At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead the Immigration Service Line, driving operational excellence and transformation.
- Company: Join a global leader in professional services with a focus on immigration.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, comprehensive benefits, and opportunities for career advancement.
- Other info: Dynamic role with a focus on innovation, collaboration, and global standards.
- Why this job: Make a significant impact on a global scale while shaping the future of immigration services.
- Qualifications: Senior operational leadership experience in professional services and proven M&A integration skills.
The predicted salary is between 148500 - 181500 £ per year.
The Immigration Chief Operating Officer (COO) is accountable for the day-to-day operation of the Immigration Service Line, ensuring the business operates at scale, delivers sustained margin improvement, and releases capacity to support growth. As a Senior Vice President, this role provides enterprise-level operational leadership across Immigration, with accountability for translating strategic priorities, transformation outcomes, and growth opportunities into a globally consistent, commercially disciplined operating model.
Partnering closely with the Immigration Global Lead and the Office of Transformation, the COO ensures that approved strategic and transformation recommendations are translated into a durable, efficient, and execution-ready operating model. The COO owns the operational, financial, and workforce levers required to turn change into measurable business outcomes across all regions. The role will also lead the operational standardization of M&A integration activity within Immigration, ensuring that acquired or transitioned businesses are brought into consistent operating practices, delivery standards, performance expectations, and governance routines.
Key Accountabilities
- Strategic, Commercial & Transformation Enablement: Partner with the Immigration Global Lead to execute agreed strategic priorities into operational priorities that drive margin expansion, scalability, and capacity release. Work in close collaboration with the Office of Transformation to ensure recommendations are implemented, embedded, and sustained into business-as-usual operations. Take ownership for operational adoption, sustainability, and value realisation of transformation outcomes, including benefits tracking and ongoing optimisation.
- Global Operating Model & Execution Leadership: Own and continuously improve BAU performance of the global operating model, ensuring it supports scalable delivery, consistent quality, and efficient use of resources across all territories. Pull together regional and country leadership teams around a single, globally coherent way of working, balancing standardisation with local regulatory and market requirements.
- M&A Integration, Standardization & Operational Readiness: Lead the operational standardization of M&A activity within Immigration, ensuring acquired, transitioned, or newly integrated teams are brought into a consistent global operating model. Define the core operating standards, governance routines, performance expectations, and integration milestones required for M&A deals to move from transaction close to sustainable business-as-usual operations.
- Margin, Financial & Performance Management: Own, in partnership with Finance, to maintain a single source of truth for financial and operational performance, including revenue, margin, utilisation, working capital, and cash flow. Play a central role in budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning, ensuring operational decisions actively support margin improvement and sustainable growth.
- Workforce Strategy, Capacity & Capability: Collaborate with HR to own execution of the global workforce strategy aligned to growth plans, evolving delivery models, and transformation outcomes. Monitor and actively manage workforce capacity, utilisation, productivity, and turnover to ensure the organisation operates at optimal efficiency.
Experience & Profile
- Senior operational leadership experience ideally within a global professional services firm (e.g. legal, consulting, accounting, advisory, or similar).
- Proven experience embedding large-scale transformation outcomes into BAU operations.
- Demonstrated experience supporting M&A integration, post-deal operational standardization, business integration, or large-scale operating model alignment.
- Understanding of professional services economics, including utilisation, leverage, margin management, capacity planning, and delivery models.
- Strong commercial mindset with a track record of improving margins, scaling operations, and releasing capacity to fund growth.
Chief Operating Officer - Immigration - SVP in London employer: Vialto Partners
Vialto is an exceptional employer that fosters a culture of collaboration, belonging, and innovation, making it an ideal place for professionals looking to make a meaningful impact in the global work landscape. With flexible career opportunities, a commitment to employee growth, and a supportive environment, team members can thrive while working on diverse projects that span across 150 countries. The hybrid work model in vibrant locations like New York or London further enhances the work-life balance, allowing employees to build rewarding careers without borders.
