Natural Sciences Managers
Plan, direct, or coordinate activities in such fields as life sciences, physical sciences, mathematics, statistics, and research and development in these fields.
Most important skills
- Science
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
- Writing
- Speaking
- Complex Problem Solving
Key knowledge
- Biology
- English Language
- Administration and Management
- Computers and Electronics
- Administrative
- Chemistry
- Mathematics
- Personnel and Human Resources
What the work involves
- Confer with scientists, engineers, regulators, or others to plan or review projects or to provide technical assistance.
- Develop client relationships and communicate with clients to explain proposals, present research findings, establish specifications, or discuss project status.
- Plan or direct research, development, or production activities.
- Prepare project proposals.
- Design or coordinate successive phases of problem analysis, solution proposals, or testing.
- Review project activities and prepare and review research, testing, or operational reports.
- Hire, supervise, or evaluate engineers, technicians, researchers, or other staff.
- Determine scientific or technical goals within broad outlines provided by top management and make detailed plans to accomplish these goals.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Investigative, Enterprising, Conventional.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Bachelor's Degree (35.1% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (25.7%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (25.2%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 5: Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Natural Sciences Managers is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Low | Lower on contact with others than 72% of occupations compared | 58% of surveyed respondents chose “Contact with others most of the time” |
| Dealing with the public | Moderate | Higher on dealing with the public than 54% of occupations compared | 33% of surveyed respondents chose “Very important” |
| Teamwork | Very high | Higher on teamwork than 87% of occupations compared | 68% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Moderate | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 50% of occupations compared | 44% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very low | Lower on time pressure than 87% of occupations compared | 58% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Conflict situations | Very low | Lower on conflict situations than 85% of occupations compared | 65% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Low | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 79% of occupations compared | 30% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Consequence of error | Moderate | Higher on consequence of error than 57% of occupations compared | 32% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very low
- Conflict situations: very low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: low
- Consequence of error: moderate
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 18.42%
- Contact with others most of the time: 57.84%
- Constant contact with others: 23.74%
n = 23, Incumbent 08/2021
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 1.76%
- Fairly important: 20.7%
- Important: 21.94%
- Very important: 32.7%
- Extremely important: 22.9%
n = 23, Incumbent 08/2021
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 0%
- Very important: 32.04%
- Extremely important: 67.96%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2021
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 7.25%
- Limited freedom: 15.8%
- Some freedom: 33.3%
- A lot of freedom: 43.66%
n = 23, Incumbent 08/2021
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 14.89%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 58.39%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 10.26%
- Every day: 16.46%
n = 23, Incumbent 08/2021
Conflict situations
- Never: 8.5%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 64.66%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 19.4%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 5.68%
- Every day: 1.76%
n = 23, Incumbent 08/2021
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 29.48%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 25.25%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 29.54%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 15.73%
- Every day: 0%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2021
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 27.58%
- Fairly serious: 9.27%
- Serious: 18.6%
- Very serious: 12.95%
- Extremely serious: 31.6%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2021
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O*NET-SOC 11-9121.00 · SOC 11-9121 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8