Immigration Lead

Help shape a seamless international recruitment journey while protecting compliance across a growing care organisation.

Joining us means taking ownership of a business-critical specialist function, ensuring UK immigration and sponsorship compliance is managed with accuracy, expertise and confidence. You'll play a key role in supporting international colleagues, enabling recruitment across our care homes and providing trusted guidance on complex immigration matters. This is a full-time, office-based role based at our Support Office in Darlington, working 40 hours per week and offering the opportunity to work closely with colleagues across the organisation to support homes nationwide.

As an Immigration Lead, you'll be the organisation's subject matter expert for UK immigration and sponsorship compliance. Working closely with senior People colleagues, Recruitment, HR, Onboarding teams and external legal advisers, you'll oversee every aspect of sponsorship licence management, Skilled Worker visas and right-to-work compliance, ensuring legal obligations are met while delivering an excellent experience for international recruits.

About the role

This is a specialist role responsible for leading immigration and sponsorship compliance across a large, multi-site organisation. You'll manage the sponsorship licence, ensuring all UKVI obligations are met and maintaining full audit readiness through accurate record keeping, reporting and proactive compliance monitoring.

You'll oversee the end-to-end Skilled Worker visa and Certificate of Sponsorship process, assessing eligibility, supporting candidates through their applications and working closely with hiring managers, recruiters and legal advisers to ensure applications are completed efficiently and compliantly.

Working across the wider People function, you'll provide expert advice on right-to-work requirements, sponsored worker monitoring and immigration legislation, helping colleagues make informed decisions while minimising organisational risk. You'll also develop policies, deliver training, monitor legislative changes and lead internal audits to ensure immigration compliance remains robust across the business.

About you

You'll be an experienced immigration professional with strong knowledge of UK sponsorship and right-to-work legislation, ideally gained within a large or complex organisation. Confident managing competing priorities, you'll combine excellent attention to detail with the ability to interpret legislation and apply it in a practical, commercial way.

You'll be comfortable building relationships with colleagues at all levels, providing clear advice on complex matters and supporting international candidates with empathy and professionalism throughout their journey.

Organised, proactive and highly credible, you'll take pride in maintaining exceptional standards of compliance while identifying opportunities to improve processes, reduce risk and strengthen organisational capability.

What you'll bring

Essential

Proven experience managing UK sponsorship licence compliance and Skilled Worker visa processes.

In-depth knowledge of UK immigration legislation, UKVI sponsorship requirements and right-to-work compliance.

Experience maintaining Sponsorship Management System (SMS) records and managing Certificates of Sponsorship.

Strong understanding of UKVI reporting requirements, audit preparation and compliance monitoring.

Excellent organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and meet statutory deadlines.

Strong communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to explain complex immigration matters clearly.

Experience developing policies, delivering guidance or training, and supporting colleagues on immigration compliance.

Confident IT skills, including Microsoft Office and case or compliance management systems.

Desirable

Experience within healthcare, social care or another highly regulated environment.

Experience managing UKVI compliance visits or external immigration audits.

Experience working alongside external immigration solicitors or legal advisers.

Relevant HR, legal or immigration qualification.

Additional information

This is a specialist role within the People Directorate, working closely with senior stakeholders across Recruitment, HR and Operations. You'll act as the organisation's lead expert on immigration compliance, supporting international recruitment while ensuring sponsorship obligations are consistently met and the organisation remains fully prepared for UKVI audit and inspection.

As with all colleagues, you'll be expected to comply with our policies relating to health and safety, infection prevention and control, safeguarding and all relevant regulatory requirements. From time to time, you may be asked to undertake other duties appropriate to the role, and the responsibilities outlined above may be reasonably reviewed and updated following consultation to reflect business needs