Regulatory affairs in corporate = lobbyist?

[Anonymous]

No one gets hired with the title lobbyist, right? So is regulatory affairs in a corporate environment basically a lobbyist?

Someone in my company wants me to switch over to this role. What does it usually entail?

[Anonymous]

Regulatory affairs works with the in-house lobbyists on regulatory policy but aren’t usually lobbyists. The lobbyists are government affairs.

Regulatory affairs will be the main team interacting with whatever agency or agencies regulate your industry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Regulatory affairs works with the in-house lobbyists on regulatory policy but aren’t usually lobbyists. The lobbyists are government affairs.

Regulatory affairs will be the main team interacting with whatever agency or agencies regulate your industry.

This.

I am a lobbyist and would hate to be on the regulatory side. Love our regulatory team but it just isn’t for me.

[Anonymous]

No. They're just a bridge connecting the regulators and the companies, like scheduling meetings and being the messenger between the two parties. Very little can they exercise any influence and not much skill set required to do the job well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. They're just a bridge connecting the regulators and the companies, like scheduling meetings and being the messenger between the two parties. Very little can they exercise any influence and not much skill set required to do the job well.

I work with a lot of regulatory affairs people at companies and they typically have deep technical expertise plus an ability to explain complex issues at a high level to their colleagues on the business side. Typically they are not the final decision makers but they can have some influence and issue spot. Most of the people I know generally like their jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. They're just a bridge connecting the regulators and the companies, like scheduling meetings and being the messenger between the two parties. Very little can they exercise any influence and not much skill set required to do the job well.

NP. If your industry isn’t highly regulated or you work for a small company the reg affairs staff may not do much, but for industries that are highly regulated and/or companies that are one of bigger players they have specialized reg teams whose knowledge and expertise are invaluable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. They're just a bridge connecting the regulators and the companies, like scheduling meetings and being the messenger between the two parties. Very little can they exercise any influence and not much skill set required to do the job well.

completely wrong. Our regulatory folks are the SMEs. I work in a highly regulated industry(I.e. energy/insurance/banking) as a lobbyist and they know way more than I ever will.