Free pharma CV template in English and German, built on a Recruiter's own CV
Plenty of CV templates look lovely and read badly. This one comes from the other side of the desk: it's my own CV, with the phone number taken out. It follows the structure I use for clients in pharma, biotech, CROs and MedTech. You get it in English and in German, as an editable Word file and as a PDF.
Free to download and use for your own CV. If you share the template, please keep the credit line in the footer. When you turn it into your own CV, delete it. Checked every quarter, next review planned for February 2027.
CV templates for 20 pharma, biotech and CRO roles
The same layout, filled with sample content for the 20 roles people search for most when they look for a CV template in this industry. Each sample is an invented person with invented employers and numbers, written the way I'd write a real one. Every role page also lists what a Hiring Manager checks first.
How the 20 roles were chosen: average monthly Google searches worldwide for "[role] CV", "[role] resume" and "[role] CV template", from Google Ads Keyword Planner, November 2025 to October 2026, checked on 14th November 2026. Pharmacist, PhD and lab technician lead the list. "Scientist CV" was left out of the count because most of those searches are about computer vision.
Why the layout looks the way it does
Every part of this layout answers a question the first reader of a CV asks, usually within the first page.
- Target role above the name. The reader knows in one line what you're applying to be. Change it for every application.
- Contact block with LinkedIn and city. No full street address, no photo, no date of birth.
- A profile of five or six sentences. Years of experience, the employers that matter, range of roles, one result with a number, languages with their level.
- Career highlights before the experience. Five results with numbers, so the strongest evidence sits on page one even if your best work was three jobs ago.
- Role title left, dates right. Company left, location right. Recruiters scan the right margin for dates and gaps. Month and year on every role.
- One line describing each employer where the company isn't a household name.
- Earlier experience in one paragraph. Roles older than about fifteen years keep their title, employer and dates, nothing more.
- Competencies as a keyword line at the end. Systems, therapeutic areas, GxP areas and methods, in the words job ads use.
Adapting it for a pharma or life sciences role
The template shows a recruiting career. For a role in Quality, Regulatory, Clinical Operations, Medical Affairs, Pharmacovigilance or Manufacturing, keep the structure and swap the evidence:
- Name the GxP areas and the processes you owned, for example batch release, deviations and CAPA, submissions, monitoring visits or signal detection.
- Name statutory appointments with their legal basis, such as Sachkundige Person (§§ 14 and 15 AMG) or Stufenplanbeauftragter (§ 63a AMG). The statutory roles chart lists all fifteen.
- Put numbers on scope: studies, sites, countries, batches, team size, budget.
- Name the systems: the validated systems, ERP, eTMF or safety database you used.
- Write job titles the way the employer wrote them, then add a short plain-language description if the title is internal jargon.
In German applications, your Arbeitszeugnisse travel with the CV. If the CV says you led a team and the reference says "war eingesetzt als", a German reader will notice. The Arbeitszeugnis decoder explains how references are read.
English or German CV?
Follow the language of the job ad. Many pharma employers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland advertise in English and accept English applications. For roles with patients, authorities or field sales in German, the German version usually fits better. The two templates hold the same content, so you can keep both in step.
Frequently asked questions
Is this pharma CV template free?
Yes. Both versions, English and German, are free to download as Word and PDF files. Use them as the starting point for your own CV. If you pass the template on, please keep the credit line in the footer.
How long should a pharma CV be?
For experienced professionals, two to three pages. This template runs to three pages for seventeen years of work. Earlier roles are compressed into one paragraph so the last ten to fifteen years get the space.
Does a German CV need a photo or date of birth?
No law requires either. The German template on this page has no photo, no date of birth and no marital status, and it covers the same ground as the English one.
Want your CV rewritten for the role you want?
A template gives you the structure. I write the content: your evidence, in the order a pharma Hiring Manager reads it, for the role you're targeting. The first conversation is twenty minutes and costs nothing.
See the CV and LinkedIn rewrite