Compliance specialist vs regulatory affairs specialist

The differences between compliance specialists and regulatory affairs specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a regulatory affairs specialist has an average salary of $70,060, 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 regulatory affairs specialist are regulatory affairs, FDA, and regulatory agencies.

Compliance specialist vs regulatory affairs specialist overview

	Compliance Specialist	Regulatory Affairs Specialist
Yearly salary	$57,330	$70,060
Hourly rate	$27.56	$33.68
Growth rate	6%	-
Number of jobs	34,610	9,915
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 61%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Average age	46	46
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 regulatory affairs specialist do?

A regulatory affairs specialist assists in securing and maintaining government approval for nutritional products, drugs, medical devices, and related supplies. They are often employed by medical, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology companies. They may also work in the government or law. Typically, they work on document preparation, file maintenance, information management, and coordination of tasks across various departments. They expanded their duties and responsibilities as a result of company acquisitions and restructuring, worldwide globalization of markets, and constantly evolving regulations.

Compliance specialist vs regulatory affairs specialist salary

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

	Compliance Specialist	Regulatory Affairs Specialist
Average salary	$57,330	$70,060
Salary range	Between $38,000 And $85,000	Between $49,000 And $99,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Santa Rosa, CA
Highest paying state	Delaware	California
Best paying company	Meta	Meta
Best paying industry	Pharmaceutical	-

Differences between compliance specialist and regulatory affairs specialist education

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

	Compliance Specialist	Regulatory Affairs Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 61%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Harvard University	Stanford University

Compliance specialist vs regulatory affairs specialist demographics

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

	Compliance Specialist	Regulatory Affairs Specialist
Average age	46	46
Gender ratio	Male, 38.4% Female, 61.6%	Male, 37.5% Female, 62.5%
Race ratio	Black 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, 10.7% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 15.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 60.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	12%	12%

Differences between compliance specialist and regulatory affairs specialist 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.

Regulatory affairs specialist example responsibilities.

Gather, evaluating, organizing, managing and collating information in a variety of formats.
Manage CRO (regulatory) in support of the company's approve product in Europe.
Manage and submit electronic EPA product registrations.
Manage and submit regulatory permit and notification applications to USDA to import, move and release regulate plant materials.
Support complaint handling process and screening, ensure FDA 21 CFR compliance.
Close complaints receive from external customers in compliance with FDA, ISO, QSR and other regulatory guidelines.

Compliance specialist vs regulatory affairs specialist skills

Common compliance specialist skills

Patients, 9%
Regulatory Compliance, 7%
Strong Analytical, 5%
FDA, 5%
Customer Service, 5%
PowerPoint, 4%

Common regulatory affairs specialist skills

Regulatory Affairs, 10%
FDA, 8%
Regulatory Agencies, 7%
Medical Devices, 6%
Regulatory Compliance, 5%
Regulatory Submissions, 5%

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Compliance Specialist
Compliance Specialist vs Regulatory Affairs Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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