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Managing Roles

This guides explains how to add and manage roles and reuse those role templates when adding individuals or sponsoring candidates.

Written by Tom Hext

This guide explains how to:

  1. View and manage roles

  2. Create a role manually

  3. Create a role from a Certificate of Sponsorship

  4. Create roles for staff you do not sponsor

  5. Reuse roles in a COS request

  6. Create a role from inside a COS request

  7. Reuse roles when adding and sponsoring employees

Manage Roles

Step 1: Open the Roles Area

  1. Log into Borderless.

  2. Open the left hand menu.

  3. Click Roles.

You will see the roles table, where all saved roles appear.

Roles are reusable templates. They help you avoid re-entering job titles, descriptions, and salary details each time you hire.

Roles can be created in three ways:

  • Automatically (from sponsor licence applications, sponsorship offers and COS requests)

  • Manually (from the Roles table)

Step 2: View an Existing Role

  1. In the roles table, click a role to open it.

  2. Review the role details (job title, job description, salary, and related information).

You can also see where the role has been used, including:

  • COS requests

  • Assigned employees

  • Sponsor licence applications

From the role page, you can open the specific application or record it was used in.

Roles for Sponsored and Non-Sponsored Workers

One role can serve both the workers you sponsor and the workers you do not. When you create a role, Borderless asks whether you plan to use it for sponsored workers, and tailors what it asks for from there.

  • A role for sponsored workers needs a SOC code and the sponsorship details that go with it.

  • A role for non-sponsored workers does not need a SOC code or a sponsorship length. That covers British and Irish staff, students, dependants, graduate visa holders and anyone doing supplementary hours for you.

A role created without a SOC code cannot later be used to sponsor someone. If you need to sponsor a worker on that job, create a sponsored role for it instead.

Whether a particular worker is sponsored is recorded against that person, not against the role, so the same role can hold a mix of both.

Create a Role Manually

Step 1: Start Creating a Role

  1. Go to Roles.

  2. Click Create role.

Step 2: Say Whether the Role Is for Sponsored Workers

Answer the question Borderless opens with. Your answer decides whether it asks for a SOC code and sponsorship details, or leaves them out.

Step 3: Start From a Certificate of Sponsorship, or Skip

You can upload a Certificate of Sponsorship and let Borderless read the role details off it, rather than typing them in.

  1. Upload the CoS, or click to skip this step and enter the role yourself.

If you upload one, Borderless reads the job title, job description, hours per week and pay, and hands you the role form pre-filled so you can check it. Every field stays editable.

A few things to know:

  • The sponsorship length is not taken from the CoS, because a CoS does not state it. You still set that yourself.

  • If the job description on the CoS is longer than the 1,000 character limit, Borderless will tell you and ask you to shorten it.

  • If a document cannot be read, you are dropped into manual entry. It never stops you creating the role.

  • The same step is available when you edit a role.

Step 4: Add a Role Name

  1. Enter a role name.

This is not the job title. It is an internal label to distinguish the role from other roles in your list.

Step 5: Choose the SOC Code

This step applies to roles for sponsored workers. A role for non-sponsored workers does not need a SOC code.

  1. Select the SOC code for the role.

You can do this in two ways:

  • Use smart search by entering a job title or job description and selecting a suggested SOC code

  • Choose the SOC code directly from the list

If required for the SOC code you select, Borderless may ask you to confirm extra business details (for example, regulatory registration in a specific country).

Step 6: Review and Edit the Job Title and Description

After selecting the SOC code, Borderless will present a job title and job description.

  1. Edit both fields to make them specific to your business.

💡 Best practice: avoid using the templated description unchanged. The Home Office may question roles in a sponsor licence or COS request if the description looks copied from a template.

Step 7: Add Sponsorship Length and Salary

Sponsorship length is optional. If the role is for staff you do not sponsor, choose Not applicable and leave it there. A role with no sponsorship length is a perfectly valid role, and shows a dash on the role page rather than a value.

  1. If the role is for sponsored workers, enter how many years of sponsorship you typically offer for it. This becomes the default for workers you assign to the role, and you can change it per person.

  2. Enter salary details:

    • Hours per week

    • Hourly rate

    • Annual salary (auto-calculated)

You can edit any of these fields.

Borderless will apply salary validation to check the role meets minimum requirements. Going-rate checks apply to sponsored workers only. The national minimum wage check applies to everyone.

💡 You can still edit role details later when making an individual sponsorship offer. This role is a template.

Step 8: Create the Role

  1. Click Create role.

The role will be saved and added to your roles table.

Setting a Worker's Sponsorship Length

Sponsorship length is confirmed per worker, not fixed by the role. When you assign a sponsored worker to a role, Borderless asks how many years of sponsorship you offer for this role, pre-filled from the role where it has a value, and you can change it for that person.

Workers you do not sponsor are never asked the question.

Use Roles in a COS Request

Step 1: Open a COS Request and Go to Sponsorship Role

  1. Open an existing COS request.

  2. Go to the Sponsorship role section.

Step 2: Select an Existing Role

  1. When prompted to add a role, choose an existing role from the list.

Borderless will pre-populate the role details.

  1. Review the information.

  2. Click Confirm.

Only roles that can be used for sponsorship appear here, so a role you created for non-sponsored staff will not be offered.

Create a Role Inside a COS Request

Step 1: Choose to Create a New Role

  1. In the COS request role section, click Create a new role (instead of selecting an existing one).

Step 2: Add Role Details

  1. Enter a role name.

  2. Choose the SOC code.

  3. Fill in any missing information required.

  4. Click Create role.

Because you are creating this role inside a sponsorship flow, it is created as a sponsored role and you are not asked whether it is for sponsored workers.

The role will be:

  • Added to the COS request

  • Saved into the main Roles table for reuse later

Use Roles When Adding and Sponsoring Employees

Step 1: Add an Employee Manually

  1. Go to your Employees area.

  2. Click Add employee manually.

Step 2: Select an Existing Role

  1. Choose a role from the existing roles list.

This will auto-fill the job title, job description, and salary details.

Step 3: Edit for the Specific Employee (Optional)

  1. Make any changes needed for that employee.

Edits here will not change the saved role template.

Step 4: Reuse Roles During Sponsorship

When sponsoring employees, you can select an existing role again so you only need to define a role once and reuse it across the platform.

Changing a sponsored worker's role mid-sponsorship

If a sponsored worker's duties change significantly, or their SOC code is no longer appropriate, you may need to assign a new CoS rather than update the existing role. Minor changes to job title or a small shift in duties within the same SOC code can usually be handled by reporting a change of circumstance. However, a change that moves the worker into a different SOC code almost always requires a new CoS and a new Skilled Worker visa application.

Before changing a worker's role, check:

  • Whether the new role falls under the same SOC code as the one on the current CoS

  • Whether the new role meets the minimum salary for that SOC code

  • Whether the new role is still eligible for Skilled Worker sponsorship under the current rules (RQF Level 6 requirement from 22 July 2025, unless on the Immigration Salary List or Temporary Shortage List)

If the new role is in a different SOC code, contact Borderless before making any contractual change so we can assess whether a new CoS and visa application are required.

Finding a Role's ID for Bulk Import

Every role in your Roles table has a unique ID. The Roles table includes a sortable ID column so you can find it quickly. When you bulk import individuals, you reference each person's role by this Role ID rather than typing a SOC code, and Borderless pulls the job description and SOC code from that role automatically. The Role ID must belong to your own account.

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