Director, Customs and Foreign Trade

Why Ryan?

• Competitive Compensation and Benefits
• Business Connectivity Reimbursement (Phone/Internet)
• Gym Membership or Equipment Reimbursement
• LinkedIn Learning Subscription
• Flexible Work Environment
• Tuition Reimbursement After One Year of Service
• Accelerated Career Path
• Award-Winning Culture & Community Outreach

Most leadership roles ask you to inherit a business. This role offers the opportunity to help build one.

Ryan has a clear ambition: to build one of the world's leading Customs and Foreign Trade practices.

We are investing in talent, innovation, technology, and international capability to create a market-leading business recognised for technical excellence, commercial impact, and transformative client solutions.

As we accelerate this growth, we are seeking an entrepreneurial Director to help shape the next chapter of our journey. This is an opportunity to join at a pivotal stage, influence strategy, build client relationships, develop new service offerings, grow exceptional teams, and establish a lasting market legacy.

For the right individual, this is more than a leadership role, it is an opportunity to help build something unique.

As a Director, you will be responsible for leading and growing a significant part of the Customs and Foreign Trade practice.

You will act as a trusted advisor to senior executives and multinational organisations, lead complex and strategically important engagements, drive revenue growth, and help define the future direction of our service offerings. You will work across multiple industries and sectors, supporting clients facing increasingly complex international trade challenges.

This is a highly visible leadership role that combines technical excellence, commercial leadership, innovation, people development, and market influence.

We are looking for someone who is excited by the opportunity to build, lead, and grow. Someone who sees the changing trade environment not simply as a compliance challenge, but as an opportunity to create value for clients and shape the future of our profession.

This position is located in Manchester, UK or London, UK

Duties and responsibilities, as they align to Ryan’s Key Results

Strategic Client Leadership:

• Acting as a trusted advisor to C-suite executives, tax leaders, finance leaders, supply chain leaders, and boards.

• Leading complex and high-profile Customs and Foreign Trade engagements.

• Helping clients navigate geopolitical, regulatory, operational, and commercial challenges.

• Delivering innovative and commercially focused solutions that create measurable client value.

• Building long-term strategic client relationships that drive sustained growth.

Business Development & Practice Growth:

• Driving revenue growth and contributing to the achievement of ambitious business objectives.

• Leading strategic client development initiatives and expanding key account relationships.

• Identifying, developing, and converting significant new business opportunities.

• Developing referral networks, alliances, and strategic partnerships.

• Contributing to service line strategy and investment priorities.

• Supporting the expansion of services across geographies and sectors.

Innovation & Service Development:

• Leading the development of innovative and differentiated client solutions.

• Supporting the creation of technology-enabled and alternative delivery products and services.

• Identifying opportunities to leverage data, analytics, automation, and AI within service delivery.

• Helping transform niche technical expertise into scalable solutions.

• Supporting the firm's ambition to become a recognised market leader in trade innovation.

Market Leadership & Eminence:

• Building a strong market profile for both yourself and the firm.

• Representing Ryan at external and internal events and consultations.

• Leading thought leadership initiatives.

• Influencing industry discussions and helping shape the future trade agenda.

• Establishing Ryan as a recognised authority within Customs and Foreign Trade.

Leadership & Talent Development:

• Building and leading high-performing teams.

• Coaching, mentoring, and developing future leaders.

• Supporting recruitment, succession planning, and talent retention initiatives.

• Fostering a collaborative, inclusive, and entrepreneurial culture.

• Driving excellence, accountability, and continuous improvement across the practice.

Education and Experience:

We are seeking an established leader with a reputation for technical excellence, commercial success, and strong client relationships.

Essential Experience:

• Significant experience within Customs and Foreign Trade advisory, industry, government, legal, or a related environment.

• Deep technical expertise across customs compliance and advisory matters, including classification, valuation, origin, customs procedures, reliefs, governance, audits, investigations, management operating model and strategic trade planning.

• Demonstrated success leading large and complex client engagements or trade programmes.

• Strong commercial track record, including business development, relationship management, and revenue generation or the equivalent in industry, government, legal or related environment.

• Experience building and maintaining senior stakeholder relationships.

• Proven leadership capability with experience developing and managing high-performing teams.

• Strong communication, influencing, and strategic thinking skills.

• Ability to balance technical excellence with commercial pragmatism and client outcomes.

Highly Desirable Experience

Experience in one or more of the following areas would be particularly attractive:

• Excise duties and associated compliance obligations.

• Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).

• EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).

• Trade remedies and trade defence measures.

• Export controls and sanctions.

• Supply chain and trade transformation.

• Customs brokerage and managed compliance services.

• Product development and commercialisation.

• Technology-enabled service delivery.

• Digital products, automation, analytics, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions.

• International and cross-border advisory leadership.

• Building and scaling consultancy teams, service lines, or business units.

The Type of Person Who Will Thrive Here

You are naturally curious about global trade, economics, politics, regulation, and emerging market developments.

You are entrepreneurial and ambitious, with the vision and energy to help build a market-leading business.

You enjoy building relationships, developing people, solving complex challenges, and creating opportunities where others see obstacles.

Most importantly, you are motivated by the opportunity to leave a lasting impact on clients, colleagues, and the future direction of the profession.

Why Join Ryan?

This is more than a Director role.

It is an opportunity to help create one of the most ambitious Customs and Foreign Trade practices in the market.

You will benefit from:

• A clear and ambitious growth strategy backed by investment.

• The opportunity to help shape and lead a rapidly growing business.

• Exposure to some of the most strategically important international trade issues facing organisations today.

• A platform to continue building your personal market profile and thought leadership presence.

• Being surrounded by an innovative, forward-thinking culture.

• Access to a broad international client base and global network of specialists.

• A collaborative culture that empowers leaders to innovate and drive change.

• Structured leadership development, coaching, and mentoring support.

• Genuine opportunities to influence strategy, investment decisions, and future growth.

• The chance to build a legacy by developing the next generation of Customs & Foreign Trade leaders.

If you are looking for a career-defining leadership opportunity where you can combine technical excellence, commercial growth, innovation, and market influence while helping build something truly exceptional, we would love to hear from you.