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The differences between compliance officers and lead auditors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a lead auditor has an average salary of $85,352, which is higher than the $64,058 average annual salary of a compliance officer.
The top three skills for a compliance officer include oversight, risk management and compliance program. The most important skills for a lead auditor are ISO, medicare, and management system.
| Compliance Officer | Lead Auditor | |
| Yearly salary | $64,058 | $85,352 |
| Hourly rate | $30.80 | $41.03 |
| Growth rate | - | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 69,161 | 20,504 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 58% |
| Average age | 46 | 44 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
A compliance officer is responsible for monitoring company operations, ensuring that all the processes and members are adhering to the regulatory and procedural policies set by the company. Compliance officers' duties also include proposing compliance programs, reviewing and updating existing company policies with management approval, taking immediate actions for policy violations, and mitigating risks. A compliance officer must have extensive knowledge of legal procedures and regulatory standards to manage and evaluate problems, providing meaningful solutions, and keep the company's positive reputation.
Lead auditors are professionals who are responsible for providing leadership and coordinating work schedules to a team of audit experts within an organization. These lead auditors are required to prepare audit plans and conduct team meetings before conducting internal or external audits at the end of the quarter or year. They must conduct audits to provide reviews to the management about the effectiveness of the overall quality system. Lead auditors must also develop action plans to improve the financial reporting systems of the organization.
Compliance officers and lead auditors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Compliance Officer | Lead Auditor | |
| Average salary | $64,058 | $85,352 |
| Salary range | Between $42,000 And $96,000 | Between $62,000 And $115,000 |
| Highest paying City | Wilmington, DE | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | Delaware | New York |
| Best paying company | Meta | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Professional |
There are a few differences between a compliance officer and a lead auditor in terms of educational background:
| Compliance Officer | Lead Auditor | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 58% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Harvard University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between compliance officers' and lead auditors' demographics:
| Compliance Officer | Lead Auditor | |
| Average age | 46 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 48.8% Female, 51.2% | Male, 57.9% Female, 42.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 15.9% Asian, 8.3% White, 59.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | Black or African American, 8.7% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.0% Asian, 12.2% White, 63.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 12% | 7% |