Compliance officer · job description template

Compliance officer job description

The short answer · updated 3 October 2026

A compliance officer job description sets out the role that keeps a business within the rules of its regulator. The core responsibilities are the compliance risk assessment and monitoring programme, advice to the business, policies and training, regulatory change and the regulator relationship, and reporting to the board, which in an FCA firm may mean holding SMF16.

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Job purpose

Start with the rules the role exists to meet. In an FCA-regulated firm, the Handbook requires a permanent and effective compliance function which operates independently; under the Money Laundering Regulations, a business in scope must, where appropriate to its size and nature, appoint a board member or senior manager responsible for its compliance. Name the regulator, the regime and the approved function, if any. For the role itself, see what does a compliance officer do.

Then name the problem the next compliance officer has to solve: a new authorisation, a regulator’s review, a remediation programme, a monitoring plan that exists only on paper, or a business growing into new products. Acas publishes an outline job description template whose headings (the main duties and who the post reports to) suit the role.

Key responsibilities

Order the duties by importance and start each with a verb. A typical compliance officer job description in a regulated firm covers:

carrying out the compliance risk assessment and building the monitoring programme from it, so the riskiest areas are checked most;
monitoring and assessing whether the firm’s policies and procedures work, and following up the actions taken on any gaps, as SYSC 6.1 describes;
advising the people who carry out regulated business on how to comply;
writing and maintaining compliance policies, and training staff on them;
tracking regulatory change and turning it into actions for the business;
managing the relationship with the regulator, including notifications and returns;
running the firm’s Senior Managers and Certification Regime processes: statements of responsibilities, fitness and propriety assessments and conduct rules training;
overseeing complaints handling and the financial promotions sign-off where the firm has one;
working with the MLRO on financial crime controls, or holding that role too where the firm is small;
reporting on compliance to the board or management body, at least annually where SYSC requires it.

Reporting line and scope

The head of compliance reports to the chief executive and the board, sometimes with a line to the chair of the audit or risk committee. Independence is the point of the role: say in the job description that the compliance officer is not involved in the business they monitor. Compliance analysts and monitoring staff report in; in a group, divisional compliance officers report to a chief compliance officer.

In an FCA firm, say whether the role holds the Compliance Oversight Function, SMF16. Every Senior Management Function needs FCA or PRA approval before starting, must have a Statement of Responsibilities, and carries the Duty of Responsibility: the holder can be held accountable for a breach in their area if they did not take reasonable steps to prevent it. Say also whether the role covers the money laundering reporting function, SMF17; our page on the MLRO sets out how the two roles differ.

Skills, experience and qualifications

No single qualification is required by law to be a compliance officer. Anyone stepping into an approved function must be fit and proper and approved before they start. Ask for experience of the regulator, the products and the problem the firm has now.

experience in compliance under the same regulator and regime, at a comparable firm;
a record against the specific problem: an authorisation, a regulatory review, a remediation, a new product launched within the rules;
building a risk-based monitoring programme and reporting its findings to a board;
sound judgement, and the standing to say no to senior people;
drafting policies and training that staff follow;
a recognised qualification where it helps, such as the International Compliance Association’s Diploma in Governance, Risk and Compliance, which it describes as the industry-standard qualification for compliance officers and managers;
for an SMF16 role, the record a regulator will assess for fitness and propriety.

Fractional compliance officer job description

A fractional or part-time compliance officer works a set number of days a week or month, often for a smaller FCA-authorised firm, a fintech or a payments business. The job description names the days, the outcomes expected over the first six to twelve months (a compliance risk assessment done, a monitoring plan running, policies rewritten, a board report the directors understand), what the role owns, and who the business asks on the days they are not there.

Be clear about accountability. The FCA’s guide to the regime for solo-regulated firms says that while a firm may outsource a function, it can’t outsource accountability for this function, so the brief must give the person the authority, access and time the role needs. To hire a compliance officer for set days a week, see our part-time compliance page; for the money laundering seat, see fractional MLRO.

A fractional compliance officer working through their own company may fall within the off-payroll working rules (IR35). Status depends on how the engagement runs in practice, not on the wording of the job description, and a medium or large client makes the determination. Our IR35 guide sets out the tests.

Interim and permanent versions

Interim. An interim compliance officer covers a departure, a regulatory review or a remediation programme, so the job description leads with the situation and the date or event that ends the assignment. Where the seat is an SMF, the FCA’s 12-week rule lets someone cover a temporary or reasonably unforeseen absence for less than 12 consecutive weeks without approval, and longer cover needs the firm to apply for approval. For the head of compliance seat, see part-time chief compliance officer jobs.

Permanent. The permanent version looks further ahead: the compliance framework, the team and the regulatory change coming over several years. When the compliance officer is hired as an employee, the job title or a description of the work goes into the written statement of employment particulars they must have on the first day, so keep the two consistent. See compliance officer jobs for the roles open now.

We recruit fractional, interim, part-time, temporary and permanent executives, and non-executive directors. For a compliance officer brief we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after our five-stage vetting.

A template you can copy

Copy these headings and write one short block under each. Keep pay out of the job description and state it in the offer.

Job title: compliance officer or head of compliance, whether the role is fractional, interim, part-time or permanent, and any approved function it holds (SMF16, SMF17).
Reports to: the chief executive, the board or a chief compliance officer, with any committee line; list who reports to the role.
Purpose: the regulator and regime, and two or three sentences on why the role exists now.
Responsibilities: eight to twelve duties, each starting with a verb, in order of importance.
Requirements: essential and desirable experience, described specifically, and a qualification only where the job needs one.
Terms: full-time or days a week, location, start date (allowing for regulatory approval), fixed term or permanent, and the pay basis (salary or day rate).

Questions people ask

What should a compliance officer job description include?

The job title and type of engagement, the regulator and any approved function, who the role reports to and who reports in, the purpose, the key responsibilities, the experience and skills required, and the terms. Put the regulatory problem the role must solve at the top.

How long should a compliance officer job description be?

Long enough to cover purpose, responsibilities, reporting line, requirements and terms, and short enough to read in a few minutes: one to two pages is usually enough. The detail of the monitoring plan and open regulatory issues belongs in the candidate pack and the interviews.

Does the job description need to mention SMF16?

Yes, if the role holds it. The Compliance Oversight Function is a Senior Management Function, so the holder needs FCA or PRA approval before starting and must have a Statement of Responsibilities; the job description, the statement and the start date should line up. Whether a firm needs an SMF16 depends on its category and permissions.

How is a fractional compliance officer job description different?

It names the days a week or month, the outcomes expected over the first six to twelve months and who the business asks in between, and it makes clear that the firm keeps accountability for the function. See how to hire a compliance officer part of the week.

What does a compliance officer earn?

It depends on the regulator and the sector, the size of the firm, whether the role holds an SMF, qualifications and location. We publish no compliance officer salary figure because we have no sourced one; the listings on compliance officer jobs show pay where the posting states it.

How do I hire a compliance officer?

Work out which regulator and which approved functions apply, how many days a week the work needs, and whether the gap is permanent or temporary; then write the job description around it and allow for approval in the start date. We send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.