Who’s Hiring Data Scientists in Biotech Right Now
While the biotech market continues to struggle, demand for data scientists remains resilient, with many roles staying open for weeks. But which companies are building data teams, and what skills pay the most?
Over the past 6 months, pharma and biotech companies posted 1,799 data science, statistics, and bioinformatics roles. AbbVie (219) and Merck (201) led hiring, with AbbVie’s surge peaking in April 2025.
Merck was most surprising, maintaining steady hiring despite announcing massive layoffs in July. I'll dive deeper into what the data says about AbbVie's hiring patterns and priorities in another post.
Role Types in Demand
To simplify the landscape, I classified roles into five title-based categories.
Data Science (586) and Biostatistics (541) job titles dominate hiring, followed by bioinformatics (338), data analyst positions (185), and data management roles (149).
Only 53% of roles are management positions, indicating companies are building individual contributor teams — a stark contrast to health economics, where 91% were management roles.
Salary Premium for Data Science
Having “Data Scientist” in your title commands a clear salary premium of with a median of $150K vs. $136K for biostatisticians and $109K for data management roles.
Genentech posted the highest individual range — a Senior Data Scientist at $177K-$229K.
Which Roles Are Hard to Fill
A recruiter emailed to ask which roles are hardest to fill. With the PharmaPayWatch database, I can see how long postings were active, which can be a proxy for time to hire.
Using this metric, Biostatistics roles stay open longest with a 34-day median posting duration, compared to just 20 days for data science positions. This suggests higher demand than supply for statistical expertise in clinical trials and regulatory submissions.
So while "data scientist" has become a popular career path, specialized biostatistics knowledge remains scarce, creating opportunities for professionals with strong statistical backgrounds in life sciences.
PharmaPayWatch can surface role-level hiring and salary trends across any specialty. If your team wants a deeper look, reach out, and email me if you'd like another brief overview of a role here!