Organizations must comply with federal and state laws in order to achieve their goals and objectives. Senior compliance analysts are professionals whose overall responsibility is ensuring a company’s projects, practices and policies conform to all relevant laws and regulations. They can work in a variety of industries, such as banking, manufacturing, insurance and education. If you want to pursue this career, you must earn at least a bachelor's degree in a field related to your industry of choice.

Monitoring Regulatory Changes

A senior compliance analyst works with a team of legal researchers to track changes in relevant laws. This information helps a company to adjust its policies and practices for compliance with new laws. For example, if you work as a compliance analyst for a foreign bank within the United States, you have to ensure it complies with the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act of 2010, which requires reporting on certain foreign accounts. You can help educate the bank’s staff on such requirements to enhance compliance. Noncompliance can result in a 30 percent withholding tax on all payments made to the bank in the United States.

Obtaining Permits and Licenses

A senior compliance analyst can be hired by a company to help obtain permits from federal or state agencies before launching certain projects or programs. For instance, if a paper manufacturing firm wants to start processing raw materials, it might need to secure a permit from the United States Environmental Protection Agency, which is responsible for controlling pollution. Senior compliant analysts working in this industry draft the relevant paperwork on behalf of their employers and present it to the EPA for licensure.

Reviewing Institutional Policies

Organizations regularly review internal policies in line with changing federal and state laws and regulations. Banks, for instance, review their policies because financial firms often face intense scrutiny from government auditors. As a senior compliance analyst, your job is to help companies review their policies to enhance compliance and improve efficiency. You can use your professional skills to help banks take steps to avoid conflicts with consumer protection laws and industry regulations. For example, if the bank audits transactions on a weekly basis, you might suggest that it do so on a daily basis to ensure cases of noncompliance are detected early enough to fix before becoming a violation.

Developing Risk Management Strategies

Senior compliance analysts assist organizations in developing risk management strategies to improve staff, client and asset safety. They analyze the nature of the company’s activities, condition of office equipment and average age of customers when developing a risk management strategy. For instance, if a company rarely services workplace equipment, an effective strategy gives a clear indication on the frequency of servicing equipment and encourages hiring of an in-house technician. A good senior compliance analyst helps an organization implement a risk management strategy that offers solutions beyond detecting potential problems and avoiding lawsuits.