Compliance director vs regulatory affairs manager

The differences between compliance directors and regulatory affairs managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a compliance director and a regulatory affairs manager. Additionally, a regulatory affairs manager has an average salary of $117,714, which is higher than the $103,517 average annual salary of a compliance director.

The top three skills for a compliance director include compliance program, oversight and ethics. The most important skills for a regulatory affairs manager are regulatory affairs, FDA, and medical devices.

Compliance director vs regulatory affairs manager overview

	Compliance Director	Regulatory Affairs Manager
Yearly salary	$103,517	$117,714
Hourly rate	$49.77	$56.59
Growth rate	-	-
Number of jobs	20,942	12,569
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 64%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	4	4

What does a compliance director do?

Compliance Directors oversee the adherence of different business units to company policies. They are considered experts on the different processes, policies, and regulatory systems that govern the business's operations, be it internal or external. They also keep themselves updated on the different external regulations and compliance procedures from governing bodies. This helps them ensure that the company is following the current guidelines. Compliance Directors have a say in the different internal company policies while overseeing the compliance to finance, human resources, and other related procedures.

What does a regulatory affairs manager do?

A regulatory affairs manager is in charge of ensuring that all aspects of a company adhere to the rules and regulations set by regulatory agencies. Their responsibilities revolve around devising regulation compliance strategies, creating training and orientation programs to inform the staff on the policies and standards, conducting internal inspections and information drives, and keeping abreast with the latest rules and regulations. Moreover, a regulatory affairs manager is in charge of processing and submitting necessary documents to government agencies, ensuring compliance and timeliness.

Compliance director vs regulatory affairs manager salary

Compliance directors and regulatory affairs managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Compliance Director	Regulatory Affairs Manager
Average salary	$103,517	$117,714
Salary range	Between $72,000 And $147,000	Between $78,000 And $177,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Rafael, CA
Highest paying state	California	Vermont
Best paying company	McKinsey & Company Inc	McKinsey & Company Inc
Best paying industry	Finance	-

Differences between compliance director and regulatory affairs manager education

There are a few differences between a compliance director and a regulatory affairs manager in terms of educational background:

	Compliance Director	Regulatory Affairs Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 64%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Stanford University	University of Southern California

Compliance director vs regulatory affairs manager demographics

Here are the differences between compliance directors' and regulatory affairs managers' demographics:

	Compliance Director	Regulatory Affairs Manager
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 53.9% Female, 46.1%	Male, 45.8% Female, 54.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.8% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 13.0% Asian, 8.6% White, 65.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 7.7% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.8% Asian, 9.0% White, 65.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	10%	10%

Differences between compliance director and regulatory affairs manager duties and responsibilities

Compliance director example 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.
Develop, manage and implement program governance and structure to ensure major programs are strategically align with organizational objectives.
Provide explanations to families on Medicare and Medicaid billing and benefits.

Regulatory affairs manager example responsibilities.

Implement and achieve ISO 9001 and ISO 13485 registrations for the first time for the company.
Manage team which monitor the clinics' daily, weekly and monthly water and equipment maintenance requirements to meet CMS regulations.
Manage departmental and special project economics, including oversight of budgeting, expense management, and reimbursement billing.
Coordinate, oversee and audit record-keeping requirements of DEA, OSHA, D.O.T.
Conduct a comprehensive risk assessment of health plan with results from CMS audit as benchmark.
Perform all AML functions on new and existing customers, including OFAC checks and CIP.

Compliance director vs regulatory affairs manager skills

Common compliance director skills

Compliance Program, 8%
Oversight, 8%
Ethics, 8%
Risk Management, 6%
Compliance Issues, 5%
Risk Assessments, 4%

Common regulatory affairs manager skills

Regulatory Affairs, 11%
FDA, 8%
Medical Devices, 6%
Regulatory Submissions, 5%
Regulatory Agencies, 5%
Global Regulatory, 5%

Compliance Director vs. similar jobs

Compliance Director related careers

Compliance Director related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Executive Management Industry
Compliance Director
Compliance Director vs Regulatory Affairs Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse executive management jobs