Research Titles and Staffing

Research Career Ladder

In an effort to provide various levels of expertise to support the research efforts at Texas A&M, numerous research related career ladders have been developed and are listed below.  To help answer researcher personnel questions, contact your local HR Hub teams.

Delegation of Authority / Approval Process

As shown below, the Vice President for Research has delegated a level of hiring compensation authority to the Dean/VP. This authority may be further delegated within the College/School/Division with the Vice President for Research’s written approval. This approval will be on file with the appropriate HR-HUB personnel.

View the Delegation of Authority memo

Research Titles Are Moving to TAMU Market

With the adoption of a minimum pay rate for each research title, the previous use of band approvals is no longer needed. Instead, The Dean/VP (or designee) has authority to approve hiring salaries up to a specific dollar amount, as listed below. For example, for a Research Assistant, the Dean/VP (or designee) has authority to approve a hiring salary from $45,000 to $60,517.20, no further approvals are required. However, if a starting salary amount is requested above the $60,517.20, additional approval by the VPR (or designee) is required. To reiterate the Dean/VP may further delegate approval authority, as desired, in order to facilitate the expeditious approval of hiring salaries as early as possible in the position creation/recruiting process.

Note: Hiring salary requests at $180K or greater will be routed to the Vice President for Research for review and approval. This level is not being delegated.

Other Personnel Actions

For other personnel actions related to the positions listed on the research career ladder (promotions, salary increases outside of the budget cycle, etc.), for research positions that are not assigned to a Division of Research supervisory organization (SUPORG), the Vice President for Research has delegated the approval of these actions to Tom Owen.  For positions assigned to a Division of Research SUPORG, the Vice President for Research or designee will approve all requests.

Approval Routing

In an effort to streamline the approval process for several actions, HROE has released various forms to obtain the appropriate information and signatures related to a request.  Memos should no longer be used.  Your HR Hub professional will route these forms to the appropriate person/delegate within the VPR’s Office based on the location of the PIN and the dollar amount associated with the request.

Contact Information

Tom Owen

Available Research Titles

Research Technical Support Track

Research Technician

Minimum Qualifications
High School and 2 years of relevant experience*

Pay Grade: 6
Minimum Rate: $15.85 per hour
Dean Approval (up to): $23.04 per hour

VPR or Designee Approvals Needed**
Min: $23.05 per hour
Max: $26.58 per hour

VP-HROE or Designee Approvals Needed**
Exceeding $26.58 per hour

Research Coordinator

Minimum Qualifications
High School and 3 years of relevant experience*

Pay Grade: 7
Minimum Rate: $17.44 per hour
Dean Approval (up to): $25.64 per hour

VPR or Designee Approvals Needed**
Min: $25.65 per hour
Max: $29.68 per hour

VP-HROE or Designee Approvals Needed**
Exceeding $29.68 per hour

Available Research Titles

Research Specialist Track

Available Research Titles

Research Scientist Track

*May allow for equivalency
**If the salary request exceeds the VPR’s authority, both the VPR and the VP-HROE must approve.