How To Become A Compliance Director: What It Is and Career Path

What is a compliance director and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Compliance directors ensure that corporations or agencies conform to all rules, regulations, and laws relevant to their functions. They interpret the new regulations and put them in clear terms for their organization's senior management. They also accomplish compliance human resource strategies by determining accountabilities, earning an average sum of $112,000 per year, which is $54 per hour.

Compliance directors are typically the head of a department. That means they are expected to oversee many simultaneous issues in various stages of the compliance and regulatory process. You can guarantee that anything from the conceptual stage and implementation to any operational problems that occur, the compliance director will be there every step of the way. They are also responsible for managing and correcting any violation that occurs as well as instituting policies to eliminate the lapse in regulatory compliance.

Compliance directors mostly hold a bachelor's or master's degree in business or a related field. The position usually requires a minimum of ten years of experience in roles of increasing leadership and responsibility. So it's definitely not an entry-level position. Some employers also prefer to hire candidates with legal, attorney experience.

ScoreCompliance DirectorUS Average

Salary

7.7

Avg. Salary $103,517

Avg. Salary $59,228

Diversity

3.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.66%

Asian 8.59%

Black or African American 7.75%

Hispanic or Latino 13.01%

Unknown 4.71%

White 65.27%

Gender

female 46.12%

male 53.88%

Age - 47

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 47

Stress level

8.5

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.9

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.2

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a compliance director

Explore compliance director education requirements

Most common compliance director degrees

Bachelor's

63.0 %

Master's

16.2 %

Associate

9.6 %

Start to develop specific compliance director skills

Skills	Percentages
Compliance Program	8.12%
Oversight	8.08%
Ethics	7.58%
Risk Management	6.33%
Compliance Issues	5.49%

Complete relevant compliance director training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New compliance directors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a compliance director based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real compliance director resumes.

Gain additional compliance director certifications

Compliance director certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific compliance director certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for compliance directors include Healthcare Research Compliance Certification (CHRC) and Certified Professional - Human Resource (IPMA-CP).

More About Certifications

Research compliance director duties and responsibilities

Manage monthly FINRA registration fee allocations and departmental expenses.
Manage Sarbanes-Oxley financial reporting and CAMP+ coverage, and certification process.
Develop strategy to integrate acquired/new operations to achieve company ethics & compliance standards.
Manage senior and junior surveillance/investigation analysts responsible for conducting AML surveillance and investigations.

Get compliance director experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a compliance director. The most common roles before becoming a compliance director include compliance manager, manager team lead and director.

Prepare your compliance director resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your compliance director resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a compliance director resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable compliance director resume templates

Build a professional compliance director resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your compliance director resume.