Drawing on data from our independent research, SRG has identified new insights into scientific workforce trends and salary patterns, providing employers and professionals with essential information to better navigate the evolving talent landscape. Our findings underscore the significance of scientific positions driving research and innovation forward, while also highlighting current prospects for hiring and career advancement across the Life Sciences and other scientific sectors. 

This blog, which is part of a three-part series of salary and workforce trend analysis, focuses on data and insights from the FMCG sector, focusing specifically on roles across FMCG Science and FMCG Engineering. We delve into FMCG salary benchmarking data and pay rates for top FMCG roles, workforce demographics and FMCG hiring trends, and highlight opportunities for organisations and candidates alike to better understand and navigate hiring and employment opportunities in FMCG. 

FMCG Salary Insights: What are the highest paying careers in FMCG? 

FMCG sectors, their processes and roles, and the talent within them, are pivotal to the FMCG supply chain and the wider consumer goods sector.  

In the scientific scope of FMCG, roles focus on the research, innovation, and application of scientific principles in areas such as product development, quality assurance, supply chain optimisation, and sustainability. Professionals ensure that products meet safety and regulatory standards while responding to evolving consumer preferences and market trends. 

Suggested Read: Top skills FMCG needs now 

Within engineering roles in the sector, talented teams are at the heart of driving automation, reducing downtime, and implementing innovative solutions to support the fast-moving consumer goods industry through the design, maintenance, and optimisation of production processes and equipment. They contribute to the efficiency, reliability, and safety of manufacturing food, beverages, personal care products, and household items, and help to ensure seamless delivery to market.  

With the importance of, and demands on, these sectors ever-growing, there is an increasing need for highly skilled workers who can contribute to the evolution of FMCG’s processes and production. As a result, FMCG job trends are suggesting that competition for talent is high, with salaries robustly aligned with demand for specialist expertise and leadership talent. This presents challenges to employers and hiring managers, but on the other hand provides plenty of opportunities for candidates to maximise their career and salary prospects.  

Looking into our FMCG salary benchmarks research we find that there is pay parity across much of the science-based roles, highlighting the importance of its variety of roles and the talent within them. Development Chemists, Formulation Chemists, Applications Chemists, NPD Technologists and Flavour Analysts earn, on average, £36,000 a year, with the potential annual salary rising to £50,000 in high-demand areas. We discovered parity across low to mid-level roles too; Applications Technicians and Flavour Technicians earn an average of £27,500 annually.  

The importance of – and responsibility on – engineering roles that are integral to quality and regulatory standards in FMCG is reflected in the earning potential offered. The highest-level positions, such as Engineering Manager/Director and Operations Manager/Director pay up to £120,000 and £100,000 respectively in high-demand areas for example. Project Managers and Production Managers can earn up to £90,000 a year too, meanwhile mid-level roles such as Maintenance Engineers and Packaging Technologists can command between £60,000 and £65,000.  

Workforce Demographics and Diversity in FMCG 

Our research also reveals insights into the demographic, diversity, and average tenure of professionals working in the FMCG sector. The data highlights some disparities with the sector and illustrates persistent obstacles that employers and employees are navigating. 

Exploring the issue of gender representation in FMCG, we find an imbalance across the sectors we researched. Across engineering roles in the sector, findings are similar to other scientific engineering sectors such as Chemical Engineering, with a gender split heavily in favour of males (79% male against 21% female). And whilst scientific roles fare better, there is still a gender gap to narrow, with the workforce currently 46% female and 54% male. 

Experience levels across both sectors are again consistent with findings from other scientific sectors we studied, with the majority of people in FMCG roles having 8+ years’ experience, reflecting the high level of expertise the sector needs. From another perspective, this data also suggests that perhaps more needed to be done to provide opportunities for fresh and early talent and ideas, and to open doors to those early in their career.  

Finally, our look into tenure data from FMCG roles highlights the importance of employers ensuring they work to encourage talent retention, development and career progression too, in addition to searching for additions to their workforce. The average tenures of between 1.9 years 1.7 years suggest that many people find a reason to move on in a relatively short space of time.  

FMCG Career Opportunities & In-Demand Talent 

The response to our insights into salaries and workforce trends within FMCG and the broader scientific landscapes will be vital to how organisations and candidates alike create and take advantage of the opportunities ahead of them.  

For employers, these findings provide plenty of food for thought. To attract, secure, and retain top-tier FMCG talent, it’s crucial to ensure remuneration frameworks, benefits, and career development opportunities are kept in step with the shifting landscape and the most up-to-date benchmarks. Notably, our research points to the need for FMCG employers to actively narrow gender imbalances and take steps to build a more inclusive, representative workforce. 

From a candidate perspective, the outlook is positive one. As FMCG organisations strive to expand pathways into the sector, enhance compensation packages, and cultivate environments where talent can thrive both personally and professionally, skilled individuals will find themselves well placed to seize new and emerging career prospects. 

How SRG supports your career or hiring needs? 

Supporting organisations and candidates alike across life sciences sectors including Biotechnology, MedTech, and Pharmaceuticals, and in Chemicals, Food, Drink & FMCG, and Clean Tech & Renewables, SRG are industry leaders in providing next generation scientific talent solutions.  

Utilising our deep industry and market knowledge, and the expertise of our recruitment professionals, we help organisations find, hire, retain, and nurture top talent for a wide range of scientific roles. Our specialist solutions cover recruitment for permanent roles, contract hires, and project assignments, ensuring that businesses can remain agile in a rapidly changing environment. 

Our comprehensive knowledge of the scientific market enables us to understand the specific requirements and opportunities across every industry we support. And by leveraging our extensive network and a data-led approach to recruitment, SRG provides bespoke solutions tailored to the ambitions of both employers and job seekers. 

Whether you are looking to strengthen your team or advance your career, SRG delivers dedicated guidance, up-to-date market insights, and a commitment to supporting success in every collaboration. 

Contact us to discuss your hiring needs now or explore our current vacancies to see where your career journey could take you next.