What Is a Compliance Consultant?
Governance, risk, and compliance
Published: • Updated:
Key takeaways
- What: Compliance consulting helps you meet regulatory and contractual requirements through controls, monitoring, training, and audits.
- Why/how: Breach and penalty risk is material; start with a gap assessment, then prioritize fixes tied to frameworks like SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and PCI DSS.
- Who: Compliance consultants and IT compliance consulting teams partner with legal, security, finance, and operations to ship controls that work.
A compliance consultant designs and implements practical controls so you meet laws, standards, and customer obligations. Work spans risk assessment, policies, training, monitoring, and audits. IT compliance consulting aligns systems and vendors to SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and PCI DSS to reduce breach and penalty exposure.
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What does a compliance consultant do?
- Assess and scope. Map your regulatory footprint, vendors, and data, then score risks.
- Design controls. Policies, technical safeguards, training, and third-party requirements.
- Implement and audit. Evidence collection, testing, remediation, and readiness for attestations.
- Operate and improve. Dashboards, findings tracking, tabletop exercises, and annual refresh.
How IT compliance consulting aligns to common frameworks
- SOC 2. Controls for security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy (AICPA). Evidence collection and auditor coordination.
- ISO 27001. Information security management system requirements and continuous improvement.
- HIPAA Security Rule. Administrative, physical, and technical safeguards for ePHI.
- PCI DSS. Cardholder data protection requirements across people, process, and technology.
$4.4M
Global average cost of a data breach, 2025
$78,420
U.S. median pay for compliance officers, 2024
$30–$160+
Observed hourly profiles on marketplaces
Salary and fees: quick answers with ranges
- What is a compliance consultant’s salary? Estimates vary by source and role. Recent snapshots show about $80,929 average (ZipRecruiter) and about $114,971 average (Glassdoor). The broader compliance officer median is $78,420 (BLS). Location, industry, and certifications shift pay.
- How much do compliance consultants charge? Hourly pricing varies with scope and specialization. Marketplace views show profiles from roughly $30 to $160+ per hour, with experienced advisors and niche regimes pricing higher. Many projects use fixed-fee or value-based models.
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| Finding | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Global average cost of a data breach (USD) | $4.4M (2025) | IBM Cost of a Data Breach 2025 |
| Compliance officers median annual wage (U.S.) | $78,420 (May 2024) | U.S. BLS OOH |
| Compliance consultant average salary snapshot | ~$80,929 avg; ~$114,971 avg | ZipRecruiter; Glassdoor |
| Observed hourly profiles for regulatory compliance freelancers | $30–$160+/hr | Upwork profiles |
| SOC 2 scope areas (security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, privacy) | SOC 2 overview | AICPA |
| ISO 27001 defines ISMS requirements | ISO/IEC 27001 | ISO |
| HIPAA Security Rule requires safeguards for ePHI | Rule summary | HHS |
| PCI DSS v4.x resource hub and documents | Current library | PCI SSC |
Use ranges as directional benchmarks. Pricing and pay depend on scope, sector, and credentials.
How to start in two steps
- Gap assessment. Confirm in-scope laws and frameworks, map data flows and vendors, and list top gaps with owners and due dates.
- Evidence plan. Build a 12-week backlog to create or refine policies, controls, and logs, then test and prepare for audit or attestation.
Author and review
Prepared by NMS compliance consultants partnering with security, legal, finance, and operations teams on SOC 2 readiness, ISO 27001 programs, HIPAA safeguards, PCI DSS, and third-party risk.
Sources
- IBM. Cost of a Data Breach 2025. https://www.ibm.com/reports/data-breach
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Compliance Officers, Occupational Outlook Handbook. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/business-and-financial/compliance-officers.htm
- ZipRecruiter. Compliance Consultant Salary. https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/Compliance-Consultant-Salary
- Glassdoor. Compliance Consultant Salaries (U.S.). https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/compliance-consultant-salary-SRCH_KO0%2C21.htm
- Upwork. Regulatory Compliance Freelancers (examples of hourly profiles). https://www.upwork.com/hire/regulatory-compliance-freelancers/
- AICPA. SOC 2 overview. https://www.aicpa-cima.com/topic/audit-assurance/audit-and-assurance-greater-than-soc-2
- ISO. ISO/IEC 27001 overview. https://www.iso.org/standard/27001
- HHS. HIPAA Security Rule summary. https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/security/laws-regulations/index.html
- PCI Security Standards Council. Document library. https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/document_library/
About the Author
Aykut Cakir, Senior Partner and Chief Executive Officer, has a demonstrated history in negotiations, business planning, business development. He has served as a Finance Director for gases & energy, pharmaceuticals, retail, FMCG, and automotive industries. He has collaborated closely with client leadership to co-create a customized operating model tailored to the unique needs of each project segment in the region. Aykut conducted workshops focused on developing effective communication strategies to ensure team alignment with new operating models and organizational changes.
