Compliance Officer job description: duties, skills and qualifications.

Core duties

6

O*NET task statements

Preparation

Job Zone 4 of 5

considerable preparation

Typical entry education

Bachelor's degree

BLS 2025–35

Median pay

$80,730

BLS May 2025

Data Government data groups this job as Compliance Officers (O*NET-SOC 13-1041.00). Figures on this page are for that occupation.

1. Warn violators of infractions or penalties. importance 4.4 of 5
2. Evaluate applications, records, or documents to gather information about eligibility or liability issues. importance 4.4 of 5
3. Advise licensees or other individuals or groups concerning licensing, permit, or passport regulations. importance 4.4 of 5
4. Prepare reports of activities, evaluations, recommendations, or decisions. importance 4.3 of 5
5. Report law or regulation violations to appropriate boards or agencies. importance 4.2 of 5
6. Confer with or interview officials, technical or professional specialists, or applicants to obtain information or to clarify facts relevant to licensing decisions. importance 4.1 of 5

Work activities O*NET rates most important here: Getting Information, Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards, Documenting/Recording Information, Processing Information and Communicating with People Outside the Organization.

Also part of the job

Supplemental tasks O*NET lists for this occupation: less central than the core duties above, and not done in every job.

• Issue licenses to individuals meeting standards.
• Collect fees for licenses.
• Administer oral, written, road, or flight tests to license applicants.
• Visit establishments to verify that valid licenses or permits are displayed and that licensing standards are being upheld.
• Score tests and observe equipment operation and control to rate ability of applicants.
• Prepare correspondence to inform concerned parties of licensing decisions or appeals processes.

Knowledge areas: Law and Government, English Language, Customer and Personal Service, Public Safety and Security and Computers and Electronics.

Software O*NET lists for this occupation: Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Access. These are examples O*NET records for the job, not a list of tools every employer uses or a checklist of what you must know.

• Education: BLS lists a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education.
• Experience: BLS lists no work experience in a related occupation as typical to enter.
• Training on the job: BLS lists moderate-term on-the-job training as typical once hired.
• Preparation: O*NET places the job in Job Zone 4 of 5 (considerable preparation). A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations.
• Licenses and certifications: not listed here. A license is a legal requirement set by a state; a certification is a credential from a private or professional body. Rules vary by state and employer, and a missing entry on this page does not mean none is required: check with your state's licensing board.

Job title: Compliance Officer
[Company] · [City, State] · [Full-time or part-time] · [Pay range, where your state requires one]

About the role
[Company] is hiring a Compliance Officer to examine, evaluate, and investigate eligibility for or conformity with laws and regulations governing contract compliance of licenses and permits, and perform other compliance and enforcement inspection and analysis activities not classified elsewhere.
[One sentence on your team and why this role matters.]

What you will do
- Warn violators of infractions or penalties.
- Evaluate applications, records, or documents to gather information about eligibility or liability issues.
- Prepare reports of activities, evaluations, recommendations, or decisions.
- Report law or regulation violations to appropriate boards or agencies.

What we are looking for
- [Education: BLS lists a bachelor's degree as typical for this occupation; set the level this role truly needs]
- [Experience: BLS lists no related work experience as typical to enter; set what this role needs]
- Strength in reading comprehension, speaking and active listening
- Working knowledge of Law and Government and English Language
- [Software your team uses, e.g. Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Office software]
- [Any license or certification your state or company requires]

[Schedule, benefits and how to apply]

Illustrative: every name, employer, school, date and number in these samples is fictional or a bracketed placeholder. Replace each bracket with your own true details; never copy a result you did not achieve.

Not a real job posting. This template is TryHired's illustration built from government occupational data. It is not an opening at any employer, and no employer wrote it.

The median annual wage was $80,730 in May 2025. The median hourly wage was $38.81. BLS estimates about 417,070 jobs in this occupation in the U.S.

BLS projects employment of Compliance Officers to grow 3.8% from 2025 to 2035, with about 32,700 openings a year over that period, including openings to replace workers who leave.

See the full compliance officer salary breakdown by percentile, state and metro.

• Read a real compliance officer posting next to the core duties above. Duties it repeats, such as “Warn violators of infractions or penalties”, tell you what that employer weighs most; anything it adds is specific to that team.
• Tailor your resume to the posting, not to this page: describe only compliance officer work you have actually done, with your own results.
• Prepare a story for each of the top-rated skills (reading comprehension and speaking); compliance officer interview questions turns them into practice questions.