Compliance Specialist Jobs in Tucson, AZ
Compliance specialists in Tucson keep hospitals, credit unions and diagnostics makers on the right side of HIPAA, banking rules and federal health care law. Tucson Medical Center, Hughes Federal Credit Union, Suvida Healthcare and Roche Tissue Diagnostics have all posted or named this work. Current openings are below.
Current Compliance Specialist Openings in Tucson, AZ
Listings marked External are sponsored openings provided by the Jobs2Careers network.
Compliance Specialist Work in Tucson
Education and health services make up Tucson's largest private job sector, so much of the compliance work here is health care compliance. At Tucson Medical Center on Grant Road in midtown, the compliance team runs the hospital's policy system, monitors patient privacy, tracks HIPAA incidents, manages conflict of interest disclosures and files annual HIPAA incident reports with the federal Office for Civil Rights. On the south side, Suvida Healthcare's bilingual senior primary care clinic on South 16th Avenue answers to Medicare Advantage, Stark Law and Anti-Kickback rules, and the company is hiring a compliance manager who can be based in Tucson.
The second track is money. Credit unions are required to monitor accounts for Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money-laundering red flags, and Hughes Federal Credit Union staffs that work from its Wetmore Road branch on the north side. The third is corporate: Roche runs its global tissue diagnostics headquarters on its Oro Valley campus, and its careers site lists legal and compliance among the teams based there. Very little of this is Arizona law. The work in Tucson is about federal rules applied by local employers, which is why the jobs cluster wherever the hospitals, credit unions and regulated manufacturers are.
Top Tucson Employers Hiring Compliance Specialists
These Tucson employers have posted compliance roles or named compliance teams on their own careers sites:
- Tucson Medical Center - the midtown hospital has posted a Compliance and Policy Analyst covering privacy monitoring, policy management, audits and compliance training.
- Hughes Federal Credit Union - a Tucson credit union hiring a BSA Risk Specialist at its Wetmore Road branch to work Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money-laundering alerts.
- Suvida Healthcare - a bilingual primary care group for older adults, with a south side clinic, hiring a compliance and regulatory affairs manager who can be based in Tucson.
- Roche Tissue Diagnostics - the Oro Valley headquarters for Roche's tissue diagnostics business lists legal and compliance among the teams it staffs in Tucson.
Compliance Specialist Salaries in Tucson
- Entry level (BSA, privacy and policy analyst roles): roughly $20 to $26 an hour, about $42,000 to $54,000 a year.
- Experienced compliance specialist or analyst: roughly $28 to $36 an hour, about $58,000 to $75,000 a year.
- Senior specialist or compliance manager: roughly $75,000 to $105,000 a year.
These are estimates that vary by employer and experience. Hughes Federal Credit Union posted its BSA Risk Specialist at $20.25 to $25.00 an hour, and federal wage data put the median for Tucson compliance officers at about $31.60 an hour in 2023. A health care compliance credential, a bachelor's degree and audit or investigation experience move pay the most, and corporate compliance leadership at large employers pays above these bands.
How to Become a Compliance Specialist in Tucson
Arizona does not license compliance specialists, so the gate is experience and education, not a state credential. Entry points vary: Hughes Federal Credit Union asks for a high school diploma and prefers six months of related experience, while Tucson Medical Center asks for an associate degree and three years of relevant experience, with a bachelor's degree preferred. In health care, both TMC and Suvida list the Certified in Healthcare Compliance (CHC) credential as preferred. For formal training, the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law offers a Master of Legal Studies with a Compliance and Legal Risk Management emphasis, 30 units taken online or in person in Tucson. Pima Community College's ABA-approved Paralegal program at the Downtown Campus is a shorter route into legal research and procedure.
What the Job Involves
A compliance specialist reads the rules, checks whether the organization follows them, and documents the answer. Days go to reviewing alerts and records, running audits against policy, interviewing staff or members about a concern, updating written policies, preparing regulatory reports on deadline, and building the training that keeps everyone else current. When something goes wrong, the specialist investigates, writes it up and tracks the fix.
Skills Employers Look For
- Working knowledge of the rules for the sector: HIPAA and Medicare in health care, the Bank Secrecy Act in banking
- Auditing, investigation and root cause analysis
- Clear report writing and policy drafting
- Comfort with databases, EMR systems such as Epic, and Microsoft Office
- Discretion with confidential information
- Deadline management for regulatory filings
- Bilingual English and Spanish, preferred by Suvida
Career Path and Advancement
In Tucson the ladder usually starts inside the business: a credit union member service or operations job that leads to BSA monitoring, or hospital registration, coding or health information work that leads to a privacy and compliance analyst seat. From there the step up is compliance manager, which at Suvida means five or more years in health care compliance and a bachelor's degree, and then compliance officer or director. Some specialists add the UA's Master of Legal Studies mid-career to move toward corporate compliance and legal risk roles.
Related Careers in Tucson
These Tucson guides cover work that sits close to compliance:
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you need a license to be a compliance specialist in Arizona?
No. Arizona has no state license for compliance specialists or compliance officers. Employers decide what they want, usually experience in the field plus a degree, and health care employers in Tucson such as Tucson Medical Center and Suvida list the Certified in Healthcare Compliance credential as preferred.
How much do compliance specialists make in Tucson?
Entry-level compliance roles in Tucson run roughly $20 to $26 an hour, and experienced specialists roughly $28 to $36 an hour. Federal wage data put the 2023 median for Tucson compliance officers at about $31.60 an hour. Managers earn roughly $75,000 to $105,000 a year.
Which Tucson employers hire compliance specialists?
Health care and banking account for most of the confirmed openings. Tucson Medical Center, Hughes Federal Credit Union and Suvida Healthcare have posted compliance roles, and Roche Tissue Diagnostics in Oro Valley lists legal and compliance among its Tucson teams.
Can you start in compliance without a college degree?
Sometimes. Hughes Federal Credit Union's BSA Risk Specialist posting asks for a high school diploma and prefers six months of related experience. Hospital and corporate roles usually expect an associate or bachelor's degree, so many people start in banking operations or health information work and move over.
Where can you study compliance in Tucson?
The University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law offers a Master of Legal Studies with a Compliance and Legal Risk Management emphasis, available online or in person. Pima Community College's ABA-approved Paralegal program at the Downtown Campus is a shorter option for legal research and procedure skills.
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