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Compliance specialist vs compliance director

The differences between compliance specialists and compliance directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a compliance director has an average salary of $103,517, which is higher than the $57,330 average annual salary of a compliance specialist.

The top three skills for a compliance specialist include patients, regulatory compliance and strong analytical. The most important skills for a compliance director are compliance program, oversight, and ethics.

Compliance specialist vs compliance director overview

Compliance SpecialistCompliance Director
Yearly salary$57,330$103,517
Hourly rate$27.56$49.77
Growth rate6%-
Number of jobs34,61020,942
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 61%Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Average age4647
Years of experience-4

What does a compliance specialist do?

The role of compliance specialists is to ensure that companies comply with relevant industry standards and regulations. Their duties may vary depending on the industry they work in, such as healthcare or banking. Tasks include reviewing their company's business practices to ensure they follow specific regulations, resolving compliance issues that may arise, and being up-to-date with regulatory changes. As a compliance specialist, you should have industry expertise, in-depth knowledge of regulations, and auditing skills.

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.

Compliance specialist vs compliance director salary

Compliance specialists and compliance directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

Compliance SpecialistCompliance Director
Average salary$57,330$103,517
Salary rangeBetween $38,000 And $85,000Between $72,000 And $147,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateDelawareCalifornia
Best paying companyMetaMcKinsey & Company Inc
Best paying industryPharmaceuticalFinance

Differences between compliance specialist and compliance director education

There are a few differences between a compliance specialist and a compliance director in terms of educational background:

Compliance SpecialistCompliance Director
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 61%Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeHarvard UniversityStanford University

Compliance specialist vs compliance director demographics

Here are the differences between compliance specialists' and compliance directors' demographics:

Compliance SpecialistCompliance Director
Average age4647
Gender ratioMale, 38.4% Female, 61.6%Male, 53.9% Female, 46.1%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 10.9% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 15.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 59.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%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%
LGBT Percentage12%10%

Differences between compliance specialist and compliance director duties and responsibilities

Compliance specialist example responsibilities.

  • Lead bi-weekly Medicaid meetings to maintain effective communication with all staff regarding AHCA updates and notifications.
  • Manage and submit regulatory permit and notification applications to USDA to import, move and release regulate plant materials.
  • Participate in OCC exam preparation and review including research and presentation of documentation to achieve compliance with federal examiner requests.
  • Access the IDX system to obtain patient billing information in order to review Medicare and Medicaid payments.
  • Develop training materials to be used company-wide for regulatory mandate continuing education; create written policy manual for ethics and compliance.
  • Perform SOX control testing and validation.
  • Show more

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.
  • Show more

Compliance specialist vs compliance director skills

Common compliance specialist skills
  • Patients, 9%
  • Regulatory Compliance, 7%
  • Strong Analytical, 5%
  • FDA, 5%
  • Customer Service, 5%
  • PowerPoint, 4%
Common compliance director skills
  • Compliance Program, 8%
  • Oversight, 8%
  • Ethics, 8%
  • Risk Management, 6%
  • Compliance Issues, 5%
  • Risk Assessments, 4%

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