Immigration Specialist

APPOINTMENT TYPE: Full-Time Regular (FTR)

LOCATION: Oak Ridge, TN

SALARY RANGE: $27.01 - $37.58 per hour

PURPOSE:

The Immigration Specialist manages institutional immigration sponsorship for foreign nationals, ensuring regulatory compliance and effective coordination with federal agencies and internal stakeholders. Provides specialized guidance on visa eligibility, status maintenance, and immigration compliance while managing high volume case activity for hundreds of participants annually. Acts as a liaison with government agencies and program sponsors, researching and applying complex immigration regulations across diverse visa categories and countries of origin.

Administer and coordinate institutional immigration sponsorship programs for foreign nationals, ensuring timely, accurate, and compliant processing in accordance with requirements set by program sponsors and federal agencies, U.S. embassies, and consulates.
• Serve as a primary liaison and subject matter expert for immigration matters, working with internal program teams and external stakeholders to support sponsorship activities and resolve complex case issues.
• Collaborate with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Workforce Development (WD) program teams to support the onboarding and appointment of foreign national participants, providing training, guidance, and clear communication of immigration policies, procedures, and regulatory obligations to staff and participants.
• Contribute to the development, implementation, and maintenance of standardized protocols and procedures for immigration case processing and stakeholder communication, ensuring consistency, equity, and compliance across programs.
• Support administration of the J 1 Exchange Visitor Program, serving as a designated immigration resource for Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) and ORAU. This includes assisting with Department of State annual reporting, program re designation applications, and ongoing compliance as an Alternate Responsible Officer.
• Research federal regulations, review taxation laws, respond to questions, solve problems, resolve issues, and advise staff on handling unusual circumstances.
• Actively contribute to the digital modernization initiatives of the directorate by supporting the integration and implementation of AI tools and technologies into workflows and other operational processes. This includes identifying opportunities where AI can enhance efficiency, accuracy, and decision-making, fostering a culture of innovation and adaptability, and collaborating with stakeholders to ensure seamless adoption. By embracing AI-driven solutions, employees play a critical role in advancing the directorate's strategic objectives and positioning the organization as a leader in leveraging emerging technologies for improved performance and outcomes.

Associate's degree in business, scientific, technical, education or related field and 6-10 years of job-related experience. An equivalent combination of education and experience performing duties as described may be substituted for the minimum requirements.

• Experience in sponsoring immigration statuses for foreign nationals is required. Eligibility for type of visa status varies by individual, so correct determinations must be made to enable timely activation and/or continuation of appointments, and to obtain approval for visa petitions and/or transfers of an immigration status.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills including the ability to communicate with individuals with limited English language skills is required.
• Must have proven skills for critical thinking, synthesis, problem solving, work organization, and priority setting.
• Experience in working with the university and federal laboratory communities of faculty, research mentors, graduate students, and postgraduates including academic research activities and student research training needs to effectively oversee the processing of the appropriate immigration status for each participant, or have worked in the legal profession in a practice specializing in immigration law is preferred.
• To understand the issues and trends in academic studies and research, experience in working with the federal agencies, laboratories, and organizations involved in education and academic research is preferred.
• Should be familiar with the various tasks in science education/research experience participant programs.
• Knowledge of current immigration policies, procedures and documentation requirements including related U.S. Dept of Labor and State prevailing wage concepts and approval processes.
• Knowledge of the research training and experience needs of foreign national students, postgraduates, postdoctoral fellows, and university/college faculty.
• Knowledge of how to train and oversee others in the preparation of correct and valid immigration status applications for program participants, both non-employee and ORAU employee, and their dependents.
• Must routinely employ research, critical thinking and synthesis skills to determine the appropriate processes to follow for each foreign national applicant, and to resolve the myriad issues unique to each foreign national. These include immigration issues for family members, taxability of salary or stipend, the implications of travel on immigration status, preparation for and response to internal and external audits, etc.
• Ability to develop effective working relationships with sponsors, state and federal agencies, Congressional offices, and the ability to design policies and procedures that can be effectively communicated to non-English speaking individuals who are not familiar with U.S. laws and customs is required.
• Must have definitive knowledge to resolve problems independently (unless legal advice is needed) and to coordinate the work of program specialists who carry out the day-to-day processes of obtaining and maintaining appropriate visa statuses for all participants.
• Knowledge of Department of Energy (DOE), ORAU/ORISE, and STEM WD policies, requirements, and procedures involved in the recruiting, application processing, and selection of applicants as well as the administrative tasks related to authorizing travel and to providing payments to or for participants is required.
• Obtaining annual refresher training through the American Council on International Personnel (ACIP) and the Federal Publications Seminar on Business Immigration Law is required.
• Must possess the ability to understand, develop, and implement Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to solve complex problems, optimize processes, and enhance decision-making. This includes understanding AI concepts, ethical considerations, and the ability to interpret and apply to real-world challenges.

*The candidate's starting salary will be determined upon hire and ORAU will use salary survey data, internal comparators, and the candidate's qualifications to determine salary.

TOTAL REWARDS:

ORAU has a strategic approach to providing total rewards to employees through a fair, equitable, and competitive total compensation package. The goal of our total rewards system is to integrate compensation, benefits, work-life balance, performance, recognition, development, and career opportunities to attract, engage, and retain the talent required to achieve ORAU's business objectives. The benefit component of our total rewards program supports business goals by offering the following benefits based on employee eligibility:

• Legally required benefits
• Group Health insurance including: Medical, Prescription, Dental, and Vision
• Retirement plan contribution matching
• Disability insurance
• Group life insurance
• Travel Accident Insurance
• Section 125 reimbursement accounts
• Other voluntary employee paid benefit and insurance offerings

The ORAU total reward package also promotes work-life balance. Mindful of the need for employees to care for themselves and their families, ORAU offers the following additional work-life benefits based on employee eligibility:

• Telework
• Paid Time Off (PTO)
• Paid Holidays
• Flexible work schedules or compressed work weeks
• Occupational Health and Wellness Programs
• Employee Assistance Program