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Role hub · Regulatory Affairs Specialists

Regulatory Affairs Specialist: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.

The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.

BLS does not publish pay for regulatory affairs specialists separately. Every pay figure on this page is for the BLS occupation “Compliance Officers” (SOC 13-1041), which includes regulatory affairs specialists and other jobs; it is not a figure for regulatory affairs specialists alone.

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Updated Nov 2, 2026 · Data: BLS OEWS May 2025 · O*NET 31.0
Pay ladder · select a percentile
Median percentile pay

Half of workers in the BLS occupation “Compliance Officers” earn more than this and half earn less.

Annual
$80,730
Hourly
$38.81
Source
BLS May 2025
Quick answer

Regulatory Affairs Specialists coordinate and document internal regulatory processes, such as internal audits, inspections, license renewals, or registrations. The median pay is $80,730 a year ($38.81 an hour) (BLS, May 2025). The most commonly reported education requirement is a bachelor's degree (80% of workers surveyed by O*NET).

Median pay
$80,730
BLS May 2025
Employed in the U.S.
417,070
BLS May 2025
Preparation
Job Zone 4 of 5
considerable preparation
Most common education
Bachelor's Degree
80% of workers
Key facts

Regulatory Affairs Specialists at a glance

  • Workers in the BLS occupation “Compliance Officers” (which includes regulatory affairs specialists) in the United States earned a median annual wage of $80,730 in May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

    Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025

  • In its 2025–35 employment projections, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education for regulatory affairs specialists in the United States.

    Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35

  • BLS projects employment of regulatory affairs specialists in the United States to grow 3.8% from 2025 to 2035, with about 32,700 openings a year on average, including replacement openings.

    Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35

  • BLS estimates that 64.4% of compliance officers in the United States had the ability to telework in 2025, a preliminary estimate of whether the job allows it, not a count of remote jobs.

    Source: BLS Occupational Requirements Survey, 2025 preliminary

Explore the role

Every page for Regulatory Affairs Specialists

SalaryCompliance Officers salary

BLS pay data for this occupation, by state and percentile.

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The work

What regulatory affairs specialists do day to day

Data Core tasks rated most important by workers in the role (O*NET).

  1. Coordinate, prepare, or review regulatory submissions for domestic or international projects.
  2. Communicate with regulatory agencies regarding pre-submission strategies, potential regulatory pathways, compliance test requirements, or clarification and follow-up of submissions under review.
  3. Maintain current knowledge base of existing and emerging regulations, standards, or guidance documents.
  4. Review adverse drug reactions and file all related reports in accordance with regulatory agency guidelines.
  5. Coordinate efforts associated with the preparation of regulatory documents or submissions.
  6. Prepare or direct the preparation of additional information or responses as requested by regulatory agencies.
  7. Determine the types of regulatory submissions or internal documentation that are required in situations such as proposed device changes or labeling changes.
  8. Prepare or maintain technical files as necessary to obtain and sustain product approval.
Job requirements

What the job requires

Data BLS figures for compliance officers (SOC 13-1041), 2025 preliminary BLS Occupational Requirements Survey. This TryHired page covers a specialty within that occupation; the figures describe the whole occupation.

Telework available
64.4%
of workers had the ability to telework
Workday sitting
85.0%
mean share of the day required to sit
Most common strength level
Sedentary
84.0% of workers
Can pause work
97.8%
of workers could take short, unscheduled breaks
Self-paced workload
57.5%
of workers set their own workload
Employer-changed schedules
10.4%
of workers had schedules changed by the employer week to week

On TryHired lists: Remote careers · Desk jobs.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Requirements Survey. Estimates are preliminary; ranges are shown as published.

Where this career works

Industries that employ it

Data Share of all regulatory affairs specialist jobs in each industry, 2025 (BLS Employment Matrix). Figures cover all compliance officers (SOC 13-1041), the broader occupation.

  1. Government, excluding state and local education and hospitals35.1% of all jobs in this occupation · -1.0% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $86,850
  2. Professional, scientific, and technical services9.5% of all jobs in this occupation · +12.5% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $100,520
  3. Insurance carriers and related activities5.6% of all jobs in this occupation · +6.0% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $83,630
  4. Management of companies and enterprises5.0% of all jobs in this occupation · +4.6% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $96,620
  5. Administrative and support services4.7% of all jobs in this occupation · +3.0% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $72,690
  6. Credit intermediation and related activities4.6% of all jobs in this occupation · +6.7% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $94,090

Sources: BLS 2025–35 National Employment Matrix (share of the occupation's jobs, projected change) and BLS OEWS May 2025 industry estimates (mean wage). Different industry estimates are not a pay forecast for any person.

Skills that matter

Ranked by importance to the job

Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.

Judgment and Decision MakingcoreReading ComprehensioncoreActive ListeningcoreWritingSpeakingCritical ThinkingComplex Problem SolvingSystems AnalysisSystems Evaluation

Knowledge areas: English Language, Law and Government, Administration and Management, Administrative, Computers and Electronics.

Tools and technology

Software regulatory affairs specialists use

Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.

  • Microsoft VisioProcess mapping and design softwareHot technology
  • Analyse-itAnalytical or scientific software
  • DataVisionData base reporting software
  • Healthcare common procedure coding system HCPCSMedical software
  • Human resource management software HRMSHuman resources software
  • LexisNexisInformation retrieval or search software
  • McAfeeTransaction security and virus protection software
  • Medical procedure coding softwareMedical software
  • NortonLifeLock cybersecurity softwareTransaction security and virus protection software
  • Relational database management softwareData base management system software
  • Statistical softwareAnalytical or scientific software
  • Microsoft ExcelSpreadsheet softwareIn demand

Also called: Regulatory Affair Specialist, Drug Regulatory Affairs Specialist, QA Specialist (Quality Assurance Specialist), RA Analyst (Regulatory Affairs Analyst), RA Associate (Regulatory Affairs Associate), RA Consultant (Regulatory Affairs Consultant), RA Strategist (Regulatory Affairs Strategist).

Method

How this page is built

Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the cosine similarity of the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level and subtract the average across all occupations, then compare the direction of the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 means unrelated or opposite (negative values are shown as 0). Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.

What this page can't tell you
  • How a specific employer defines the job.
  • Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
  • Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
Sources
  1. O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
  2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).

How TryHired builds this data: sources, methods and downloads. Spotted an error? Report a correction.