Manager, Trade & Compliance

ROLE OVERVIEW

The Manager - Trade & Compliance owns the end-to-end import/export control of the client's hardware movements: Move Order Request (MOR) processing across client and third-party logistics (3PL) warehouses, review and validation of commercial invoices, packing lists and air/ocean waybills, Harmonized System (HS) classification, Export Control Classification Number (ECCN) determination and Certificate-of-Origin verification, and the resolution of customs blocks and holds. This is a low-volume, high-consequence remit - a single misclassification, missing declaration or unapproved dangerous-goods shipment can halt a delivery, incur penalties or create audit exposure - so the manager's judgment, controls and escalation discipline matter more than throughput.

Leading a distributed team of trade compliance analysts and import/export coordinators, the manager sets priorities and 16x5 coverage, develops the team's technical certifications, and acts as the senior escalation point for customs holds, regulatory rulings and broker performance. The role owns the country-compliance audit tracker, monthly compliance reporting and audit defence, and partners with Order Management, Procurement & Asset Management, Forward Logistics & Inventory, customs brokers and freight forwarders, and the client's own Trade & Compliance organisation. Because Astreya already executes cross-border movements for the client, the manager builds on established broker, forwarder and carrier relationships rather than starting cold.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Team Leadership & People Management

• Lead, coach and develop a team of trade compliance analysts and import/export coordinators, building depth in classification, documentation and customs practice.

• Own workload allocation, 16x5 coverage, capacity planning, hiring and onboarding so the line is resourced against shipment demand and regional time zones.

• Keep the team's technical qualifications current - dangerous-goods (IATA / IMDG) certification, lithium-battery handling and customs training - and evidence it for audit.

• Own SOPs, the logistics & compliance handbook alignment, training and knowledge management so the team executes consistently and audit-ready rather than rediscovering process.

2. Trade Compliance & Documentation Governance

• Own the accuracy and completeness of all trade documentation supporting MORs - commercial invoices, packing lists, air and ocean waybills, and manual customs-clearance documents created where automated pipelines fail.

• Govern HS classification, ECCN determination and Certificate-of-Origin verification, and own the upstream part-number classification gate that every compliant shipment depends on.

• Approve commercial invoices and control location-code and regional entity mappings within the client's commercial-invoice tooling, keeping the underlying data clean.

• Direct proactive regulatory research into shipping laws, import/export restrictions and tax liabilities for new or expanding delivery locations, and convert findings into operating procedure.

• Own Export Electronic Information (EEI) / AES filings, wireless approvals and other specialised compliance gates in scope, escalating to the client where a formal ruling is required.

3. Customs, Dangerous Goods & Brokerage Management

• Act as senior escalation owner for international inbound shipments blocked or held at customs, driving each to release with root cause and preventive action logged.

• Govern and approve the global shipment of hazardous and restricted commodities - notably lithium-ion batteries (UN3481 / UN3091) - setting packaging, labelling and carrier-declaration standards.

• Own the global ATA Carnet programme for temporary cross-border movements of corporate hardware and demonstration equipment.

• Manage customs broker and freight forwarder performance against agreed metrics, and own transportation cost and performance reporting.

• Support regional transportation programmes and reverse-logistics economics, reasoning about duty, import tax and freight cost alongside compliance obligation.

4. Governance, Audit & Stakeholder Management

• Own the service levels and KPIs for the Trade & Compliance line and report performance to client and Astreya leadership.

• Maintain the country-by-country compliance audit ledger and lead audit defence, ensuring evidence is complete and retrievable.

• Produce and present monthly reporting - tickets and bugs resolved, acknowledgment and resolution times, documentation updates and the compliance audit tracker.

• Act as the single point of contact for the client's Trade & Compliance organisation, Order Management, logistics partners and brokers on regulatory and escalation matters.

• Drive continuous improvement, automation and duty / cost-avoidance initiatives across the line.

PERFORMANCE & SERVICE LEVELS

Indicative performance targets for the role; final service levels are confirmed on engagement and measured by location per service line.

• Team SLA Attainment: ensure the Trade & Compliance line meets ≥95% of agreed service levels each month across MOR processing and documentation review.

• Ticket Response by Priority: hold the team to 1 hour for P0 (urgent/high), 3 hours for P1 (normal) and 6 hours for P2/P3/P4 (low) across all regional tickets and bugs in scope.

• Classification & Documentation Accuracy: sustain correct HS codes, ECCN designations and Certificates of Origin on ≥99% of in-scope hardware shipments.

• Customs Compliance: keep 100% of shipments compliant with the client's policy and customs law, evidenced through the country-compliance audit tracker.

• Customs Hold Resolution: own every blocked or held shipment to release, with root cause and preventive action recorded for each occurrence.

• Reporting Cadence: deliver monthly performance and compliance reporting on time, with the audit tracker kept current and audit-ready.

• People & Capability: complete performance reviews and development plans for 100% of direct reports, keep dangerous-goods and customs certifications current, and hold attrition below the agreed target.

• Continuous Improvement: deliver the agreed automation and process-improvement initiatives each year, with duty and cost avoidance tracked as a KPI.

TOOLS & SYSTEMS

• ERP & Trade Platforms: SAP (Trade Processing, Materials Management and Procure-to-Pay) alongside SAP TM freight operations.

• Global Logistics & Order Tools: enterprise order-management systems, global carrier booking consoles (FedEx, DHL, UPS, freight forwarders) and 3PL warehouse portal interfaces.

• Compliance & Invoicing Tooling: automated commercial-invoice generators, centralised location-code registries, HS / ECCN classification records in PLM, and country-compliance audit trackers.

• Reporting & Collaboration Tools: BI / analytics platforms, enterprise ITSM issue tracking and collaborative documentation and audit ledgers.

REQUIRED SKILLS & EXPERIENCE

Mandatory

• 8-12+ years in international trade, customs compliance, global logistics or cross-border supply-chain operations, including 3+ years of people management.

• Expert command of global import/export regulations, HS classifications, ECCN codes, Incoterms (DDP vs. DAP) and Importer / Exporter of Record (IOR / EOR) liabilities.

• Proven ownership of compliance service levels and KPIs across a managed-operations or shared-services team spanning AMER, EMEA, APAC and LATAM.

• Demonstrated authority over dangerous-goods transport regulation (IATA / ADR lithium-battery compliance, UN3481 / UN3091), including approving restricted-commodity shipments.

• Hands-on experience owning customs escalations, broker and forwarder performance, ATA Carnets and audit defence.

• Excellent English communication and stakeholder management, including with senior client stakeholders, brokers and external authorities.

Preferred

• Licensed customs-broker qualification or formal customs training.

• Dangerous Goods (IATA / IMDG) certification.

• Experience managing distributed teams across multiple geographies and time zones.

• Emerging-markets trade experience - for example Brazil DANF-e fiscal workflows or India GST and entity-asset pairing across multiple legal entities.

• SAP Trade / TM module experience and familiarity with automated commercial-invoice generation.

• Lean / continuous-improvement background with a track record of automation and duty or cost avoidance.

SCOPE & SPAN OF CONTROL

Indicative team scope; final structure is confirmed on engagement and by location per service line.

• Direct reports - a team of ~5 trade compliance analysts and import/export coordinators covering import/export control, customs and shipment documentation.

• Functional scope - Hardware Trade & Compliance Management: MOR processing across client and 3PL warehouses; commercial-invoice, packing-list and waybill review; HS / ECCN classification and Certificate-of-Origin verification; ATA Carnets; dangerous-goods approvals; customs block and hold resolution; brokerage performance; and the country-compliance audit tracker.

• Interfaces - partners with Order Management, Procurement & Asset Management, Forward Logistics & Inventory, customs brokers and freight forwarders, and the client's Trade & Compliance organisation.