Senior Global Mobility Advisor

Practice Group / Department:

Job Description

Norton Rose Fulbright is a global law firm with more than 3,000 lawyers advising clients across locations in the United States, Europe, Canada, Latin America, Asia, Australia, Africa and the Middle East. We provide a full scope of legal services to the world’s preeminent corporations and financial institutions.

Our vision is to be a world class business, profitable, ambitious, cooperative and considerate, supporting our clients and people through our global business principles of Quality, Unity and Integrity.

With over 7,000 employees worldwide, our culture is the thread that connects us. Our strategy and culture are closed connected – defined by shared ambition, global collaboration and a one-team mindset. We believe pioneering work happens when people are empowered to think beyond boundaries, explore new opportunities and grow through diverse experiences. Alongside the right skills and experience, we are looking for people who are innovative, commercially minded, and motivated by the impact of the work they do – ready to share in our ambition and help shape what comes next.

Because while individuals can do well, together we achieve something extraordinary.

The Team

The Senior Global Mobility Advisor’s primary responsibilities are for managing international assignments from start to finish (including managing our internal mobility tracker), reviewing international assignment processes and managing the relationships with global mobility vendors.

Reporting to the Reward Manager based in Newcastle, this role will work within the Reward, Benefits and Global Mobility Team that delivers innovative, strategic and proactive People and Culture objectives and benefits that support the business strategies of the firm.

The Role

The Senior Global Mobility Advisor role at Norton Rose Fulbright is a key part of the wider People and Culture team in London and Newcastle and will work with our International People and Culture Managers across the region.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as a trusted advisor to business leaders across the EMEAPAC network, providing commercially focused global mobility guidance that balances business objectives, employee experience, compliance requirements, and cost considerations.
• Serve as the first point of contact for global mobility enquiries across EMEAPAC, providing timely, accurate, and commercially focused advice to employees, People and Culture teams, and business stakeholders on mobility policies, assignments, immigration, tax, and relocation matters.
• Conduct comprehensive risk assessments for all global mobility cases across EMEAPAC, identifying and mitigating immigration, tax, social security, employment law, and professional practice risks to enable informed decision-making and compliance before approvals are granted.
• Partner with our managed services provider to ensure day to day management of global mobility case population logistics ensuring a seamless experience (including professional tax support services, temporary accommodation, travel, household goods shipment, destination services, international medical insurance and immigration services).
• Meet with all Global Mobility cases prior to their assignment or relocation for a full briefing before our Managed Services provider is instructed to organise the logistics. Maintain regular contact during their assignment and prior to their return to their home office.
• Assist with initial relocation or final repatriation logistics including authorisation of appropriate relocation expenses.
• Drive continuous improvement of global mobility processes, policies and reporting across EMEAPAC in collaboration with international offices to enhance service delivery, stakeholder experience, and operational efficiency for key business stakeholders, employees, and People and Culture teams.
• Regularly assess the performance and value of global mobility vendors, ensuring an excellent employee experience, responsive service to the business, and ongoing cost optimisation.
• Ensure the global mobility policies across EMEAPAC are adhered to by all offices.
• Manage the Global Mobility Cases tracker and flag upcoming arrivals and departures to all relevant stakeholders
• Work with the Early Careers and Resource Management teams to provide advice on international trainee seats in line with budget and immigration requirements and help coordinate international trainee seats across EMEAPAC once international seats are confirmed.
• Responsible for UK immigration compliance. Manage monthly UK visa report to ensure all right to work checks for visa holders are up to date and compliant in line with Home Office Right to Work check legislation. Work closely with People Experience and Recruitment teams to ensure UK immigration compliance
• Work closely with global third-party providers to provide the assignee a seamless experience (including professional tax support services, household goods shipment, destination services, international medical insurance and immigration services).
• Collaborate with external immigration advisors to manage the initiation, extension, and ongoing administration of immigration applications, ensuring compliance, employee support, and an efficient service experience.
• Partner with HR, Tax, Finance and business stakeholder groups to enable ongoing tax and immigration compliance, and improve knowledge and understanding in this area
• Coordinate yearly UK tax reports such as short-term business visitor and the PSA report.
• Partner with external tax advisors and international stakeholders across the EMEAPAC network to coordinate annual tax compliance activities, including reviewing and approving tax filing authorisation lists, communicating tax filing support requirements to the global mobility population, and obtaining compensation and assignment data to ensure accurate and timely tax return preparation.
• Review, validate, and approve global mobility vendor invoices, ensuring costs are accurately allocated and submitted to the relevant internal teams for timely processing and payment.
• Partner with the Finance team to support the annual global mobility budgeting and forecasting process. Monitor expenditure and proactively communicate anticipated variances and cost trends.
• Review, monitor, and approve international remote working requests across EMEAPAC, consulting with internal Tax, Risk & Compliance, and Information Security stakeholders as required to assess and mitigate risks and ensure compliance with firm policies and regulatory requirements
• Monitor emerging immigration, tax, employment, and regulatory developments across EMEAPAC, partnering with internal stakeholders and external advisors to evaluate impacts, mitigate risks, and drive continuous improvement of global mobility policies and practices
• Potential to be involved in other projects across the Global People and Culture team.

Key Skills and Experience

• Experience of dealing with international assignments and relocations within a global organisation and/or professional services partnership (or equivalent).
• Experience of providing advice and guidance to managers and employees on policies and procedures.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills required to deal with external and internal clients at all levels.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to prioritise multiple deadlines
• Ability to build relationships with partners/managers is essential.
• Good IT skills (Excel, HR Information systems).
• Must present a professional, friendly and client-focused approach at all times.
• Should be able to work with minimal supervision.
• Strong team player.
• A legal background is desirable but not essential.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

To attract the best people, we strive to create a diverse and inclusive environment where everyone can bring their whole selves to work, have a sense of belonging, and realize their full career potential. 
Our new enabled work model allows our people to have more flexibility in the way they choose to work from both the office and a remote location, while continuing to deliver the highest standards of service. We offer a range of family friendly and inclusive employment policies and provide access to programmes and services aimed at nurturing our people’s health and overall wellbeing. Find more about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion here.

We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams. We strive to create an inclusive and accessible recruitment process for all candidates. If you require any tailored adjustments or accommodations, please let us know here.