Better known as the Compliance Officer, the Compliance Officer is responsible for the proper application of rules and standards within the company... and his role does not stop there.
So what does the Compliance Officer's job involve on a daily basis? What are the training courses, the average salary and the tools of the Compliance Officer?
👉 This article is part of a series of articles deciphering the different businesses that make up legaltech.
What is a compliance officer? 🛡️
Within the company, the Compliance Officer is the employee in charge of verifying compliance with standards and regulations, as well as the conformity of all processes implemented. His role is not the least important, sincehe is the guarantor of the legality and ethics of internal practices.
The Compliance Officer's missions are potentially very broad. Indeed, they depend on the activity and the size of the structure in which he works.
In general, the compliance officer :
- Identifies the risks of non-compliance within the company, carrying out regular checks to verify the proper application of legal standards;
- Drafts ethics and regulatory documents (compliance charter, internal regulations);
- Suggests and implements remediation solutions to mitigate risks;
- Communicates continuously with management and all teams to raise awareness of ethics and the application of standards;
- Lastly, the compliance officer regularly monitors legal and regulatory innovations.
It is therefore a job with responsibilities, at the crossroads between internal control and deontology. The Compliance Officer enables the company to avoid ethical and legal risks which can be very costly in human and financial terms. His reports and recommendations are used in the company's strategic decisions.
What training do you need to become a Compliance Officer? 🧑🎓
The compliance officer must have a solid knowledge of the laws and regulations that apply to the company in which he or she works. This includes banking law, compliance issues, and international regulations.
The best candidates for this type of position are generally from a legal background. Indeed, a Master's degree in Law allows to master the stakes of the job, and to make the link between the laws in force and the activities of the company.
That said, not all compliance officers have studied law at university. Other degrees, usually at the Bac+5 level, allow access to this type of job, such as :
- Master's degree in Political Studies (IEP)
- Engineering or business school diploma
- MBA (law, finance compliance, business ethics and compliance management)
In addition to legal expertise, the Compliance Officer must master risk analysis and be very comfortable with financial, tax and management issues.
What is the job description of the Compliance Officer? 📝
The missions of the compliance officer are based on 4 areas of work:
- Implementation of the compliance plan, which includes: legislative and regulatory monitoring, implementation of procedures and their integration into the company's tools, drafting of documentation (rules, standards, business processes);
- The application of the compliance process, i.e.: communication on the documentation drawn up, monitoring of decision chains and traceability of information, detection of risk areas, setting up of a control schedule;
- The implementation of a remediation policy in case of risk: propose corrective actions to the management, monitor their application, raise awareness among the teams concerned;
- Follow-up of remediation actions, through regular reporting and compliance reports, and the implementation of alerts to avoid sanctions.
It is therefore a job that requires good organisational skills: the Compliance Officer handles an abundance of documentation and has many contacts.
👀 Also read: What is a DPO?
The salary of the Compliance Officer 💰
The salary of the compliance manager varies according to the profile, seniority and the size of the company. The majority of job offers propose an annual salary between 35 000€ and 65 000€.
Software for Compliance Officers 💻
Digital technologies are of great help to Compliance Officers, due to the number of documents and parties involved in the compliance process. As companies handle ever-increasing volumes of contracts, the difficulty of the job increases, making the use of a centralized and intelligent software solution essential.
The use of a contract management software like Hyperlex is particularly relevant for Compliance Officers. As a SaaS contract management solution, Hyperlex allows:
- To facilitate the drafting, validation and signing of contracts;
- Automate contract compliance monitoring with artificial intelligence and alerts;
- To facilitate communication with employees, even from a distance;
- Automate the creation of customized reports and audits.
Customizable according to the specific needs of the company, the Hyperlex tool saves Compliance Officers precious time in all aspects of their mission. It centralizes processes that were previously dispersed among several tools, thereby limiting the risk of error and facilitating their daily organization as Compliance Officers.
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