Compliance Officer

As the Compliance Officer at Athena Care Homes, you will be responsible for ensuring our People and Immigration processes are safe, compliant and well-managed across the organisation. You’ll play a vital role in supporting colleagues, safeguarding our sponsorship licence, and helping us maintain accurate, high-quality records so that every team member’s journey with Athena is smooth, supportive and legally sound.

About Athena Care Homes:
Athena Care Homes is an award winning, family-owned business operating seven residential nursing homes in East Anglia where care and compassion runs through to our very core. 

At Athena we celebrate everyone as an individual. Whether that’s delivering authentic care, supporting our team to make moments for our residents and their loved ones, or whether that’s learning and growing together.

About the role:
As our Compliance Officer, you’ll be the go-to person for all People and immigration compliance matters. You will be responsible for ensuring right-to-work and sponsorship checks are always accurate, complete essential reporting, and help keep our business ready for internal and external audits at all times.

Working closely with the wider People Team, you’ll ensure every team member receives a consistent, transparent and caring experience, from joining us through to any changes in their employment. 

You’ll also maintain our Sponsor Management System (SMS), manage Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS), keep our CoolCare records fully up to date, and provide guidance that helps managers and colleagues feel informed, supported and confident.

Salary:
Up to £36,000 per annum.

Shift Pattern:
37.5 hours per week, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

Location:
Based at either Central Support Office in Laindon, or based in one of our care homes.

Key Duties & Responsibilities:

• Maintain all immigration and sponsorship compliance, including SMS updates, CoS requests, renewals and tracking visa expiry dates.
• Keep Athena fully audit-ready by completing monthly, quarterly and annual compliance checks across HR and immigration activities.
• Carry out thorough right-to-work checks and maintain accurate, GDPR-compliant records.
• Provide guidance and support to sponsored team members and respond to general compliance queries from colleagues.
• Manage data entry and updates in CoolCare, including ensuring HR and payroll information aligns.
• Produce regular compliance and immigration reports for the Head of Governance & Compliance and the Head of People.
• Support continuous improvement by reviewing processes and suggesting ways to strengthen compliance and efficiency.

Training, Skills & Experience Required:

• Experience working within HR, immigration or People compliance, with a strong understanding of right-to-work processes.
• Excellent attention to detail, organisation and record-keeping skills, with the ability to handle sensitive information confidently and securely.
• Strong communication skills, able to explain requirements clearly and provide supportive guidance.
• Experience using HR or compliance systems (CoolCare desirable) and confidence working with data and spreadsheets.

What we can offer:

• Fully comprehensive induction.
• Competitive salary.
• 25 days of holiday per year plus bank holidays.
• Free Blue Light Card & access to the Blue Light discount platform.
• Refer a friend scheme.