Employment Eligibility Compliance Manager

About the role

Lead the university's employment eligibility compliance program by establishing strategic direction, operational standards, and regulatory compliance practices for I-9, E-Verify, and related activities. Interpret federal and state employment eligibility requirements, develop institutional policies and procedures, and oversee program performance, audit readiness, regulatory compliance, and institutional risk. Lead ICE audits, compliance reviews, and continuous improvement initiatives while providing guidance on complex and nonstandard compliance matters. Monitor regulatory changes and translate requirements into university wide practices and processes. Serve as a primary liaison with university leadership, the Office of General Counsel, HRIS, HR Operations, and other cross functional partners to address compliance risks and improve operational effectiveness.

Responsibilities

• Policy & Program Governance: Interprets federal and state employment-eligibility regulations and establishes institutional operational standards for consistent, university-wide application.
• Owns full institutional accountability for the I-9, E-Verify, and related compliance program, including audit readiness, regulatory alignment, and defensible recordkeeping.
• Approves exception handling and non-standard case determinations, including work-authorization reviews, authorized representative arrangements, and remote-hire risk determinations.
• Owns the Compliance program's business continuity strategy, ensuring the team can sustain federally mandated obligations through staffing disruptions and system outages.
• Develops staffing, resource, and technology recommendations based on compliance trends, workload analysis, audit findings, and operational needs; prepares business cases and funding requests for HR leadership consideration.
• Risk Management & Regulatory Oversight: Identifies enterprise-level compliance risks across the employment-eligibility lifecycle and develops mitigation strategies.
• Approves institutional corrective action plans and audit remediation strategies developed by the Employment Eligibility Compliance Specialist III, ensuring alignment with regulatory obligations and enterprise risk priorities.
• Serves as escalation authority for Final Nonconfirmation (FNC) E-Verify outcomes, suspected document fraud, and complex legal questions, coordinating with the Office of General Counsel on high-risk findings, escalations, and policy exceptions.
• Monitors employment eligibility regulatory developments such as USCIS, DHS, and IER; translates regulatory change into institutional action.
• Serves as a trusted advisor to senior HR leadership on institutional compliance risk, regulatory change, and operational impact.
• Program Improvement & Strategic Leadership: Leads strategic improvements to compliance systems, workflows, technology, and service delivery to advance efficiency, accuracy, and scalability.
• Partners with HRIS to define compliance-related system requirements, prioritize enhancements, and advance automation of I-9/E-Verify workflows.
• Drives continuous improvement of quality assurance methodology in partnership with the Employment Eligibility Compliance Specialist III.
• Cross-Functional Leadership & Stakeholder Partnership: Serves as the primary liaison to the Office of General Counsel on employment-eligibility and immigration matters.
• Partners closely with HR Operations to support efficient onboarding, coordinate employment eligibility workflows, and ensure timely, compliant employment transactions while providing compliance oversight, guidance, and continuous process improvement.
• Partners with HRIS, Payroll, Benefits, Talent Acquisition, International Student & Scholar Services, and Internal Audit to align compliance practice with institutional operations.
• Represents the compliance program in HR leadership discussions and institutional audit or risk assessment forums.
• Reports compliance metrics, audit readiness, regulatory risks, and program performance to the HR Operations Director and Senior HR leadership, providing recommendations on emerging compliance issues and operational impacts.
• Team Leadership & Performance Management: Directs, coaches, and manages performance for the Employment Eligibility Com