How To Become A Compliance Management Officer

With enforcement rising sharply, companies have no choice but to hire Compliance Officers at various levels of management to develop effective compliance risk management processes and provide guidance regarding regulatory responsibilities.

In January of 2014, the Wall Street Journal called Compliance Management a booming job in America offering a dream career.¹ With different regulations applying to every organisation in the world, whether in corporate, hairdressing or real estate; there’s an ever-increasing demand for Compliance Management Officers to keep companies on the right side of the law.

What are the key responsibilities of a Compliance Management Officer?

A compliance management officer working in financial services will have very different responsibilities and educational requirements than a compliance officer working in mechanical engineering. Compliance management officers are expected to stay up-to-date in terms of:

1. The procedures of the company they are assessing.
2. Current market trends and legislation.
3. Compliance skills and knowledge by taking part in compliance courses and compliance training.

The key responsibilities of a Compliance Management Officer include making an impact in the following three key areas: 

Compliance Management	Plan, direct, or coordinate activities of the business to ensure compliance with ethical or regulatory standards Direct the internal investigation of possible compliance issues Assess product, compliance or operational risks and corresponding develop risk management strategies Want these skills?
Training and Development Management	Ensure all employees receive the required training to remain a compliant organisation Create, implement and evaluate effective training and development courses Master South African legislation surrounding training and development Want these skills?

Compliance Management

Plan, direct, or coordinate activities of the business to ensure compliance with ethical or regulatory standards Direct the internal investigation of possible compliance issues Assess product, compliance or operational risks and corresponding develop risk management strategies Want these skills?

Training and Development Management

Ensure all employees receive the required training to remain a compliant organisation Create, implement and evaluate effective training and development courses Master South African legislation surrounding training and development Want these skills?

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Related content: How membership with CISA can boost your career.

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What is the career path of a Compliance Management Officer?

Many Compliance Management Officers start out as a junior risk analyst getting to grips with financial software and assessing risk by studying market reports and statistics. But, if you are wanting to build a successful career path in risk management, the focus will not only be on your ability to crunch numbers.⁴

Compliance Management Officers have varying career paths depending on whether they are situated in public or private sector.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics says the top three employers of Compliance Management Officers are the federal, local and state governments, with local governments hiring almost twice as many Compliance Management Officers as what is employed by management staffs of private businesses.⁵

What is the potential salary for a Compliance Management Officer?

“Compliance is about finding opportunities to optimise business processes by ensuring operations are aligned not only to applicable regulatory requirements, but to best practice. It’s a relatively young and dynamic industry with loads of opportunities to build an exciting career.”

– Sonja van Staden, Legal Risk and Compliance Officer at GetSmarter

The salary for a Compliance Management Officer is reliant on years of experience and updated compliance training, and will often be slightly lower in public over private sectors.

To be hired as a Compliance Management Officer, often a minimum of five years experience will be needed. Salaries will increase as Compliance Officers move up to become Compliance Managers and by developing skills such as internal auditing, regulatory compliance and risk control, and anti-money laundering.⁶

Click on a country to see what you can expect to get paid as a Compliance Management Officer in either South Africa, the United Kingdom or the United States of America:

What are the education and compliance training requirements for a Compliance Management Officer?

Start off with a degree

Although the requirements for becoming a Compliance Management Officer vary from country to country, for most, there is no specific qualification needed to be studied at a tertiary level. Rather, a bachelor’s degree in something like accounting, business or legal studies, and often, taken to the Master’s level, is a good place to start if you are wanting to venture into a career in compliance law.

Gain crucial business experience

A company will want to hire a Compliance Management Officer who knows the ins and outs of the working world. Most companies will not hire a Compliance Management Officer straight out of university as having business experiences is imperative to staying on the right side of the law.

Become recognised

Due to escalation of regulations, companies are desperate to increase their enforcement activities. In South Africa, receiving compliance training by completing a compliance courses, means you can become recognised as a Compliance Management Officer.

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¹ The Wall Street Journal
² Compliance Building
³ CISA
⁴ efinancialcareers
⁵ Investopedia
⁶ Payscale