Immigration Compliance Officer - Human Resources - 106910 - Grade 6

The post holder will be responsible for the development, implementation and management of the University's immigration processes for staff under the direction of the Immigration Compliance Team Leader. This will require the post holder to take responsibility for the provision of advice to the University community in managing compliance with sponsor duties, supporting the development of systems and processes to enhance compliance and ensuring that appropriate documentation is obtained and effectively retained.

Responsibilities

• To provide advice, explanations on procedures, updates on changes and feedback to colleagues, new joiners and managers at all levels in the University on staff-related immigration issues.
• To ensure compliance with the Immigration Rules prior to Certificate of Sponsorship/Sponsor Reference number/Global Talent supporting letters being issued.
• To control the administrative aspects of ensuring appropriate documentation is available for Skilled Worker and Temporary Worker GAE sponsored employees/researchers and staff applying under the Global Talent visa routes.
• To manage documentation collation for Certificate of Sponsorship/Sponsor Reference number applications, including assigning Certificates of Sponsorship/Sponsor Reference numbers and making reports via the Sponsor Management System/Sponsor UK system in accordance with UKVI rules and timeframes.
• Ensuring that payments are made using the purchasing card following University rules and governance, ensuring that payments are reconciled/approved in a timely manner.
• To ensure that right to work checks/checks with the Employer Checking Service are carried out and appropriate action taken within UKVI timeframes.
• To advise on how sponsorship may be offered including carrying out Temporary Worker GAE assessments.
• To advise on absence monitoring processes and sponsorship duties.
• To complete file reviews on completed sponsor files to ensure we are retaining documentation as set out in Appendix D, both electronically and manually and to ensure Core systems are updated correctly.
• Continually evaluate all staff related immigration processes to ensure compliance and identify required enhancements and develop/suggest recommendations for potential solutions for consideration by HR management.
• To support other team members, including training and development.
• To co‑lead, with the Immigration Compliance Team Leader, the building of management awareness of sponsor duties and immigration compliance relating to staff through 1:1 briefings, presentations, workshops and the development of supporting materials.
• Represent HR at monthly compliance meetings including the Recruitment team meeting and Visa Assessment Process Working Group.
• The post holder may also be required to carry out other duties as required.

Qualifications

• Minimum OISC level 1/IAA accreditation or member of an approved professional body to provide immigration advice.
• Candidate must have strong understanding of the Skilled Worker, Global Talent, Temporary Worker GAE visa routes and rules on right to work checks.
• Demonstrable experience of managing caseloads, answering complex immigration queries and carrying out visa assessments independently.
• Demonstrable experience of managing compliance with immigration duties, with the ability to quickly develop a detailed understanding of methods, systems and procedures regarding immigration processes, or equivalent.
• Significant and demonstrable job‑related experience of exercising initiative and judgement to identify and resolve daily problems within established processes and policies.
• Demonstrable experience of using excellent communication and presentation skills to provide specialist advice, and direct and influence the actions of colleagues.
• Significant and demonstrable experience of independently planning own work activities to determine priorities and ensure effective service delivery.
• Be able to exercise discretion regarding the handling and management of sensitive information.
• Good IT skills with a demonstrable experience focusing on developing systems and processes to enable compliance monitoring and tracking of detailed individual information.
• Excellent organisational and administrative skills.
• A good team worker with the ability to work effectively with staff at different levels of the organisation.

Role Dimensions, Decision Making and Development Dimensions:

• This role does not manage others.
• This role does not own a budget.
• Problem solving and decision making: The role is thinking and operating within the University's policies and procedures, as well as any statutory requirements. Informed and guided by immigration best practice, they are required to improve processes to ensure efficiency and compliance. In reviewing immigration related processes and identifying improvements, the role will therefore need to be evaluative and analytical.
• The post holder will need to have a tenacity for ensuring compliance and be active in keeping their immigration knowledge up to date.

About the University and Benefits

The University of Birmingham is proud to have been a part of the City of Birmingham and the wider region for over 100 years, and we are equally proud to be recognised as a leading global university. We want to attract talented people from across the city and beyond, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success. We are committed to helping the people who work here to develop through our sector‑leading Birmingham Professional programme which provides all professional services staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential.

With almost 5,000 professional services jobs in a wide‑range of functions in Edgbaston and in our campus in Dubai, there are plenty of opportunities for you to be able to develop your career at the University. We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of staff and that diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and debate. We warmly welcome people from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is at the heart of who and what we are, and how we work.

Supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees and to the success of the University and, depending on the role, we offer a variety of flexible working arrangements. We therefore welcome discussions on all forms of flexible working.

In addition, you will receive a generous package of benefits including 40 days paid holiday a year, one paid day a year for volunteering, occupational sick pay, and a pension scheme. We also have three high quality subsidised day nurseries. The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston and there are excellent transport links to our beautiful campus, including main bus routes and a train station on site. On campus we have a state‑of‑the‑art sports centre with pool, shops, places to eat and drink, our own art gallery, museum and botanical gardens.

We believe there is no such thing as a 'typical' member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone on our website.