Which Life Sciences Roles Are Most in Demand Right Now?

Hybrid talent (professionals combining life sciences expertise with digital, data, AI or regulatory skills) is the defining 2026 hiring trend. The most in-demand areas are SaMD, medical affairs/RWE, and data science & analytics, fueled by AI adoption and rising regulatory complexity. As talent gaps widen in data science and analytics, more businesses are expecting traditional industry expertise blended with AI knowledge to adapt to the technological and regulatory advancement in life sciences.

Key Takeaways:

Hybrid talent remains a continuing trend for life sciences roles in 2026, with blended technology and scientific expertise appearing across multiple in-demand roles.
AI, SaMD, the expansion of RWE, and rising regulatory complexities are impacting the changing needs of the life sciences hiring market, driving demand in their respective areas for businesses looking to be at the forefront of technological advancement.
78% of pharma companies are reporting a critical need for data science and analytics skills due to a widening talent gap.
AI is becoming an expectation across key roles in SaMD, medical affairs, RWE, and data science and analytics, requiring professionals to blend traditional industry expertise with AI capabilities while adapting to evolving technologies and the regulatory complexities facing life sciences.

In early 2025, US life sciences employment hit 2.1 million workers, marked by an inconsistent pace of growth compared to the post-pandemic boom. Early-stage R&D hiring is more cautious, but demand for life sciences roles in clinical, regulatory, and commercial areas has been more active and resilient.

One of the biggest trends impacting the most in-demand life sciences roles is the convergence of science, regulation, and data, with data scientist employment alone predicted to grow 34% from 2024 to 2034. This changing emphasis is creating a greater demand for hybrid talent; the most in-demand professionals in life sciences will be those who are both scientists and technologists.

In short, the most in-demand roles in life sciences right now are Software as a Medical Device (SaMD), medical affairs & RWE, and data science & analytics because of the emphasis on combining technical and scientific expertise.

Why Are Life Sciences Talent Needs Changing?

The changing needs of life sciences talent come down to four key areas, impacting the way that demands have shifted.

Digital transformation and AI: More businesses are leveraging data processing capabilities, precise pattern recognition techniques, and real-time decision support, with research indicating that digital transformation will require a tripartite “technology-ethics-talent” framework: technological innovation, ethical governance, and talent cultivation. Generative AI is also beginning to influence areas such as regulatory documentation, medical writing and drug discovery workflows, creating demand for professionals who can oversee compliant implementation in regulated environments.
The rise of SaMD: Software is now a regulated medical product, per the FDA’s SaMD framework, which is creating a new category of SaMD regulatory jobs that didn’t exist until recently. As Digital Therapeutics and chronic disease management adapt to new interventions and tools, SaMD will continue to expand its applications, driving demand for SaMD talent.
Expansion of real-world evidence (RWE): RWE now encompasses clinical development, regulatory strategy, market access, medical affairs, and post-market surveillance. Real-world evidence jobs require data capability and context expertise, making evidence usable, rather than simply just analyzing it.
Rising regulatory complexity: The compliance landscape of US life sciences is highly complex, particularly in relation to SaMD, including the Digital Health Center of Excellence, IEC 62304 software lifecycle requirements, ISO 14971 risk management standards, and additional AI/ML-specific frameworks and cybersecurity requirements. These frameworks govern software development, risk management and quality processes, helping ensure digital health products remain safe, effective and compliant throughout their lifecycle. Subsequently, SaMD regulatory roles are in high demand.

Which SaMD Are Most in Demand?

SaMD is the fastest-growing regulatory niche, expected to grow from $5.24bn in 2026 to $25.87bn by 2031 at a 37.62% CAGR, with the FDA having cleared more than 520 AI-enabled medical devices to date. This growth has created a concentrated hiring demand that focuses on key, in-demand specialisms:

Product security engineers

Like with many other SaMD regulatory roles, product security engineers are in high demand due to the necessity for gaining FDA approval. The FDA can reject 510(k) and PMA submissions outright if cybersecurity documentation is insufficient under Section 524B of the FD&C Act. Additionally, cybersecurity expertise is a competitive advantage, given that 54.2% of AI/ML device submissions already included cybersecurity considerations, which are now part of the Quality Management System Regulation.

Software validation professionals

Each AI-enabled device needs its software formally validated against international standards. In 2024 alone, the FDA authorized 168 ML-enabled Class II devices, each requiring IEC 62304-aligned software validation. With the QMSR (incorporating ISO 13485) taking effect in February 2026, there’s also a new validation and documentation layer for every software-defined device.

Quality and regulatory specialists

SaMD has become its own regulatory discipline, which has created the unique issue in the industry of a rising clearance volume outpacing the number of specialists who understand both software and the FDA process, meaning quality and regulatory specialists are in high demand.

Clinical systems and digital health experts

As AI/ML devices continue learning and changing after launch, clinical systems and digital health experts have become a vital SaMD role, ensuring devices still work safely as their use evolves in clinical settings, unlike with static hardware.

SaMD regulatory consultants

Managing how AI devices are allowed to change after approval isn’t something that businesses can expect professionals to have years of experience in, meaning that consultants often fill this gap.

What Skills Are Most Valuable for SaMD Professionals?

Cybersecurity: Cyberattacks are becoming more frequent and disruptive, with 24% of healthcare facilities having experienced one, 80% of which caused moderate or significant patient care impact, making cybersecurity an essential skill to mitigate these risks.
DevSecOps: Accelerating research requires strict compliance with regulations and data, placing DevSecOps skills as a proactive defense.
Software validation: Each software change on a device requires regulatory approval and testing before release, making validation essential.
Product security: 84% of healthcare organizations now include cybersecurity requirements in vendor RFPs (RunSafe Security), and product security is critical in reducing potential technology vulnerabilities.
Regulatory compliance: The documentation and compliance literacy expected from life sciences businesses is evolving in complexity, driving high demand for talent with strong regulatory fluency.
Risk management: Risk categories are evolving with the SaMD industry, which creates capability gaps in newer areas (e.g., model manipulation and data poisoning).

Which Medical Affairs and RWE Roles Are Most in Demand?

The current trending medical affairs jobs and real-world evidence roles are driven by the demand for digital fluency that translates complex data into decisions.

In a global survey, 1,000 Medical Science Liaisons (MSLs) professionals found the role carries growing strategic importance, though their impact is yet to be fully defined and measured by organizations, indicating that MSLs have complex responsibilities that are expanding faster than organizations can build frameworks to manage their function.

Similarly, medical directors are in high demand due to the increasing emphasis on RWE and AI as key 2026-2027 trends in Health Economics and Outcomes Research, noting that human oversight is crucial in translating complex data into decisions that regulators can act on quickly. RWE specialists are also in demand as a result, with the FDA increasingly relying on real-world data to assess drug safety, utilization, and effectiveness, which requires more RWE roles to drive this change.

Another fast-growing area of note for medical affairs roles and RWE jobs, particularly for pharmaceutical and health tech firms, is epidemiologists, with the BLS projecting a faster-than-average 16% employment growth from 2024-2034. Growing access to healthcare, claims and population-level data is increasing demand for epidemiologists who can analyze disease trends, assess treatment outcomes and support evidence-based decision-making. Likewise, HEOR professionals have had substantial field growth and an evolving scope in the discipline in the past 20 years, with hiring outpacing structured career pathways due to high demand.

Given that the most in-demand areas seem to be covering existing gaps due to the speed of digitalization, it’s unsurprising that medical affairs consultants are also highly sought after, providing much-needed AI literacy in organizations that have no existing digitally-fluent talent in house.

What Skills Are Needed for a Career in Medical Affairs?

The Medical Affairs Professional Society’s (MAPS) Competency Framework highlights the key areas of interest for medical affairs roles in seven domains: strategy, scientific and technical knowledge, business knowledge, evidence generation, customer engagement and scientific communications, leadership and management, and governance and compliance. This framework is very similar to the practical skills employers look for, from clinical knowledge that underpins the entire skillset to scientific communication and stakeholder management.

Medical affairs jobs also require greater emphasis on evidence generation and data interpretation, as identified by MAPS, including:

Integrated evidence planning
Data-gap identification
Real-world evidence use

Additional research has also indicated a similar structure/framework for the key competencies expected of medical affairs roles, including scientific and technical knowledge, evidence generation, and communication and collaboration among its six core domains, indicating a global standard for the skillset.

Which Data Science and Analytics Roles Are Growing Fastest in Life Sciences?

The fastest-growing data science roles and data analytics positions in 2026 life sciences are:

Data scientists

Data scientist employment is set to grow 34% from 2024-2034, and is the fourth fastest-growing occupation in the entire US economy.

Data analytics roles

93% of life sciences executives plan to increase investment in data, digital, and AI, which has fueled greater demand for analysts to provide usable insights into these areas.

Biostatisticians

This area is growing faster than the general bioinformatics field, with an estimated 35% growth for biostatisticians' roles overall.

Clinical data managers

Clinical trials are generating more complex data sets, creating further demand for data managers fluent in CDISC standards and electronic data capture systems, which are considered core competencies.

Statistical programmers

The global expansion of trials and AI-powered drug development has impacted the drive for programmers proficient in traditional SAS expertise with R and Python, considered a hybrid skillset and gold standard for the field.

Bioinformatics scientists

Bioinformatics roles are projected to have 15% growth in 2032, with bioinformatics skills ranking in the top 3 hardest-to-fill categories in pharma and biotech (AD Bioinformatics).

ML specialists

Candidates combining domain expertise with programming skills and ML techniques knowledge are in high demand, with AI-specific roles emerging as a distinct category.

RWD analysts

Organizations looking to turn to RWD into decision-driving evidence has led RWD analysts to be in greater demand than data collectors, with an emphasis on data connectivity and application.

What Skills Are Most in Demand for Data Science Roles and Data Analytics Roles?

Currently, the foundational technical areas of expertise for real-world data roles are Python, R, SQL and data visualization tools. Many job postings also specify “ML experience with biological validation”.

Clinical trial knowledge is also taking precedence for data science and data analytics roles, particularly hybrid roles that combine scientific and digital capabilities in areas such as drug development and digital clinical operations. Biostatistics and data analysis are also essential due to skills gaps, with 78% of pharma companies reporting a critical need for data science and analytics skills among their workforce.

Broader AI adoption is also influencing in demand skills, with those skilled in RWE providing critical means to catalyze AI adoption and apply it to real-world evidence, rather than slow it down at a time when the supply of data experts is far below demand.

Regulatory complexity has continued to impact the data science and analytics market too, and compliance officers and quality staff are needed to combat the broader talent shortage driven by applications of AI and the regulatory scrutiny associated with implementing compliant AI pipelines.

What Makes These Professionals So Difficult to Hire?

From SaMD regulatory specialists to medical affairs positions, RWE roles, and data science and analytics, a combination of technical and scientific expertise, regulatory knowledge and specific know-how are needed.

The niche skillset required for each role combined with the fast-changing compliance requirements (e.g., the FDA’s QMSR) keep shifting the boundaries of qualifications for life sciences roles that simply don’t allow room for generalist recruitment. When factoring in the high demand for these specialist professions, it’s unsurprising that they are difficult to hire due to high competition and the need to understand where they’ll fit into the wider organizational ecosystem.

As the supply and demand gap widens, it’s increasingly important to understand the factors influencing hiring in life sciences professions industry-wide.

Why Partner with Redbock?

Redbock is a leading life science consulting firm backed by a global framework, providing a highly specialized approach to resourcing solutions, with over 600+ active consultants across the world.

We have over 24 years of experience providing a variety of candidates to the life sciences industry across quality, clinical, regulatory/compliance, and engineering personnel. If you’re looking to fill specialist roles, Redbock offers the experience and resourcing needed to expand your team — get in touch today to find out more.