Compliance Officer CV examples

Writing a CV is your chance to show you don’t just follow rules – you make sure everyone else does too. But a strong compliance CV is more than a checklist of policies and procedures – it’s a chance to demonstrate how you keep organisations audit-ready.

This guide will take you through each step, from structuring your CV and highlighting relevant experience to choosing the right terminology and demonstrating your real impact.

A Compliance Officer’s CV structure should be as watertight as the frameworks you work within. Recruiters want to see your qualifications, sector expertise, and track record of risk management without wading through clutter or jargon. Keep it clear, easy to scan, and free from avoidable mistakes that’d make employers overlook even the most qualified candidates. The following tips will ensure your CV is as pleasant a reading experience as possible.

Here’s the layout to follow:

• Name and contact details – Place your personal details at the top so employers can get in touch easily.
• Profile – Kick things off with a concise overview of what makes you the ideal candidate for the job.
• Core skills – Briefly highlight those qualities which make you the best candidate
• Work experience – List your previous roles in reverse chronological order, with your most recent first.
• Education – Go through the academic history which underpins your expertise.
• Additional info – This optional section can include professional memberships, awards, or hobbies that showcase your suitability for the role.
  

Use bold headings to clearly divide each section, and keep your layout consistent from top to bottom. Stick to a clean, business-appropriate font, and limit your CV to a maximum length of two pages. Break down large sections of text using nice and readable bullet points, and leave enough white space so nothing feels overcrowded. The end result? A CV format that’s as compliant as your policies.

Your CV profile is your professional elevator pitch – a snapshot of your compliance expertise and the value you bring to an organisation. Use this section to highlight your knowledge of regulatory frameworks and your risk assessment experience.

Recruiters reading your profile should instantly get a sense of your authority, reliability, and technical skills – but also your ability to communicate clearly and handle sensitive information. Your job here is to quickly convince them that you’ll benefit any firm which takes you on board.

Make sure your profile includes the following:

• Where you worked – Mention industries or companies (e.g. financial services, insurance, pharmaceuticals, public bodies)
• Your top qualifications – ICA, CeMAP, CII, law degrees, or GRC certifications
• Essential skills – Regulatory interpretation, auditing, reporting, policy development
• Types of compliance handled – E.g. GDPR, FCA, AML, ISO, internal risk
• Key achievements or focus areas – Such as training programmes, audit success, or regulatory approvals
  

Your CV skills section should give a short, focused overview of your main compliance strengths in a simple list of bullet points.

Briefly describe your ability to review and apply regulations, conduct audits, develop internal policies, and ensure operational teams stay within legal and procedural frameworks. Keep it relevant to your industry, and make sure it supports the rest of your CV.

This is where you demonstrate that you don’t just know the rules – you’ve actively enforced and applied them in a business context. Employers want to see how you’ve managed compliance processes and dealt with audits or investigations.

List your roles in reverse chronological order. Make sure your contributions and achievements are clear, and that recruiters understand how your work experience has prepared you for the roles you’re applying for.

If you’re early in your career, include legal or regulatory internships, assistant roles, or analyst experience that shows exposure to compliance environments.

• Outline – Briefly explain the employer, the sector you worked in, and your role. State if you worked within a legal, compliance, or risk department, and who you reported to.
• Responsibilities – Use action words like “monitored” and “developed.” For example: “monitored internal controls in line with GDPR” or “developed new policies to address FCA regulatory changes.” Mention compliance software or frameworks if relevant.
• Achievements – Emphasise the outcomes of your work – successful audits, avoided penalties, reduced incidents of non-compliance, or faster regulatory reporting. Add numbers or specifics where possible.

Your education section should reflect both academic qualifications and compliance-specific training. Begin with your most recent or relevant qualifications and move backwards, keeping everything clear and concise.

If you’ve completed a law degree, finance degree, or qualifications from bodies like the ICA or IRM, this is the place to mention them. You can also list shorter training courses in things like AML, GDPR, or audit procedures. If you’re newer to the field, relevant university modules or dissertation topics can be included for context.