Compliance officer

Compliance officers are responsible for helping the organisation they work for adhere to relevant external statutory and regulatory requirements

Organisations that breach these requirements may have to pay fines and/or face other penalties.

Regulations can come from a range of sources, including:

• government
• regulatory bodies
• industry bodies
• international standards organisations.

Your role is to help your employer comply with the relevant industry rules and regulations and avoid any sanctions that could impact the business adversely. Your work is key in maintaining the company's reputation and integrity and can also help protect it from threats such as fraud and other financial crimes.

Compliance officers also assist the business in ensuring that the correct internal policies and procedures are in place to achieve compliance with external regulations.

Types of compliance work

Compliance officers are employed in a range of industries, including:

• banking and financial services
• charity/not-for-profit
• education
• environment (including utilities and energy)
• gaming
• health and social care
• insurance
• manufacturing
• pharmaceutical
• property
• retail
• technology
• transport.

Specialist areas in compliance include:

• anti money laundering
• assurance
• financial crime prevention
• governance, risk and compliance
• advisory services
• training and education
• preventing fraud
• monitoring
• product advisory
• regulatory affairs
• trade surveillance.

Responsibilities

As a compliance professional, you might need to:

• keep up to date with, and understand, relevant laws and regulations
• perform risk assessments and compliance audits to understand risk level, significance and scope
• monitor compliance with laws, regulations and internal policies
• interpret and communicate regulatory changes, ensuring that your findings are recorded and followed up with management
• help managers to identify solutions to compliance issues
• implement preventative and/or corrective measures to mitigate risk
• educate employees on both the regulations and the impact on the organisation if they aren't complied with
• investigate irregularities and non-compliance issues
• report back to business functions on current risk and compliance performance
• highlight or escalate areas of concern
• champion compliance best practice and contribute to robust and effective compliance controls within the organisation
• review marketing materials, presentations and websites to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements
• assist in the gathering of internal information in response to regulatory requests
• perform various general administrative duties (such as file creation and maintenance of ongoing administrative projects)
• manage voluntary best practice relating to professional standards
• maintain, review and update the organisation's internal procedures and policies
• collaborate with other departments to create a culture of compliance.

Salary

• Salaries for compliance officers start at around £20,000 to £25,000 for trainees, rising to between £35,000 and £45,000 as you gain experience.
• Senior compliance officers and compliance managers can earn from £50,000 to more than £70,000.
• Senior managers and heads of compliance can earn from £65,000 to more than £100,000.

Contract or temporary roles may also be worth considering. Day rates for compliance professionals can range from around £250 to in excess of £800 per day.

Factors affecting salary include the industry you work in (for example, compliance officers in banking and financial crime prevention are more highly paid than those working in charities) and your location. Other factors include your skills, experience, qualifications and track record.

Benefits may include bonuses, a pension and private medical insurance.

Income figures are intended as a guide only.

Working hours

Working hours are typically Monday to Friday, 37.5 hours a week. Although compliance is not directly revenue-generating, you'll be working on business-critical projects, often at short notice. Generally, though, you'll enjoy a good work/life balance compared with some other professional services jobs.

There may opportunities for hybrid working.

What to expect

• You'll usually work indoors, although there may be some outdoor work, for example if you work in the energy sector.
• Compliance is at the heart of many businesses, so even junior compliance officers get to interact with senior leaders. Few other graduate jobs offer this level of visibility in both large and small companies.
• Jobs are available throughout the UK, although compliance jobs in financial services are often London-based. The number of risk and compliance jobs is rising due to increasing regulations, particularly in the banking/financial services sector.
• Regulations and laws change so your job will change too. It's this change in the role that many graduates enjoy.
• Some jobs cover various locations so expect some travel.

Qualifications

You'll usually need a degree to work as a compliance officer. The following subjects may be particularly useful:

• accountancy
• business administration
• economics
• finance
• law.

Most employers are flexible as to degree subject, although some will favour a degree relevant to their industry.

Alternatively, you can do a Level 6 Senior Compliance/Risk Specialist Apprenticeship, which combines paid work with study for a degree-level compliance qualification.

There are some graduate schemes, particularly in financial services, available. Graduate risk management roles may contain elements of compliance work and many of the rotational graduate schemes in banks will include a placement in compliance.

It's possible to enter the profession by working in a business or compliance administration role and taking further professional qualifications to move into an assistant compliance and then compliance officer role. You can also take a Level 3 Compliance/Risk Officer Apprenticeship.

Compliance qualifications provided by organisations such as the International Compliance Association (ICA) are also beneficial.

Remember that a wide range of industries are subject to regulations, and companies may look for graduates with backgrounds that suit the sector they work in.

Skills

You'll need to have:

• critical problem-solving skills as you'll often have to make decisions based on the information available, which may be open to interpretation
• the ability to analyse and interpret information and data
• strong written, verbal and presentation skills to communicate technical information to non-technical audiences
• negotiation and influencing skills
• interpersonal skills and the ability to build and develop relationships
• project management skills to work on several projects at a time
• a collaborative approach to work
• attention to detail as you might be examining laws and regulations and checking compliance
• time management skills
• the ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines
• an interest in compliance, which can involve delving in to granular levels of detail.

Work experience

Many graduates join the compliance profession after working in roles that help them develop the required skills. Examples of unrelated but relevant roles include:

• administrator/business administrator
• customer services adviser
• financial analyst
• paralegal
• pre-employment screening co-ordinator.

Look for companies that have a compliance officer or compliance department in your area of interest and ask if you can work shadow a compliance officer to get a feel for the skills and qualities needed for the role.

You can also start to develop your skills through work placements, internships, part-time work or voluntary work. Internships are provided by a range of companies in sectors such as financial services. Some courses provide the opportunity to take a year out in industry, where you could work in an area that is heavily regulated such as banking, financial services or law.

Think about which industry you want to work in and develop your experience and knowledge of how the sector works and the role of compliance within it.

Find out more about the different kinds of work experience and internships that are available.

Employers

Compliance is a growing sector in the UK, so job prospects are good.

Opportunities are available with a range of organisations in the private, public and third sector.

Typical employers include:

• banks
• charities
• education institutions
• energy and renewable energy companies
• financial services
• gaming companies
• health and social care organisations
• housing associations
• insurance companies
• local authorities
• manufacturing companies
• pharmaceutical companies
• property firms
• retail
• technology firms
• transport organisations
• utilities companies.

In large companies, there will be a compliance team, with a number of compliance officers working under a compliance manager. In a small company, you may be the only compliance officer.

There are many opportunities to work in compliance roles overseas with international companies, for example in the energy sector.

Look for job vacancies at:

• The Actuary Jobs
• Careers in Compliance
• CityJobs
• efinancialcareers

Jobs are also advertised on sector specific websites, for example:

• CharityJob
• Gazette Jobs - for jobs in legal compliance.
• LocalGovJobs - for compliance jobs with local authorities.
• NHS Jobs - for health-related compliance jobs.

Recruitment agencies also advertise vacancies for experienced compliance officers.

Professional development

Much of your training is carried out on the job, or by attending short courses and conferences. The compliance sector is fast moving and always changing, so your employer will expect you to keep your knowledge up to date by attending relevant courses, events, conferences and other networking opportunities.

Your employer may support you in gaining a relevant industry qualification from organisations such as the:

• International Compliance Association (ICA)
• Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI)

They may also support you in taking a Masters course or an MBA as you progress your career. Search for postgraduate courses in compliance and Search for an MBA.

Career prospects

The role of compliance is rapidly developing, opening up new and increasing opportunities across a range of sectors for skilled compliance professionals.

The rate of progression in your career as a compliance professional can be fast, with many junior compliance officers being promoted to senior officers within two to four years. Compliance managers typically have more than five years' experience, and senior management often more than ten.

From the role of compliance officer, you could move into a senior compliance officer and then compliance manager role. Fort these types of roles, you'll need to have a strong understanding of risk and compliance management, as well as leadership skills and the ability to manage a team of staff. At head or director of compliance level, you will take on a strategic and leadership role.

Alternatively, you could move across into related areas of work such as auditing, cybersecurity or risk consulting.