Principal Laboratory Technician Family
Career series with 2 positions
Rather than one job, Principal Laboratory Technician is a rank used across 2 different specializations in New Jersey civil service (2 codes total).
Specializations include Animal Health, and Plant Industry. Pay across the family spans $58,222 to $84,763, around the 19th percentile of all civil service job families by top pay. State payroll records show 10 people across the family's titles, most concentrated at Health and Senior Services.
Principal Laboratory Technician supervises titles such as Electronic Systems Technician and Clinical Laboratory Evaluator.
Specializations
Positions in This Family
- PRINCIPAL LABORATORY TECHNICIAN (ANIMAL HEALTH) (01924I) $58,222 - $84,763/year
- PRINCIPAL LABORATORY TECHNICIAN (PLANT INDUSTRY) (01924J) $58,222 - $84,763/year
What the Principal Laboratory Technician family covers
Principal Laboratory Technician is a rank rather than a single job. New Jersey applies it across 2 specializations, which together account for 2 title codes. Every title in it is a state title, so the employer is a state department, commission or authority rather than a county or municipality.
The state runs working laboratories rather than research institutes, so scientific titles are tied to a statutory job: testing water and air, screening newborns, analysing evidence, monitoring pesticides, mapping geology. Degrees in a named field do the qualifying, and the exam is often an evaluation of education and experience rather than a written test. Because each laboratory is small, these families tend to be short ladders inside one agency instead of broad classifications spread across government.
The ladder, ordered by pay
Sorted by pay instead of by title number, the Principal Laboratory Technician family stacks up as follows.
- Principal Laboratory Technician (plant Industry) — $58,222 to $84,763 (an associate's degree)
- Principal Laboratory Technician (animal Health) — $58,222 to $84,763 (an associate's degree and 2 years of experience)
The distance from the bottom of Principal Laboratory Technician (animal Health) to the top of Principal Laboratory Technician (plant Industry) is $26,541, an increase of about 46% over the entry minimum.
What each title does
The specifications themselves are the clearest guide to what separates these titles. Here is how each one opens.
- Principal Laboratory Technician (animal Health): Under the supervision of the Assistant Director, Laboratory or other supervisor in the Division or Animal Health, Department of…
- Principal Laboratory Technician (plant Industry): Under the direction of a Senior Biologist, Entomologist I, or other supervisor, Division of Plant Industry, Department of Agriculture…
Getting in: the stated requirements
Across the 2 titles we have parsed, the education requirements read as an associate's degree on 2 of them. Experience requirements sit at 2 years wherever they are stated.
On how the jobs are filled: 2 are competitive, filled from an eligible list after an open competitive or promotional examination.
Who actually employs these titles
State payroll records show 10 people working under 2 of this family's titles, spread across 1 agency. Health and Senior Services alone accounts for about 100% of them.
- Health and Senior Services — 10 employees
Median actual pay varies across the family, from $71,639 for Principal Laboratory Technician (animal Health) up to $71,639 for Principal Laboratory Technician (plant Industry). Those are medians of what people are really paid, not schedule minimums and maximums.
State payroll only, deduplicated by payroll title; local employers file separately, so a family with local codes looks smaller here than it is. How this is counted.
How the pay is set
Titles in this family are paid on the A-P-R-S salary schedule. See every step in that schedule. Bargaining is handled by CWA. Union contracts and rights are collected here.
Where these jobs exist
These are state titles, hired by New Jersey departments, commissions and boards through the Civil Service Commission's announcement and eligible list process rather than by an ordinary job posting. How state hiring works, and which agencies employ what.
Related titles elsewhere in the plan
Nearby in the plan, ranked by how distinctive the shared terms are rather than by how many words happen to match.
- Laboratory Technician ($44,750 to $64,522, state jurisdiction)
- Laboratory Technician ($48,807 to $70,641, state jurisdiction)
- Laboratory Technician (both state and local jurisdiction)
- Senior Laboratory Technician ($50,990 to $73,902, state jurisdiction)
- Senior Laboratory Technician (local jurisdiction)
- Clinical Laboratory Technician
Common questions about Principal Laboratory Technician jobs
How many Principal Laboratory Technician titles are there in New Jersey civil service?
The Principal Laboratory Technician family holds 2 title codes. Each code is a separate classification with its own published specification, requirements and salary treatment.
What does a Principal Laboratory Technician earn in New Jersey?
Published salary data for this family runs from $58,222 at the bottom of Principal Laboratory Technician (animal Health) to $84,763 at the top of Principal Laboratory Technician (plant Industry). Those are schedule figures. Where the title appears on the state payroll, actual median pay is listed on the page above.
Do you need to take an exam to become a Principal Laboratory Technician?
Yes for most of the family. 2 of the 2 titles are in the competitive division, which means appointment comes from an eligible list built by an open competitive or promotional examination.
What qualifications does a Principal Laboratory Technician need?
The most common education requirement in this family is an associate's degree, named on 2 of the 2 titles. Stated experience ranges from 2 years depending on the rung. Read the individual specification for the exact wording, including any experience substitution.
Which agencies employ Principal Laboratory Technician staff?
State payroll records show 10 people in this family across 1 agency, with Health and Senior Services the largest at 10. Local government employers are not covered by that extract.