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.
108,690 people do this job in the US. $167,220 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 51%
- 29%
- 20%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 2%. Today's estimate: 5%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 16 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan or direct research, development, or production activities.Done daily by most who do it. | 16% | 1 work day2.5 h to 3.1 work days | Stays with people | |
| Conduct own research in field of expertise.Done more than yearly by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 16% | 2.1 work days3.3 h to 1.7 work weeks | Stays with people | |
| Design or coordinate successive phases of problem analysis, solution proposals, or testing.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 14% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 2.1 work days | 9%Half by Aug 2027 | |
| Review project activities and prepare and review research, testing, or operational reports.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 9% | 5 h1.3 h to 1.7 work days | 14%Half by Jun 2027 | |
| Determine scientific or technical goals within broad outlines provided by top management and make detailed plans to accomplish these goals.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 8% | 1.3 work days2.5 h to 3.1 work days | 4%Half by Dec 2027 | |
| Hire, supervise, or evaluate engineers, technicians, researchers, or other staff.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 6% | 2.5 h50 min to 1 work day | Stays with people | |
| Develop or implement policies, standards, or procedures for the architectural, scientific, or technical work performed to ensure regulatory compliance or operations enhancement.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 6% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 1.3 work weeks | 2%Half by May 2028 | |
| Develop innovative technology or train staff for its implementation.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 5% | 2.1 work days3.3 h to 1.3 work weeks | 1%Half by Jul 2028 | |
| Prepare and administer budgets, approve and review expenditures, and prepare financial reports.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 5% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 2.5 work days | 8%Half by Sep 2027 | |
| Provide for stewardship of plant or animal resources or habitats, studying land use, monitoring animal populations, or providing shelter, resources, or medical treatment for animals.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 1 work day1.7 h to 4.2 work days | Stays with people | |
| Confer with scientists, engineers, regulators, or others to plan or review projects or to provide technical assistance.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 3% | 1.7 h25 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Recruit personnel or oversee the development or maintenance of staff competence.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 3% | 4.2 h1.3 h to 1.6 work days | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).