How to hire compliance officers

Job description template

Copy it, fill in the brackets, and remove anything that does not fit your job. Keep only must-haves you would really turn someone away for.

[Job title] at [Company name]
[City, State] · [Full-time / Part-time] · [Pay range]

About the role
[Two or three sentences about your team, the work and why it matters.]

What you will do
• Advise licensees or other individuals or groups concerning licensing, permit, or passport regulations.
• Confer with or interview officials, technical or professional specialists, or applicants to obtain information or to clarify facts relevant to licensing decisions.
• Determine the nature of code violations and actions to be taken, and issue written notices of violation, participating in enforcement hearings, as necessary.
• Evaluate applications, records, or documents to gather information about eligibility or liability issues.
• Prepare reports of activities, evaluations, recommendations, or decisions.
• Prepare, organize, and maintain inspection records.
• Report law or regulation violations to appropriate boards or agencies.
• Warn violators of infractions or penalties.

What you bring
• [Required license, certification or years of experience, if any]
• [Education, only if you truly need it. Typical to start in this job: Bachelor's degree]
• Strong active listening, critical thinking, reading comprehension, speaking, writing and active learning skills
• Working knowledge of English Language, medicine and dentistry, law and government and customer and personal service
• [Anything else you would really turn someone away for]

Pay and benefits
[Pay range]. For reference, the U.S. median for this job is $38.81 an hour ($80,730 a year).
[Benefits, schedule and anything else candidates should know.]

How to apply
[Apply on JAI Bot. Every applicant hears back.]

Copy the template Check your finished job post

Interview questions for compliance officers

Ask every candidate the same questions, in the same order, and write down what they say. Questions about past work show what someone has actually done.

1. Tell me about a time you had to advise licensees or other individuals or groups concerning licensing, permit, or passport regulations. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
2. Tell me about a time you had to confer with or interview officials, technical or professional specialists, or applicants to obtain information or to clarify facts relevant to licensing decisions. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
3. Tell me about a time you had to determine the nature of code violations and actions to be taken, and issue written notices of violation, participating in enforcement hearings, as necessary. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
4. Tell me about a time you had to evaluate applications, records, or documents to gather information about eligibility or liability issues. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
5. Tell me about a time you had to understand a request or problem that was explained poorly. How did you make sure you got it right?
6. Describe a decision at work where the obvious answer was wrong. How did you work out the better choice?
7. Tell me about written instructions, a policy or a manual you had to follow closely. How did you make sure you followed it correctly?
8. Why this job, and why now? What would make you stay here for the long term?

Good answers name a real situation, what the person did themselves and what happened. Avoid questions about age, family plans, religion, health, national origin or anything else unrelated to the job.

What compliance officers do

• Advise licensees or other individuals or groups concerning licensing, permit, or passport regulations.
• Confer with or interview officials, technical or professional specialists, or applicants to obtain information or to clarify facts relevant to licensing decisions.
• Determine the nature of code violations and actions to be taken, and issue written notices of violation, participating in enforcement hearings, as necessary.
• Evaluate applications, records, or documents to gather information about eligibility or liability issues.
• Prepare reports of activities, evaluations, recommendations, or decisions.
• Prepare, organize, and maintain inspection records.
• Report law or regulation violations to appropriate boards or agencies.
• Warn violators of infractions or penalties.

Skills that matter most

Active ListeningCritical ThinkingReading ComprehensionSpeakingWritingActive LearningEnglish LanguageMedicine and DentistryLaw and GovernmentCustomer and Personal Service

Education, experience and outlook for compliance officers

• Typical education to start: Bachelor's degree (BLS)
• Training on the job: Moderate-term on-the-job training (BLS)
• Job outlook: +3.8% over ten years, about as fast as average · about 32,700 openings a year (BLS)

What to pay compliance officers

Pay depends a lot on where the job is. Highest and lowest median yearly pay by state:

See compliance officers pay in every state

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Job duties and skills: O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license; O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. JAI Bot has modified this information; USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. Pay: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, May 2025. Interview questions and the job description template: JAI Bot, based on the duties and skills above.