Job Details

Employment Eligibility Compliance Manager

Position Number: 9872514
Location: Salt Lake City, United States
Position Type: Human Resources

Employment Eligibility Compliance Manager

Job Summary

Employment Eligibility Compliance Management
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.

Learn more about the great benefits of working for University of Utah: benefits.utah.edu.

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 Compliance team staffwhile providing strategic leadership and oversight for the Employment Eligibility Compliance program.
Coordinates workload distribution across the Employment Eligibility Compliance team, monitors operational capacity, and recommends staffing adjustments or additional resources to HR leadership when supported by workload analysis and compliance trends.
Owns the Compliance team training strategy, including I-9 certification and E-Verify curricula developed in partnership with HRIS.
Reviews Compliance program quality metrics and team performance trends to inform staffing, training, and process decisions.
Fosters a culture of accuracy, accountability, and continuous improvement across the Employment Eligibility Compliance team.
Manages day-to-day staff scheduling, workload assignments, onboarding, training, and performance management activities for Employment Eligibility Compliance staff.

Manage the activities of supervisors and/or individual contributors. Responsible for hiring, firing, performance appraisals, and pay reviews. Broad knowledge of the field with demonstrated leadership skills.

Minimum Qualifications
EQUIVALENCY STATEMENT: 1 year of higher education can be substituted for 1 year of directly related work experience (Example: bachelor's degree = 4 years of directly related work experience).

Manager, Employment Eligibility Compliance Management: Requires a bachelor's (or equivalency) + 6 years or a master's (or equivalency) + 4 years of directly related work experience.

Preferences
Employment Eligibility Compliance Management Preferences:
Comfortable navigating ambiguity while leading a newly formed team. Ability to work in changing systems. Familiar with I-9 compliance and regulations including international hires.

Special Instructions

Requisition Number: PRN46372B
Full Time or Part Time? Full Time
Work Schedule Summary: Monday through Friday 8am-5pmThe Employment Eligibility Compliance Manager will work a hybrid schedule of 3 days from our Downtown SLC office and 2 days working remote.Work location expectations will follow University policy for remote, hybrid, and in-person work arrangements and are subject to change based on the business needs of the unit.
Department: 00410 - Human Resources
Location: Campus
Pay Rate Range: $75,000 to $80,000
Close Date: 10/30/2026
Open Until Filled:

To apply, visit <a href=""https://apptrkr.com/9872514"">https://utah.peopleadmin.com/postings/210162