Customs and Trade Compliance Manager

Customs & Trade Compliance Manager 

Leeds / Hybrid 

About the role

As our organization continues to grow and expand into new territories and new product categories, we now have an opportunity for a Customs and Trade Compliance Manager to join our EMEA Operations team.

The Customs and Compliance Manager plays a crucial role in ensuring that our international trade activities comply with relevant laws and regulations and is key to ensuring the seamless flow of goods across the World. They align with both regulatory requirements and our commitment to operational excellence.

The successful candidate will work with our global Operations, Compliance and Legal teams to implement and maintain best practices and procedures . They will have the ability to apply critical thinking to adapt and create solutions in response to change and to challenges faced both internally and externally.

We work flexibly and anticipate a mix of 3 days in the office and 2 days from home but this may change if business needs alter.

• Develop and maintain a robust customs compliance programe to support our EMEA business, establishing guidelines and framework to ensure compliance with applicable trade laws and regulations on both import and export, as well communicating these requirements to internal and external partners.
• Perform internal audits to ensure compliance framework is adhered to, and records kept are accurate and accessible
• Work with customs brokers to rectify any discrepancies identified

• Continuously update and refresh working knowledge of the ever-changing customs landscape
• Communicate changes in regulations and their implications to the relevant stakeholders
• Review and update internal policies and SOPs in line with new and changing regulations

• Supplier relationship management
• Work closely with our external partners to facilitate customs clearance
• Conduct regular business reviews with our brokers, establishing and reviewing KPIs and other metrics to monitor performance

• Partner with cross functional teams across the company globally, to ensure compliance, mitigate risk and avoid disruption to our supply chain operations. This is particularly important as we expand into new markets and new product categories.
• Provide commercially focused advice on all aspects of customs/import taxes
• Proactively identify opportunities to reduce cost relating to import and export, mitigate risks and improve cash flow, and project work such as customs warehousing, AEO accreditation
• Work with global compliance teams and North America customs to streamline and standardise processes and procedures, and support roll-out of best practice
• Partner with legal and engineering to accurately classify goods and standardise globally
• Identify opportunities to digitalise the function, leveraging software tools to automate process and ensure accurate record keeping
• Develop and deliver training on areas such as Customs Documentation to internal colleagues
• Represent the company in discussions with local customs authorities, and manage any customs audits

ATTRIBUTES & SKILLS (REQUIREMENTS):

• Extensive knowledge of international customs processes and procedures and indirect taxes applicable to global supply chains
• Working knowledge of WTO, regional and local import tariff rules and practices
• Practical experience of customs/import tax valuation and compliance processes, from extraction of data and preparation of documentation to the handling of disputes
• Sound commercial awareness and understanding of business drivers
• High level of attention to detail
• Self-starter with ability to work effectively in international, multicultural teams
• Strong analytical skills, ability to see the bigger picture and continuously identify new ways of improving our ways of working
• Thrives in a fast-paced environment, with the ability to multitask and prioritise workload accordingly
• Ability to work collaboratively with a range of business departments
• Problem-solving mindset
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with fluency in English – French would be advantageous
• Highly numerate with good level of proficiency with Microsoft Excel

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