research and development manager
Research and development managers coordinate the efforts of scientists, academical researchers, product developers, and market researchers towards the creation of new products, the improvement of current ones or other research activities, including scientific research. They manage and plan research and development activities of an organisation, specify goals and budget requirements and manage the staff.
research and development manager research and development managers coordinate the efforts of scientists, academical researchers, product developers, and market researchers towards the creation of new products, the improvement of current ones or other research activities, including scientific . The role shows moderate AI exposure (0.50 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include product life-cycle, design management, socio-economic trends in your sector, market research, industrial research and development.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £55,519 a year for Research and development (R&D) managers (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
Middle half of full-time jobs: £44,101 to £75,207 a year
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 2161). ONS rates this estimate precise. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Managers” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only research and development manager, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 1. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
Top skills
Frequently asked questions
What does research and development manager do?
Research and development managers coordinate the efforts of scientists, academical researchers, product developers, and market researchers towards the creation of new products, the improvement of current ones or other research activities, including scientific research. They manage and plan research and development activities of an organisation, specify goals and budget requirements and manage the staff.
What skills does research and development manager need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include product life-cycle, design management, socio-economic trends in your sector, market research, industrial research and development, combine business technology with user experience. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace research and development manager?
Our AI-durability model gives research and development manager a score of 0.50 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.