Torchora
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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Compliance Manager

💰 $ - $

🎯 Role Definition

The Compliance Manager leads the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of the organization's compliance program to ensure adherence to domestic and international laws, industry regulations, internal policies, and ethical standards. This role owners regulatory risk identification, control design and testing, policy development, employee training, investigations, and regulatory reporting. The Compliance Manager partners with Legal, Risk, Operations, Finance, HR and business leaders to translate regulatory requirements into pragmatic controls and business-aligned processes that reduce regulatory, financial and reputational risk.

Key focus areas: regulatory compliance (AML/KYC, GDPR, data privacy, industry-specific regulations), internal controls and SOX readiness, compliance program governance, monitoring & testing, incident management, regulatory engagement and reporting, compliance training and culture-building.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Compliance Analyst / Compliance Specialist
  • Risk Analyst or Risk Associate
  • Regulatory Affairs Specialist or Paralegal

Advancement To:

  • Senior Compliance Manager / Compliance Lead
  • Director of Compliance / Head of Compliance
  • Chief Compliance Officer (CCO)

Lateral Moves:

  • Risk Manager
  • Privacy Officer / Data Protection Officer
  • Internal Audit Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Lead the development, implementation and maintenance of a risk-based compliance program, including policies, procedures, standards and controls designed to meet regulatory requirements and mitigate operational and regulatory risk.
  • Conduct comprehensive regulatory gap analyses and interpret new and changing laws and regulations (e.g., AML, KYC, OFAC, GDPR, CCPA, SOX, industry-specific rules) to determine business impact and required remediation actions.
  • Design and execute ongoing compliance monitoring and testing programs to assess control effectiveness, identify weaknesses and recommend remediation actions with clear ownership and timelines.
  • Manage complex compliance investigations into potential violations, incidents or complaints; gather evidence, document findings, escalate appropriately and oversee remediation and corrective action plans.
  • Serve as primary liaison with regulators and external auditors for compliance examinations, inquiries and audits; prepare responses, manage deliverables and coordinate internal stakeholders.
  • Oversee transaction and customer due diligence programs (KYC/EDD) and anti-money laundering controls; lead suspicious activity monitoring, SAR filing evaluation and escalation.
  • Develop and maintain enterprise-wide compliance policies, playbooks and standard operating procedures that are pragmatic, auditable and aligned with business processes.
  • Implement and manage a centralized compliance training and awareness program for employees, contractors and third parties; measure participation and training effectiveness.
  • Lead third-party/vendor compliance risk assessments and due diligence, including contractual compliance clauses, remediation requirements and ongoing monitoring for critical suppliers.
  • Partner with Legal to review and advise on contracts, product launches, marketing claims and business initiatives to ensure regulatory compliance and mitigate legal exposure.
  • Build, maintain and report on key compliance KPIs and metrics to senior leadership and the board; provide clear dashboards and written executive summaries highlighting trends and risk hotspots.
  • Coordinate and support corporate governance processes including board committees, compliance certifications, attestations and internal control frameworks (including SOX where applicable).
  • Drive remediation programs by prioritizing findings, allocating resources, tracking remediation progress and validating closure through retesting and evidence collection.
  • Provide proactive regulatory horizon scanning and business advisories to product, operations and executive teams to ensure compliance is embedded in strategic decisions and product development.
  • Oversee privacy and data protection compliance activities, including data mapping, DPIAs, cross-border data transfers and breach response coordination with IT and Legal.
  • Establish and administer a robust compliance reporting and whistleblower / speak-up channel; manage allegations, protect confidentiality and ensure fair investigations and remediation.
  • Coach, mentor and manage compliance team members, set performance objectives and build team capabilities in monitoring, investigations and regulatory interpretation.
  • Integrate compliance into change management for new systems, M&A activity, product changes and market entries, providing risk assessments and compliance-by-design guidance.
  • Manage the selection, configuration and governance of compliance technology and GRC tools (MetricStream, RSA Archer, ServiceNow GRC or similar) to automate monitoring, case management and reporting.
  • Prepare and present clear, actionable compliance reports and board-level briefings that translate complex regulatory topics into business implications and recommended actions.
  • Ensure consistent application of company policies across geographies, coordinate multi-jurisdictional compliance efforts and reconcile local regulatory nuances with global standards.
  • Support financial crime prevention efforts by coordinating with fraud teams, transaction monitoring, sanctions screening, and ensuring timely updates to watchlists and transaction rules.
  • Lead crisis response and regulatory remediation projects after compliance incidents, ensuring transparent communications, rapid root-cause analysis, and sustainable remedial design.
  • Maintain professional relationships with industry groups and external advisors to benchmark practices, stay current on regulatory trends and influence policy positions where appropriate.
  • Drive continuous improvement initiatives to increase efficiency of compliance monitoring, reduce false positives in alerts, and optimize resource allocation through data-driven approaches.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc regulatory data requests and produce exploratory compliance analytics to inform monitoring program improvements.
  • Contribute to the organization's compliance and governance strategy and roadmap, aligning with enterprise risk appetite and business objectives.
  • Collaborate with business units, IT and data teams to translate compliance requirements into technical and operational specifications for product and platform changes.
  • Participate in project governance forums and change-control processes to ensure timely compliance sign-off for system releases and business initiatives.
  • Assist with integration of compliance considerations into vendor onboarding and procurement processes, including review of SLAs and third-party risk profiles.
  • Provide subject matter expertise for cross-functional working groups on regulatory topics such as sanctions, privacy, consumer protection and financial crime.
  • Maintain documentation repositories and evidence libraries to support audit trails and regulator engagements.
  • Champion a culture of ethics and compliance through regular communications, leadership engagement and visible support for speak-up mechanisms.
  • Support periodic tabletop exercises and incident response simulations related to data breaches, regulatory findings or operational disruptions.
  • Help evaluate and onboard compliance technology vendors, participating in RFPs and pilot programs to improve monitoring, case management and reporting capabilities.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Deep regulatory knowledge: AML/KYC, OFAC/sanctions, Anti-Bribery & Corruption (ABAC), GDPR/CCPA data privacy, consumer protection laws and industry-specific regulations.
  • Compliance program design and governance: policy frameworks, control matrices, escalation frameworks and compliance charters.
  • Risk assessment & control testing: building risk registers, performing control design and operating effectiveness testing, remediation tracking.
  • Monitoring & analytics: transaction monitoring methodologies, alert tuning, SAR analysis, and using data analytics to detect anomalies.
  • Internal audit & external regulatory exam readiness: preparing workpapers, coordinating exams, responding to regulatory inquiries and audit remediation.
  • SOX and financial controls familiarity: understanding internal controls over financial reporting and coordinating SOX testing where applicable.
  • Investigations & case management: root cause analysis, evidence collection, interviewing techniques and disciplinary action frameworks.
  • Privacy and data protection: data mapping, DPIAs, breach response coordination and cross-border transfer mechanisms.
  • Contract and third-party compliance review: drafting and negotiating compliance clauses, conducting vendor due diligence and remediation oversight.
  • GRC and compliance tools: experience with RSA Archer, MetricStream, ServiceNow GRC, NICE Actimize, NICE, or other compliance/case management platforms.
  • Regulatory reporting & filings: drafting regulatory submissions, SAR filings, attestations and compliance certifications.
  • Business process documentation and SOP creation: writing clear, auditable procedures and operating guidelines.
  • Data literacy: ability to work with datasets, understand SQL queries or analytics outputs (basic proficiency) and translate insights for compliance use cases.
  • Project management: running remediation projects, cross-functional initiatives, and change programs to completion on time and on budget.
  • Technology risk awareness: understanding of cloud, IAM, encryption and secure data handling relevant to compliance controls.

Soft Skills

  • Exceptional written and verbal communication; ability to present complex regulatory topics succinctly to executives and boards.
  • Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills to drive change across product, ops and legal teams.
  • Critical thinking and analytical mindset to evaluate ambiguous regulatory requirements and determine practical business solutions.
  • High integrity, discretion and ability to handle confidential or sensitive matters with professionalism.
  • Leadership and people management: coaching, mentoring and building a high-performing compliance team.
  • Attention to detail and high standards for documentation and audit trails.
  • Problem-solving orientation and ability to prioritize competing regulatory demands under tight deadlines.
  • Resilience and adaptability in a rapidly changing regulatory and business environment.
  • Collaborative team-player who can build partnerships across distributed global teams.
  • Business acumen: ability to align compliance objectives with commercial strategies and to propose risk-adjusted solutions.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in Law, Finance, Business Administration, Accounting, Criminal Justice, Information Security, or a related field.

Preferred Education:

  • Master's degree (LLM, MBA, MPA) or Juris Doctor (JD) for regulated industries.
  • Relevant professional certifications (CCEP, CAMS, CRCM, CIPM, CIPP/E, CRISC, CISSP for privacy/security crossover).

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Law
  • Finance or Accounting
  • Business Administration
  • Risk Management
  • Information Security / Cybersecurity
  • Criminal Justice / Forensic Accounting

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 5–10+ years of progressive compliance, regulatory, audit or risk experience; medium-sized and enterprise organizations often require 7+ years.

Preferred:

  • 5+ years in a compliance role within the industry (e.g., financial services, fintech, healthcare, pharma, energy) with demonstrable experience managing regulatory programs.
  • Prior experience handling AML/KYC programs, privacy/data protection, sanctions screening, or SOX/internal controls.
  • Experience managing complex investigations, coordinating regulatory exams and leading cross-functional remediation programs.
  • Track record of implementing or administering GRC platforms and automating monitoring or case management workflows.
  • Experience supervising a small compliance team and partnering with senior leadership and boards on compliance matters.
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