How to become a compliance manager
Official title: Compliance manager
Also called: Quality and compliance manager, Risk and compliance manager, Senior compliance and assurance manager, Regulatory and compliance manager, Investigations and compliance manager, Branch manager compliance, Compliance lead
Compliance managers plan and put in place ways to make sure that companies or organisations follow legal and ethical guidelines and standards.
Main tasks
- Make sure businesses follow laws and rules
- Talk with government agencies
- Advise on legal requirements
- Explain company rules and processes
- Keep compliance documents up to date
- Check business activities meet rules and standards
- Train workers on laws and rules
- Hire and manage staff
How to become one
You usually need experience and a qualification to become a compliance manager. You usually need NCEA Level 3 to do the study or training for this job. Other requirements: experience in similar work; a relevant tertiary qualification in law studies, business and management, banking and finance, justice and law enforcement or similar area.
Ways in
- University: Law & Justice degrees, Offered by 5 universities in New Zealand
- University: Business & Commerce degrees, Offered by 6 universities in New Zealand
Pay · Past change
- Most common pay: $83,000 to $156,000 a year (median $113,000), a TEC estimate before tax.
- Lower: $62,000 a year · Upper: $198,000 a year
- TEC's pay figures are estimates only. TEC says they must not be used to set pay, in pay negotiations or in visa applications.
- Change in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses: Strong increase (TEC). This is past change, not a forecast.
Who does this work
- About 1,700 people did this job at the 2023 Census (TEC).
Related jobs
- Māori cultural adviser
- Compliance officer
- Environmental compliance officer
- Regulatory affairs specialist
- Court, local government and licence officer
- Foreign policy officer
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Questions people ask
How do I become a compliance manager?
You usually need experience and a qualification to become a compliance manager. You usually need NCEA Level 3 to do the study or training for this job. Other requirements: experience in similar work; a relevant tertiary qualification in law studies, business and management, banking and finance, justice and law enforcement or similar area.
How much does a compliance manager earn in New Zealand?
The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $113,000 a year, before tax. Most common pay is $83,000 to $156,000 a year.
Has the number of people working as a compliance manager grown in New Zealand?
It has grown strongly: TEC records a strong increase in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses. This is past change, not a forecast.
Sources
- Tertiary Education Commission (Tahatu Career Navigator): Tahatu career ideas: descriptions, tasks, pay estimates, people employed, employment change 2018 to 2023, entry requirements, registration, interest scores (Site scrape 2026-10 (816 career ideas, sitemap lastmod 2026-10-01)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
This content is sourced from the Tertiary Education Commission through the Tahatū Career Navigator website (www.tahatu.govt.nz) and used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. All or some of the information has been modified by Peernovo. TEC has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications. TEC will not be held accountable for any errors within this content.
Qualification information from NZQA, used under CC BY 3.0 NZ.
This work is based on/includes Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Census data via Figure.NZ.
Includes information from O*NET OnLine 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. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
Sources: Tertiary Education Commission, Tahatū Career Navigator (career ideas, pay estimates, entry requirements and study options, CC BY 4.0, modified by Peernovo); Stats NZ, 2023 Census (via Figure.NZ) and the National Occupation List (CC BY 4.0); NZQA qualification information (CC BY 3.0 NZ); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Links between career ideas and ANZSCO groups, degree fields and broad job groups are Peernovo's.
These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.
Graduate outcomes: these results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.
Updated 4 October 2026