The Datum Report

Occupation 2161 · Professional occupations

Research and development (r&d) managers

Half of full-time research and development (r&d) managers in the UK earn more than £55,519 a year, and half earn less.

Managers in this unit group plan, organise, co-ordinate and manage resources to undertake the systematic investigation necessary for the development of new, or to enhance the performance of existing, products and services.

How people enter it

Entrants usually possess a relevant degree or equivalent qualification. Training is usually provided on-the-job, although support may be provided for postgraduate study. Professional qualifications are available.

What the work involves

• establishes product design and performance objectives in consultation with other business functions
• liaises with production departments to investigate and resolve manufacturing problems
• develops research methodology, implements and reports upon research investigations undertaken
• plans work schedules, assigns tasks and delegates responsibilities to the research and development team
• monitors the standards of scientific and technical research undertaken by the research team

Also called

Clinical trials manager · Consumer insights manager · Creative manager (research and development) · Design manager · Market research manager · Research manager (broadcasting)

What it pays

How pay has changed

Median gross annual pay for research and development (r&d) managers, full-time employees, 2023 to 2025. Each point is that year's ASHE April snapshot as published — revisions are not backfilled into earlier years, and a year ONS withheld is a gap rather than a joined line.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Table

Year-on-year change

The change from each year to the next, in per cent, computed from the figures in the chart above — so the two cannot disagree.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Table

Pay by region

Median gross annual pay for full-time employees, ranked, against the UK figure. 10 of 11 regions are published: ONS withholds a cell where the survey sample cannot support it, and those are shown as gaps rather than dropped — an absent region is not a region without the work in it.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Period 2025. Table

Every regional figure

ONS does not publish occupational pay below region. Cells the survey could not support are shown as withheld, with its reason — adding a region split to a specific occupation leaves roughly a tenth of cells publishable.

Common questions

Classified alongside this

Other researchers, unspecified discipline