Head of Global Mobility

Head of Global Mobility
Function: HR & Resourcing
Remit: Global
Employment Type: Full-Time
Reporting to: Chief People Officer
Role Purpose
The Head of Global Mobility owns the strategy, policy and day-to-day operation of Designer Group's international workforce deployment.
This role ensures that engineers, tradespeople and project leadership can be mobilised across borders quickly, compliantly and cost-effectively — covering immigration and visas, relocation, tax and social security exposure, and mobility policy — in direct support of the Group's Energy & Industrial, Data Centres, Building Services and Modular Construction project pipeline.
Key Responsibilities
Mobility strategy & policy: Design and own Designer Group's global mobility framework — policies, assignment types (short-term, long-term, commuter, permanent transfer) and cost bands — aligned to the Group's growth.
Immigration & compliance: Manage work permit, visa and right-to-work processes across all operating geographies, working with external immigration counsel and in-country partners to keep every mobilisation compliant and audit-ready.
Cross-border deployment planning: Partner with the sector Executive Directors and the TA Team to forecast mobility demand against the live project pipeline and build deployment plans ahead of need.
Relocation & logistics: Oversee end-to-end relocation support — travel, accommodation, family/dependant support and settling-in services — working closely with the Logistics Coordinator to keep site mobilisation on schedule.
Tax, social security & risk: Manage exposure to permanent establishment risk, payroll tax and social security obligations across jurisdictions, in partnership with Finance, Legal and external tax advisors.
Vendor & cost management: Select and manage relocation, immigration and destination-service vendors; own the global mobility budget and report on cost-per-mobilisation and cycle time.
Contractor & supply chain mobility: Work with the Contractor Administrator to extend appropriate mobility support and compliance oversight to contingent and subcontracted labour moving between projects.
Systems & process: Introduce and maintain mobility tracking tools and case management, and build self-service guidance for line managers and mobile employees.
Stakeholder management: Act as the primary point of contact for mobility matters with the Chief People Officer, sector leadership, Finance, Legal and external authorities.
Requirements
What We're Looking For
Experience: 10+ years in global mobility, international immigration, ideally within construction, engineering, EPC or another project-based multinational environment.
Technical knowledge: Strong working knowledge of immigration and right-to-work requirements across Ireland, the UK and the EU; immigration regimes is a strong advantage.
Compliance mindset: Comfortable owning tax, social security and permanent establishment risk conversations alongside Finance and Legal, without needing to be the technical expert in either.
Stakeholder skills: Able to influence senior sector leadership and project directors, and to support tradespeople and their families through what is often a significant personal transition.
Operational rigour: A structured, process-driven approach — this role sits where employee experience, compliance risk and project delivery deadlines all meet.
Travel: Willingness to travel internationally as the mobility caseload requires.
Benefits
About Designer Group
Designer Group is a leading mechanical & electrical (M&E) engineering, EPC and modular construction contractor, founded in Dublin in 1992.
The Group delivers complex, mission-critical projects across four market sectors — Energy & Industrial, Data Centres, Building Services and Modular Construction — and operates across Ireland, the UK, Europe, Africa, North America and Mexico.
As the project pipeline grows across these regions, Designer Group is building a dedicated Global Mobility function to move the right specialist talent to the right project, compliantly and cost-effectively, wherever in the world it is needed.
Why Join Designer Group
This is a newly-created leadership role, built to keep pace with a project pipeline spanning six regions and four market sectors.
You'll build the Global Mobility function from the ground up — its policy, its team and its systems — with direct visibility to the Chief People Officer and the Group's sector leadership.
This is an opportunity to shape how Designer Group mobilises its people internationally and to build a function that directly supports the Group's continued global expansion.
Apply
If you have extensive Global Mobility experience and want the opportunity to build and lead an international mobility function within a fast-growing engineering and construction business, we would like to hear from you.
Apply now to join Designer Group as Head of Global Mobility.

Work arrangement
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