Legal and compliance resume keywords
We counted the skills in 769 open legal and compliance job postings from 187 employers, including Harvey, iCapital and Adyen. The ones employers ask for most are compliance (66% of postings), negotiation (30%) and sales (25%). 66% of the postings mention AI, though often in the company's description rather than as a skill the job needs.
Top skills and tools in legal and compliance postings
| # | Keyword | Share of postings |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | compliance | 66% |
| 2 | negotiation | 30% |
| 3 | sales | 25% |
| 4 | audit | 23% |
| 5 | contract negotiation | 22% |
| 6 | marketing | 19% |
| 7 | regulatory compliance | 16% |
| 8 | data privacy | 16% |
| 9 | automation | 16% |
| 10 | partnerships | 15% |
| 11 | SaaS | 15% |
| 12 | litigation | 14% |
| 13 | procurement | 12% |
| 14 | payments | 12% |
| 15 | go-to-market | 11% |
| 16 | risk management | 11% |
| 17 | process improvement | 11% |
| 18 | product roadmap | 11% |
| 19 | communications | 11% |
| 20 | counseling | 10% |
| 21 | intellectual property | 9% |
| 22 | cybersecurity | 9% |
| 23 | AML | 8% |
| 24 | onboarding | 8% |
| 25 | M&A | 8% |
| 26 | supply chain | 8% |
| 27 | project management | 7% |
| 28 | banking | 7% |
| 29 | tax | 7% |
| 30 | accounting | 6% |
Share of the 769 postings whose description names the skill (plurals and common spellings, such as “JS” and “JavaScript”, count as one).
Soft skills employers mention
reporting · 26%cross-functional · 21%ownership · 19%leadership · 18%communication · 14%documentation · 13%collaboration · 8%attention to detail · 7%creativity · 5%
Show these through results in your bullets (“led a team of six”) rather than listing them as adjectives.
How to use these keywords on your legal and compliance resume
- Start with the posting, not this list. These are averages across 769 jobs; the one you're applying for has its own priorities. Use this page to spot common gaps, then match the specific posting.
- Name skills the way employers do. If you use “compliance”, “negotiation” and “sales”, write those exact words. Applicant tracking systems and recruiters search for them, and a close synonym can be missed.
- Put each skill in a bullet that shows a result. Naming audit inside a bullet about what you achieved with it, with a number where you can, is stronger than listing it alone in a skills section.
- Add only what's true. If you've worked with “audit”, “contract negotiation” and “marketing” but your resume doesn't say so, add it. If you haven't, leave it out: interviews expose padded resumes quickly.
More about legal and compliance jobs
Resume keywords for other jobs
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- Program and project manager resume keywords
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- Technician resume keywords
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- Supply chain and logistics resume keywords
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How these numbers are calculated
Every figure comes from open legal and compliance job postings on MANY Hired, imported from employers' own career pages. For each posting we pick out the skills, tools, certifications and qualifications its description names, then count how many postings ask for each one. A job counts as legal and compliance by its title. Updated October 28, 2026.