Job Description
Job Description
Position Details
Central Staff Hub, Human Resources
Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK
Full time starting salary is normally in the range £28,762 to £31,411 with potential progression once in post to £35,333
Grade 6
Full Time, Permanent
Closing date: 9th April 2023
Interviews will take place on 14th April 2023
Our offer to you
People are at the heart of what we are and do.
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.
Find out more about the benefits of working for the University of Birmingham
Role Summary
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.
This will involve the following elements of accountability:
- Process control and enhancement
- Advising on immigration matters
- Risk assessment and management
- Enhancing institutional awareness and understanding of its sponsor obligations
Main Duties
Process control and enhancement
- To lead processes (including prioritising actions and changes), that ensure compliance with Skilled Worker and Temporary Worker GAE sponsorship duties are reconciled with how the University is structured and operates.
- Ensure staff understand their role regarding immigration compliance and update them on changes to processes/rules accordingly.
- 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 applications, including assigning Certificates of Sponsorship and making reports via the Sponsor Management 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 compliance with the Immigration Rules prior to Certificate of Sponsorship applications being made.
- To ensure checks with the Employers Checking Service as required within UKVI timeframes.
- To ensure that leave to remain checks are carried out and appropriate action taken within UKVI timeframes.
- To prioritise immigration-related issues requiring attention and ensure that they are dealt with in order of importance and highest impact.
Advising on immigration matters
- To provide advice to Recruiting Managers regarding eligibility to work, influencing their practices and decisions and developing their knowledge and skills.
- To advise on how Certificates of Sponsorship may be obtained including carrying out Temporary Worker GAE assessments.
- To ensure that all the necessary action has been undertaken and correct documentation obtained to support an application for a Certificate of Sponsorship.
- To advise on ATAS process.
- To carry out assessments on eligibility for the Global Talent visa route including issuing supporting letters and answering queries.
- To advise on attendance monitoring processes.
Risk Assessment and Management
- 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.
- Support the delivery of risk mitigation measures associated with the recommended solutions, under the direction of the Immigration Compliance Team Leader.
- Support Immigration Compliance Team Leader and Manager in carrying out audits on files.
Enhancing institutional awareness and understanding of its obligations.
- To support other team members, including the training and development of the Senior Immigration Compliance Administrators.
- 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.
- To ensure that sponsored employees are aware of their obligations.
- To provide advice, explanations on procedures, and feedback to colleagues and managers at all levels in the University on staff-related immigration issues.
- Keep up to date with changes in Immigration rules.
- Represent HR at monthly meetings including the PBS meeting and Visa Assessment Process Working Group.
- The post holder may also be required to carry out other duties as required.
Person Specification
The Officer will have the following experience and personal qualities:
Skills and Experience
- A strong understanding of the Skilled Worker, Global Talent, Temporary Worker GAE visa routes and rules on right to work checks or equivalent.
- 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 oral 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 process 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.
1. Personal Characteristics
- A high degree of initiative, personal judgement, resourcefulness, flexibility and a self-motivating approach.
- Demonstrable tenacity in ensuring compliance is achieved.
- The ability to complete tasks based on only broad direction and with minimum supervision.
- Enthusiasm and willingness to meet challenging demands, working to different people and deadlines.
- Excellent interpersonal skills, including tact and diplomacy.
- The post holder must inspire confidence and command authority with a range of colleagues including academic colleagues, University managers, and external contacts.
- A strong interest in and understanding of key policy issues regarding immigration.
2. Capabilities
Strategic Thinking and Perspective
- Demonstrates understanding of immigration legislation affecting HE and the impact on the University and how this applies to own work.
- Analyses complex information identifies problems, gaps and conflicts impacting on the University.
Organisational Understanding
- Demonstrates understanding of how the University operates and a sensitivity to its political and organisational priorities, and applies this to own work.
Communication
- Uses a range of communication skills and strategies to gain commitment to action or change.
- Expresses complex ideas coherently through a variety of media (especially in written form) and to a range of audiences.
- Displays awareness of own impact and tact and diplomacy.
Working Collaboratively
- Demonstrates collaborative working, builds open, trusting and effective partnerships.
- Promotes knowledge sharing, assistance to others and constructive challenge as appropriate.
Performance and Resource Management
- Actively manages programmes of work and budgets to achieve quality standards and targets.
- A flexible approach with the ability to manage multiple tasks and changing priorities.
- Ensures priorities are balanced, taking appropriate action to keep things on track.
- The ability to work with initiative, to take decisions and think creatively and laterally
Organisational Skills
- Ability to organise own time and prioritise activities.
- Manage and review calendar commitments and negotiate necessary rescheduling to maximise effective use of own time.
- Ensure work is undertaken within the university governance
Informal enquires to Raj Pawar, email: [email protected]
View our staff values and behaviours here
Valuing excellence, sustaining investment
We value diversity and inclusion at the University of Birmingham and welcome applications from all sections of the community and are open to discussions around all forms of flexible working.
Job Type: Full-time
Salary: £28,762.00-£35,333.00 per year
Schedule:
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Birmingham, B15 2TT
Application deadline: 09/04/2023