years ahead.
But beyond the competitive salaries and comprehensive benefits, you’ll benefit from an environment where you are encouraged to fulfil your sense of purpose and drive lasting change.
ICON is an equal opportunity and inclusive employer and is committed to providing a workplace free of discrimination and harassment. All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status. If, because of a medical condition or disability, you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application process, or in order to perform the essential functions of a position, please let us know through the form below.
\#LI\-Onsite
\#LI\-HP1
Employment with ICON is contingent upon having the legal right to work in the country where the role is based.
Rewards \& Benefits
ICON offers a competitive and comprehensive total rewards package designed to support your health, wellbeing, and career development.
Benefits may include:
- Competitive base salary and performance related incentives
- Health and wellbeing programmes including medical, dental, and vision coverage where applicable
- Retirement and pension plans
- Life assurance and disability coverage
- Employee assistance programmes and wellbeing resources
- Learning and development opportunities through structured training and career pathways
Benefits may vary depending on role and location.
Visit our careers site to read more about the benefits ICON offers.
Inclusion and Accessibility
ICON is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to building an inclusive and accessible workplace where everyone feels valued and supported.
If you require reasonable accommodations during the recruitment process, please let us know or submit a request .
Are you a current ICON Employee?
Role Details
About This Role
Research Scientists push the boundaries of what AI can do. They design experiments, develop novel architectures, publish papers, and translate research breakthroughs into production capabilities. This is where the fundamental advances happen, from attention mechanisms to diffusion models to reasoning chains.
The work is intellectually demanding and often ambiguous. You might spend months on an approach that doesn't pan out. The best research scientists combine deep mathematical intuition with engineering pragmatism. They know when to go deep on theory and when to run experiments. They read papers voraciously and can spot incremental contributions from genuine breakthroughs.
Across the 4,317 AI roles we're tracking, Research Scientist positions make up 4% of the market. At ICON plc, this role fits into their broader AI and engineering organization.
Research Scientist roles are concentrated at major AI labs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, Meta FAIR) and well-funded AI startups. The competition is intense. PhD is effectively required for most positions, and publication track record matters. Compensation is among the highest in AI, reflecting both the scarcity of talent and the strategic importance of research breakthroughs.
What the Work Looks Like
A typical week includes: reading and discussing recent papers with your team, designing and running experiments on multi-GPU clusters, analyzing results and iterating on hypotheses, writing up findings for internal review or publication, and collaborating with engineering teams to productionize promising results. The ratio of thinking to coding is higher than in engineering roles.
Research Scientist roles are concentrated at major AI labs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, Meta FAIR) and well-funded AI startups. The competition is intense. PhD is effectively required for most positions, and publication track record matters. Compensation is among the highest in AI, reflecting both the scarcity of talent and the strategic importance of research breakthroughs.
Skills in Demand for This Role
PhD strongly preferred for most roles. Deep expertise in a specific area (NLP, computer vision, reinforcement learning, multimodal) is expected. PyTorch is the standard. Publication track record matters. Strong mathematical foundations in linear algebra, probability, optimization, and information theory are assumed.
Beyond the fundamentals, companies value experience with large-scale distributed training, novel architecture design, and the ability to bridge theory and practice. Understanding of current frontier topics (reasoning, multimodal, long-context, alignment) is essential. Code quality matters more than many researchers expect. Labs want researchers who can implement their ideas cleanly.
Strong research postings specify the research area, mention the team you'd join, and describe the problems they're working on. They often list recent publications from the team. Vague 'AI research' postings without specifics usually mean the company wants to sound impressive but doesn't have a real research agenda.
Compensation Benchmarks
Research Scientist roles pay a median of $222,200 based on 378 positions with disclosed compensation. Senior-level AI roles across all categories have a median of $227,400.
Across all AI roles, the market median is $215,000. Top-quartile compensation starts at $266,300. The 90th percentile reaches $320,790. For comparison, the highest-paying categories include AI Safety ($287,500) and Research Engineer ($272,100). By seniority level: Entry: $110,000; Mid: $194,400; Senior: $227,400; Director: $274,554; VP: $241,000.
ICON plc AI Hiring
ICON plc has 1 open AI role right now. They're hiring across Research Scientist. Based in Lenexa, KS, US.
Location Context
Across all AI roles, 15% (635 positions) offer remote work, while 3,657 require on-site attendance. Top AI hiring metros: New York (1,650 roles, $220,000 median); San Francisco (1,335 roles, $265,000 median); Los Angeles (708 roles, $214,112 median).
Career Path
Common paths into Research Scientist roles include PhD Student, Research Engineer, Postdoc.
From here, career progression typically leads toward Research Lead, Distinguished Scientist, VP of Research.
The PhD is the entry point for most paths. Choose your advisor and research area carefully since they'll define your first industry position. Publish consistently, contribute to open-source projects in your area, and build relationships at conferences. Industry research offers better compensation and compute resources than academia, but the pressure to show product impact is real.
What to Expect in Interviews
Research interviews are multi-stage: a research talk (present your best paper), technical deep-dives on your methodology, and often a 'research proposal' exercise where you design an experiment to test a hypothesis. Coding rounds test implementation ability alongside theoretical knowledge. Be prepared to implement a paper from scratch and discuss the design choices the authors made. Strong candidates can critique papers constructively and identify gaps in experimental methodology.
When evaluating opportunities: Strong research postings specify the research area, mention the team you'd join, and describe the problems they're working on. They often list recent publications from the team. Vague 'AI research' postings without specifics usually mean the company wants to sound impressive but doesn't have a real research agenda.
AI Hiring Overview
The AI job market has 4,317 open positions tracked in our dataset. By seniority: 138 entry-level, 2,071 mid-level, 1,655 senior, and 453 leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level). Remote roles make up 15% of the market (635 positions). The remaining 3,657 roles require on-site or hybrid attendance.
The market median for AI roles is $215,000. Top-quartile compensation starts at $266,300. The 90th percentile reaches $320,790. Highest-paying categories: AI Safety ($287,500 median, 34 roles); Research Engineer ($272,100 median, 227 roles); AI Engineering Manager ($244,000 median, 23 roles).
Research Scientist roles are concentrated at major AI labs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, Meta FAIR) and well-funded AI startups. The competition is intense. PhD is effectively required for most positions, and publication track record matters. Compensation is among the highest in AI, reflecting both the scarcity of talent and the strategic importance of research breakthroughs.
The AI Job Market Today
The AI job market spans 4,317 open positions across 15 role categories. The largest categories by volume: AI/ML Engineer (3,004), Data Scientist (345), AI Software Engineer (309). These three account for the majority of open positions, though smaller categories often have higher per-role compensation because of specialized skill requirements.
The seniority mix tells a story about where AI teams are in their maturity. Entry-level roles (138) are outnumbered by mid-level (2,071) and senior (1,655) positions, reflecting that most companies are past the 'build a team from scratch' phase and need experienced engineers who can ship production systems. Leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level) total 453 positions, representing the bottleneck between technical execution and organizational strategy.
Remote work availability sits at 15% of all AI roles (635 positions), with 3,657 requiring on-site or hybrid attendance. The remote share has stabilized after the post-pandemic correction. Senior and specialized roles (Research Scientist, ML Architect) are more likely to be remote-eligible than entry-level positions, partly because experienced hires have more negotiating power and partly because these roles require less hands-on mentorship.
AI compensation is structured in clear tiers. The market median sits at $215,000. Top-quartile roles start at $266,300, and the 90th percentile reaches $320,790. These figures include base salary with disclosed compensation. Total compensation (including equity, bonuses, and sign-on) runs 20-40% higher at companies that offer those components.
Category matters for compensation. AI Safety roles lead at $287,500 median, while Prompt Engineer roles sit at $145,000. The spread between highest and lowest-paying categories reflects the premium on specialized technical skills versus broader analytical roles.
The most in-demand skills across all AI postings: Python (2,249 postings), Aws (1,224 postings), Azure (938 postings), Rag (915 postings), Gcp (660 postings), Pytorch (640 postings), Prompt Engineering (624 postings), Kubernetes (559 postings). Python dominates, appearing in the vast majority of role descriptions regardless of category. Cloud platform experience (AWS, GCP, Azure) is the second most common requirement. The newer entrants to the top skills list (RAG, vector databases, LLM APIs) reflect the shift from traditional ML toward generative AI applications.
Frequently Asked Questions
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