Washington is the regulatory capital, and GRC hiring reflects it. Federal agencies, government contractors, defense and national-security firms, think tanks, and the associations and nonprofits clustered around the Beltway all hire heavily for compliance, risk, privacy, and audit. This is the strongest market in the country for FedRAMP, CMMC, NIST, FISMA, and public-sector AI governance work. If your background is federal compliance or government risk, Washington is the deepest pool there is.
Washington, DC GRC at a glance
Key sectors: federal agencies, government contractors, defense, and nonprofits. On the board now: 48 local and 0 remote-eligible jobs.
Compliance Officer paystats as of Q2 2026
BLS put the 2024 median at $78,420. In 2026, market trackers show averages from roughly $99,000 to $120,000, with the top quartile above $160,000. Financial centers and senior governance roles sit at the top of that range.
Washington, DC GRC jobs: what the market looks like right now
A snapshot built from the 48 Washington, DC GRC roles currently on this page.
What these roles pay by level
Median advertised midpoint, by seniority band. Bars are to scale.
Median advertised salary midpoint by seniority level
Level
Median midpoint
Postings
Mid-level
$140k
20
Senior / lead / manager
$168k
17
How these figures were calculated, and sources
Primary source: our own board. Every figure above is the median midpoint of the salary ranges published in the live postings on this page. Nothing is estimated, modelled, or carried over from a previous month. It is recalculated each time the board refreshes.
What is included. Only postings that publish a salary range. Hourly, weekly and monthly rates are annualised (2,080 hours, 52 weeks, 12 months). Ranges below $20,000 a year are excluded as data-entry placeholders. A seniority band is shown only when at least five postings support it; director and executive / c-suite are present on this page but below that threshold, so no median is published for those bands.
What this is not. These are advertised ranges, not accepted offers. Advertised ranges tend to run wider than what is actually paid, and roles that do not publish a range are missing from the calculation entirely, which can bias the result upward.
For an independent benchmark, compare against the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics for SOC 13-2011 — Accountants and Auditors, published annually at bls.gov/oes. BLS reports actual wages across all employers rather than advertised ranges, so its medians normally sit below job-board figures.
Where the work is
Work mode: 1 remote, 3 hybrid, 44 on-site or unstated.
Seniority mix: mid (23), senior (20), director (3), executive (2)
Employers hiring more than one: Databricks (4), Anthropic (3), Development Finance Corporation (3), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (3), Central Intelligence Agency (3), Anduril Industries (2)
Skills these postings ask for
audit planning and scoping
walkthroughs and control testing
workpaper documentation
issue writing and management response
data analytics in audit
Certifications that come up most
None of these are universally required, but they appear often enough in Washington, DC GRC postings to be worth knowing: CIA, CISA, CPA, CFE, CRMA. The certification academy covers what each one actually tests and who it is for.
Hiring for Washington, DC GRC?
We have 48 open Washington, DC GRC roles on the board right now. Reach candidates who are already searching for this role, not a general audience. Your posting appears on this page, in the job alerts, and across the GRC Careers network.
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