Management · Holland code ECI

Regulatory Affairs Managers

Plan, direct, or coordinate production activities of an organization to ensure compliance with regulations and standard operating procedures.

Also called: Compliance Director, Global RA Manager (Global Regulatory Affairs Manager), RA Director (Regulatory Affairs Director), RA Manager (Regulatory Affairs Manager), CMC Director (Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls Director), Global RA Director (Global Regulatory Affairs Director), RA QA Director (Regulatory Affairs Quality Assurance Director), RA VP (Regulatory Affairs Vice President).

O*NET 11-9199.01

At a glance

US median annual pay: $141,900; Middle half earn $102,880 to $186,300. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Bachelor's Degree; 74% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 4 of 5; Considerable preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Develop regulatory strategies and implementation plans for the preparation and submission of new products.
Review all regulatory agency submission materials to ensure timeliness, accuracy, comprehensiveness, or compliance with regulatory standards.
Direct the preparation and submission of regulatory agency applications, reports, or correspondence.
Investigate product complaints and prepare documentation and submissions to appropriate regulatory agencies as necessary.
Provide responses to regulatory agencies regarding product information or issues.
Represent organizations before domestic or international regulatory agencies on major policy matters or decisions regarding company products.
Provide regulatory guidance to departments or development project teams regarding design, development, evaluation, or marketing of products.
Manage activities such as audits, regulatory agency inspections, or product recalls.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Writing4.3 / 5
Reading Comprehension4.1 / 5
Active Listening4.0 / 5
Speaking4.0 / 5
Critical Thinking3.9 / 5
Monitoring3.6 / 5

Knowledge areas

English Language4.6 / 5
Law and Government4.0 / 5
Administration and Management3.7 / 5
Biology3.4 / 5
Education and Training3.1 / 5
Administrative3.0 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic16
Investigative33
Artistic6
Social27
Enterprising93
Conventional78

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

licensing manager · DE Zulassungsmanager/Zulassungsmanagerin · FR directeur des licences/directrices des licences
pharmaceutical engineer · DE Ingenieur Pharmatechnik/Ingenieurin Pharmatechnik · FR ingénieur procédés pharmaceutiques/ingénieure procédés pharmaceutiques
compliance engineer · DE Compliance-Ingenieur/Compliance-Ingenieurin · FR responsable qualité conformité réglementaire
pharmaceutical quality specialist · DE Qualitätsprüfer Arzneimittel/Qualitätsprüferin Arzneimittel · FR pharmacien en pharmacovigilance/pharmacienne en pharmacovigilance
legal policy officer · DE Referent für Rechtsfragen/Referentin für Rechtsfragen · FR chargé de mission affaires juridiques/chargée de mission affaires juridiques
regulatory affairs manager · DE Regulatory-Affairs-Manager/Regulatory-Affairs-Managerin · FR chef de service juridique

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Business, research and administrative professionals n.e.c. (2439)104,500 employed
Pharmacists (2251)80,400 employed
Inspectors of standards and regulations (3581)44,300 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€61,714
Germany	€59,529
Ireland	€56,877
Austria	€55,374
Netherlands	€53,595
Sweden	€43,567
France	€41,515
Spain	€35,735
Italy	€33,649
Portugal	€26,072
Poland	€14,380

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the higher third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +0.96. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (11-9199).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test