Regulatory affairs specialist vs compliance auditor

The differences between regulatory affairs specialists and compliance auditors 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 $64,606 average annual salary of a compliance auditor.

The top three skills for a regulatory affairs specialist include regulatory affairs, FDA and regulatory agencies. The most important skills for a compliance auditor are audit findings, compliance audits, and audit reports.

Regulatory affairs specialist vs compliance auditor overview

	Regulatory Affairs Specialist	Compliance Auditor
Yearly salary	$70,060	$64,606
Hourly rate	$33.68	$31.06
Growth rate	-	6%
Number of jobs	9,915	33,704
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 66%	Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Average age	46	44
Years of experience	4	-

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.

What does a compliance auditor do?

A compliance auditor is responsible for reviewing the company's policies and procedures, ensuring the organization's adherence to state and federal regulations. Compliance auditors inspect the operations of each department, adjusting internal guidelines as needed. They also inspect the condition of all facilities, including tools and equipment, network systems, and business operations. A compliance auditor mitigates risks by analyzing the operational processes and conducting a risk assessment study to prevent compliance issues that may pose a negative effect on the company's performance and stability.

Regulatory affairs specialist vs compliance auditor salary

Regulatory affairs specialists and compliance auditors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Regulatory Affairs Specialist	Compliance Auditor
Average salary	$70,060	$64,606
Salary range	Between $49,000 And $99,000	Between $45,000 And $92,000
Highest paying City	Santa Rosa, CA	New York, NY
Highest paying state	California	New Jersey
Best paying company	Meta	PayPal
Best paying industry	-	Finance

Differences between regulatory affairs specialist and compliance auditor education

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

	Regulatory Affairs Specialist	Compliance Auditor
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 66%	Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Stanford University	University of Pennsylvania

Regulatory affairs specialist vs compliance auditor demographics

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

	Regulatory Affairs Specialist	Compliance Auditor
Average age	46	44
Gender ratio	Male, 37.5% Female, 62.5%	Male, 38.9% Female, 61.1%
Race ratio	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%	Black or African American, 8.5% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.8% Asian, 12.2% White, 64.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	12%	7%

Differences between regulatory affairs specialist and compliance auditor duties and responsibilities

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 auditor example responsibilities.

Work with department analyst to create measurement tools and methods for communicating results and managing QA analysis in compiling/reporting results.
Identify any issues that do not conform to CFR, ICH guidelines and corporate expectations.
Research HIPAA information from CMS website in order to determine correct revisions for policies and procedures and develop company-wide communications.
Coordinate team meetings, maintain calendars, support team with PowerPoint presentations.
Prepare and perform in-house presentations (both in person and using JoinMe) using PowerPoint.
Evaluate the level of compliance with company policy, GAAP, contract requirements and applicable rules and regulations.

Regulatory affairs specialist vs compliance auditor skills

Common regulatory affairs specialist skills

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

Common compliance auditor skills

Audit Findings, 7%
Compliance Audits, 7%
Audit Reports, 6%
Audit Results, 4%
CPT, 4%
Compliance Program, 4%

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Regulatory Affairs Specialist vs Compliance Auditor

Updated January 8, 2025

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