jobfacts

Quality assurance and regulatory professionals

SOC 2020 2482

Quality assurance and regulatory professionals plan, organise, co-ordinate and direct the effective measurement monitoring and reporting on the qualitative and regulatory aspects of a specified tangible (industrial production) or non-tangible (service provision) output.

Also calledCompliance analystQuality assurance managerResponsible AI officerPharmacovigilance managerAI ethicistFinancial regulatorand 66 more titles
Typical full-time pay£50,1002025 Provisional
People in the job196,000across the UK
Demand for workersNot high
New adverts a month3,500↑ 5.7%on last year · 48th of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025

Half of full-time quality assurance and regulatory professionals earn between £37,900 and £67,300 a year.

What full-time quality assurance and regulatory professionals earn, 2025
£50,100 typical£30,900lowest 10%£71,600top 20%n/ptop 10%
Middle half (£37,900–£67,300)n/p: top 10% not published by ONS
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less than£30,900
Lowest 20% earn less than£36,100
25%£37,900
Median£50,100
75%£67,300
Top 20% earn more than£71,600
Top 10% earn more thanNot published
Typical pay by regionUK median £50,100
London£59,100
Scotland!£52,500
North West!£52,500
West Midlands!£50,300
South West!£48,300
South East!£48,200
Yorkshire and The Humber!£48,000
East of England!£44,900
North East!£43,900
East Midlands!£42,900
Wales!£41,800
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
UK median, £50,100
London£59,100
Scotland£52,500 (small sample)
North West£52,500 (small sample)
West Midlands£50,300 (small sample)
South West£48,300 (small sample)
South East£48,200 (small sample)
Yorkshire and The Humber£48,000 (small sample)
East of England£44,900 (small sample)
North East£43,900 (small sample)
East Midlands£42,900 (small sample)
Wales£41,800 (small sample)
Typical pay over 3 years
  • 2023 £44,100
  • 2024 £48,400
  • 2025 Provisional£50,100
↑ 14% since 2023Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 3,500 jobs for quality assurance and regulatory professionals are advertised each month. The Department for Education rates demand for workers as not high.

New job adverts a month, Jan 2017 to Aug 2026
New advertsMonth not published by ONS (1 in all)
Show as table
Aug 20264,510
Jul 20264,147
Jun 20263,860
May 20263,613
Apr 20263,334
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 20263,097
Jan 20263,441
Dec 20252,086
Nov 20253,923
Oct 20253,603
Sept 20253,423
Aug 20253,622
Jul 20253,861
Jun 20254,108
May 20254,140
Apr 20253,095
Mar 20254,063
Feb 20253,792
Jan 20253,100
Dec 20242,157
Nov 20242,976
Oct 20242,986
Sept 20243,082
Aug 20243,149
Jul 20243,650
Jun 20243,288
May 20243,777
Apr 20243,509
Mar 20243,232
Feb 20243,329
Jan 20244,326
Dec 20233,479
Nov 20233,528
Oct 20233,980
Sept 20233,169
Aug 20233,855
Jul 20234,102
Jun 20235,510
May 20235,413
Apr 20234,320
Mar 20235,278
Feb 20235,271
Jan 20235,828
Dec 20225,280
Nov 20226,316
Oct 20226,562
Sept 20226,161
Aug 20226,324
Jul 20226,606
Jun 20226,661
May 20227,762
Apr 20225,898
Mar 20227,064
Feb 20226,601
Jan 20227,413
Dec 20215,720
Nov 20216,061
Oct 20216,098
Sept 20215,905
Aug 20215,655
Jul 20216,879
Jun 20215,764
May 20215,830
Apr 20215,198
Mar 20216,973
Feb 20214,450
Jan 20214,582
Dec 20203,833
Nov 20203,956
Oct 20204,177
Sept 20203,960
Aug 20203,490
Jul 20203,588
Jun 20203,561
May 20203,183
Apr 20203,912
Mar 20206,143
Feb 20206,502
Jan 20206,074
Dec 20194,125
Nov 20195,743
Oct 20195,881
Sept 20195,399
Aug 20195,693
Jul 20197,018
Jun 20197,331
May 20196,330
Apr 20194,454
Mar 20195,748
Feb 20195,157
Jan 20195,570
Dec 20183,331
Nov 20184,858
Oct 20184,986
Sept 20184,917
Aug 20184,866
Jul 20185,112
Jun 20185,270
May 20185,409
Apr 20185,149
Mar 20185,647
Feb 20185,641
Jan 20186,008
Dec 20173,999
Nov 20175,173
Oct 20175,412
Sept 20174,705
Aug 20174,995
Jul 20174,730
Jun 20175,477
May 20175,350
Apr 20174,920
Mar 20175,722
Feb 20175,213
Jan 20176,308
Is there a shortage of quality assurance and regulatory professionals?
Not high

The Department for Education rates demand as not high, elevated or critical, using five indicators. This is its 2025 assessment.

  • Visas grantedAbove usual
  • Online job advertsAbove usual
  • Wage growthUsual
  • Pay against similar jobsUsual
  • Hours workedAbove usual
Vacancies hard to fill because of skills
28%against 27% for all jobs
Broader groupFigure for business, media and public service professionals, which includes quality assurance and regulatory professionals. DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London2,669
Manchester387
Birmingham317
Leeds247
Bristol, City of199
Glasgow City170
Nottingham142
Liverpool121
Newcastle upon Tyne118
Sheffield110
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where quality assurance and regulatory professionals are most concentratedShare of local job adverts, compared with the UK.

Recruitment from abroad. 400 sponsored work visas were granted for this job from July 2025 to June 2026, most to people from India, United States, France, ranking it 44th of 313. Home Office

Who does it

ONS · Annual Population Survey · April 2025 to March 2026
Age of quality assurance and regulatory professionals
n/p
22%!
30%
32%
15%
2.2%!
!Small sample: treat with cautionn/p: too few in the survey to publish
Show as table
16–24Not published
25–3422% (small sample)
35–4430%
45–5432%
55–6415%
65+2.2% (small sample)
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent61%
Higher education below degree6.9%
A levels or equivalent16%
GCSEs or equivalent13%
Other qualifications!2.7%
No qualifications!0.6%
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
Degree or equivalent61%
Higher education below degree6.9%
A levels or equivalent16%
GCSEs or equivalent13%
Other qualifications2.7% (small sample)
No qualifications0.6% (small sample)

Main employers: general public administration activities (5.2%), regulation of the activities of providing health care, education, cultural services and other social services, excluding social security (4.9%), business and other management consultancy activities (4.1%), engineering activities and related technical consultancy (2.5%).

How to get in

Hold a degree
61%
as their highest qualification
Apprenticeships
6
from level 3
Apprenticeships take
14 months to 3 years
typically
T Levels
1
college courses for 16 to 19 year olds

Apprenticeships

6 for this job
Level 3About 15 months

Compliance and risk officer

You gain
ICA International Advanced Certificate in Governance, Risk and Compliance; ICA Advanced Certificate in Managing Fraud
Leads to
International Compliance Association (ICA)
Details on Skills England
Level 4About 18 months

Data protection and information governance practitioner

Leads to
Information and Records Management Society
Details on Skills England
Level 6About 3 years

Senior compliance and risk specialist

You gain
CISI Diploma in Investment Compliance; IRM International Certificate in Enterprise Risk Management
Leads to
The Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (CISI)
Details on Skills England

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Other qualifications

QualificationTypeLevel
FinanceT Level3

The work

ONS · ESCO · O*NET

Typical tasks

  • develops and implements visual, physical, functional or other appropriate measures and tests of quality
  • analyses and reports upon the results of quality control tests to ensure that production remains within specification
  • considers the impact of legislation upon specification requirements
  • examines current operating procedures to determine how quality may be improved
  • examines operating procedures to ensure the process and the product meet regulatory standards and implements changes necessary to ensure compliance

Skills

  • advise on efficiency improvements
  • align efforts towards business development
  • identify undetected organisational needs
  • liaise with managers
  • make strategic business decisions
  • perform business analysis
  • advise on financial matters
  • advise on personnel management
  • analyse business plans
  • analyse external factors of companies
  • analyse financial performance of a company
  • analyse internal factors of companies
  • analyse the context of an organisation
  • build business relationships

Knowledge

  • business analysis
  • organisational policies
  • business intelligence
  • risk management
  • strategic planning
  • business law
  • business process modelling
  • business strategy concepts

Suits people who like

  • Organising and following procedures
  • Working with ideas and solving problems

Outlook

DfE · Skills Imperative 2035
Broader groupThese projections are for business, media and public service professionals, a group of 32 jobs that includes quality assurance and regulatory professionals.
Change in jobs, 2020 to 2035↑ 26%about 670,000 more jobs
Workers needed by 20352.1 millionincluding people replacing those who retire or leave

Sources

Pay
ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
People in the job, who does it
ONS, Annual Population Survey, April 2025 to March 2026
Job adverts
ONS, online job adverts (Textkernel), to Aug 2026
Demand, skill shortages
Department for Education and Skills England, Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey
Outlook
The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE
Routes in
National Careers Service job profiles
Apprenticeships, qualifications
Skills England occupational maps
Skills, interests
ESCO classification of the European Commission; O*NET data, U.S. Department of Labor (CC BY 4.0, modified)
Visas
Home Office, immigration system statistics

Figures as of 10 October 2026.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey: Department for Education and Skills England. Immigration system statistics: Home Office. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Source: The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE.

This service uses the ESCO classification of the European Commission.

This service includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database 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. This service has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. CC BY 4.0 licence.

jobfacts is independent. It is not part of, affiliated with or endorsed by the Office for National Statistics, the Department for Education, Skills England, the National Careers Service, the Home Office, the European Commission or the U.S. Department of Labor.