Regulatory affairs managers and compliance managers keep organizations and products on the right side of rules and requirements, so that the public good is protected. Much of their work involves reviewing data, writing reports and applications, and communicating with teams whether it’s to comply with laws concerning labor, advertising, protecting the environment, consumer privacy, or public safety and health. These managers provide guidance to departments and project teams all the way from the design phase through development and marketing of the final product. Staying on track with regulations takes multiple checks and balances, including managing audits and inspections by regulatory groups such as the Food and Drug Administration, Consumer Product Safety Commission, and others. If a product has a flaw, these compliance professionals oversee the product recall. In order to enter the field, a bachelor’s degree related to the industry is a must, along with several years of job experience. Keeping up to date on new regulations and rules is expected. Typical work settings for these managers are in industries with substantial regulatory obligations, including medical equipment manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, packaging, utilities, financial services, and chemical manufacturing. A typical work week is 40 hours plus.
What they do:
Plan, direct, or coordinate production activities of an organization to ensure compliance with regulations and standard operating procedures.
On the job, you would:
Direct the preparation and submission of regulatory agency applications, reports, or correspondence.
Review all regulatory agency submission materials to ensure timeliness, accuracy, comprehensiveness, or compliance with regulatory standards.
Provide regulatory guidance to departments or development project teams regarding design, development, evaluation, or marketing of products.
Arts and Humanities
English language
Safety and Government
law and government
Health
medicine and dentistry
Business
management
Basic Skills
reading work related information
talking to others
People and Technology Systems
thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one
figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it
Problem Solving
noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it
Verbal
read and understand what is written
communicate by speaking
Ideas and Logic
notice when problems happen
use rules to solve problems
People interested in this work like activities that include leading, making decisions, and business.
They do well at jobs that need:
Integrity
Attention to Detail
Dependability
Initiative
Leadership
Stress Tolerance
You might use software like this on the job:
Document management software
Adlib Express
Adobe Systems Adobe Acrobat
Compliance software
MediRegs Regulation and Reimbursement Suite
Thomson Reuters Liquent InSight Suite
Data base user interface and query software
Microsoft Access
Structured query language SQL
bachelor's degree or master's degree usually needed
Get started on your career:
New job opportunities are very likely in the future.
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