Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Legal and Regulatory Compliance Advisor

🎯 Role Definition

We are seeking an experienced Legal and Regulatory Compliance Advisor to design, maintain, and continuously improve a proactive compliance program that aligns legal requirements with business objectives. This role provides pragmatic legal guidance to operational teams, interprets evolving regulation, manages regulatory relationships, conducts risk assessments, leads investigations and audit remediation, and helps senior leadership make informed decisions to mitigate legal and regulatory risk across the enterprise.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Compliance Analyst / Compliance Coordinator with 2–4 years’ experience
In-house Counsel or Legal Counsel with regulatory exposure
Risk Analyst or Internal Auditor who has worked on compliance projects

Advancement To:

Senior Compliance Manager / Head of Compliance
Director of Regulatory Affairs
Chief Compliance Officer or General Counsel

Lateral Moves:

Data Privacy Officer / Privacy Counsel (CIPP, GDPR focus)
Regulatory Affairs Manager (industry-specific)
Internal Audit or Enterprise Risk Management lead

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Develop, implement and maintain a comprehensive compliance program that aligns company policies with applicable laws, regulations and industry standards (including but not limited to AML/KYC, GDPR/CCPA, FCPA/anti-bribery, sanctions and sector-specific regulation).
Lead continuous regulatory monitoring and horizon scanning to identify changes in laws, guidance and enforcement trends; translate those changes into practical obligations and actionable implementation plans.
Draft, review and update internal compliance policies, standard operating procedures (SOPs), codes of conduct and employee guidance to ensure clarity, legal defensibility and operational feasibility.
Conduct enterprise-wide compliance risk assessments and gap analyses that quantify risk exposure, prioritize remediation, and recommend control enhancements.
Design and manage a structured compliance risk register and remediation program with clear owners, milestones, KPIs and reporting to senior management and the board.
Oversee and execute internal investigations into alleged misconduct, regulatory breaches, fraud or policy violations; prepare factual investigation reports and propose corrective actions.
Coordinate, support and respond to external regulatory examinations, inspections and information requests, preparing responses and acting as primary liaison with regulators and examiners.
Lead or support compliance-related aspects of M&A, divestitures and joint ventures, performing regulatory due diligence, integration planning and post-closing compliance harmonization.
Develop, deliver and maintain role-specific compliance training, onboarding modules and awareness campaigns to drive a strong culture of compliance and ethical behavior at all levels of the organization.
Design and maintain third-party compliance programs including due diligence, risk-based onboarding, contract terms, monitoring and remediation processes for vendors, agents and partners.
Implement and maintain sanctions screening, transaction monitoring and watchlist management processes to ensure compliance with anti-money laundering and export control obligations.
Review commercial contracts and business arrangements to identify regulatory, licensing and compliance risks; negotiate appropriate compliance clauses and escalation mechanisms with legal and business stakeholders.
Establish and monitor compliance metrics, dashboards and reporting frameworks to provide senior leadership and the board with timely, data-driven insight into compliance posture and trends.
Build and maintain cross-functional relationships with Legal, Finance, HR, IT, Audit and business units to integrate compliance into business processes and technology implementations.
Advise on privacy and data protection matters, oversee data mapping and DPIA processes, and ensure technical and organizational measures meet GDPR and CCPA requirements.
Manage remediation plans following audit or regulatory findings, coordinating cross-functional teams to implement corrective controls and validate effectiveness.
Design and maintain whistleblower/ethics reporting channels, ensuring confidential intake, triage, investigation and root-cause analysis.
Develop and administer compliance budgets, select and manage third-party vendors and GRC (Governance, Risk, Compliance) technology providers (e.g., MetricStream, RSA Archer or alternative tools).
Prepare formal board and executive committee reporting, briefings and recommendations on regulatory developments, risk exposures and program effectiveness.
Provide real-time legal and compliance advice to business units on novel products, marketing campaigns, global expansions and regulated activities to enable compliant growth.
Lead cross-border regulatory coordination and licensing strategy, working with external counsel and local teams to ensure compliance with multi-jurisdictional requirements.
Coordinate with internal audit to plan and support targeted audits and testing of compliance controls, and incorporate audit findings into the compliance improvement roadmap.
Maintain and test incident response and escalation protocols for regulatory breaches, data incidents and other compliance emergencies, including communication plans and regulatory notifications.
Drive continuous improvement of compliance operations through automation, process redesign, and adoption of analytics to increase efficiency and reduce manual risk.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc compliance data analysis and reporting requests using Excel, BI tools or SQL queries to inform risk-based decision-making.
Contribute to the selection and configuration of compliance monitoring tools, case management systems and policy libraries.
Assist in drafting regulatory filings, registrations, licenses and periodic reports required by governmental agencies.
Participate in cross-functional project teams (product launches, system implementations) to advise on regulatory impacts and implement necessary controls.
Maintain up-to-date training materials in the learning management system (LMS) and track completion rates and effectiveness metrics.
Support business continuity planning for compliance-critical processes and participate in tabletop exercises for regulatory scenarios.
Provide mentorship and on-the-job training to junior compliance staff and coordinate external certification or training where required.
Coordinate with IT and security teams to reconcile compliance controls with technical security requirements and change management processes.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Regulatory research and interpretation (ability to read statutes, regulatory guidance and enforcement orders and translate to business requirements)
Compliance program design and implementation (policies, SOPs, controls, testing frameworks)
AML/KYC program management, sanctions screening and transaction monitoring
Data privacy and protection expertise (GDPR, CCPA, data mapping, DPIAs)
Anti-corruption and FCPA compliance (third-party risk, gift & entertainment controls)
Contract review for regulatory and compliance clauses
Internal controls assessment, remedial action planning and monitoring
Regulatory reporting and license management (including filings, renewals and registrations)
Experience with GRC and compliance technology platforms (MetricStream, RSA Archer, OneTrust, or similar)
Audit and investigation techniques, evidence collection and investigative report writing
Proficiency with Excel, Power BI/Tableau or other analytics tools; basic SQL for data interrogation preferred
Project management skills (ability to lead cross-functional remediation and implementation projects)

Soft Skills

Excellent verbal and written communication with the ability to explain complex legal/regulatory concepts to non-lawyers
Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills across senior leadership and operational teams
High ethical standards, sound judgment and the ability to act with integrity under pressure
Analytical and critical-thinking skills with attention to detail and accuracy
Problem-solving orientation and pragmatic approach to balancing risk and business needs
Resilience, adaptability and capacity to work in fast-changing regulatory environments
Coaching and mentoring skills to develop junior team members and build team capability
Strategic mindset with the ability to translate regulatory trends into business strategy
Effective time management and prioritization in a multi-stakeholder environment
Cultural sensitivity and experience working with multi-jurisdictional teams

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Law, Business, Finance, Accounting, Risk Management or related field.

Preferred Education:

Juris Doctor (JD) or LLM, or Master’s degree in Compliance, Business Law, Risk Management or equivalent.
Professional certifications such as CCEP (Certified Compliance & Ethics Professional), CAMS (Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist), CIPP/E (Certified Information Privacy Professional), or certifications in internal audit (CIA) or risk (FRM).

Relevant Fields of Study:

Law
Business Administration / Management
Finance / Accounting
Information Security / Data Privacy
Risk Management / Regulatory Affairs

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 5–10 years of progressive experience in legal, regulatory compliance, risk management or internal audit roles, preferably within regulated industries (financial services, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, energy, telecommunications or fintech).

Preferred:

8+ years of direct compliance experience, including exposure to regulatory examinations and enforcement communications.
Proven experience implementing enterprise-wide compliance programs, leading cross-functional remediation and advising senior leadership.
Demonstrated track record with AML/KYC, privacy or anti-corruption programs and operationalizing controls in complex, multi-jurisdictional environments.