Customs Manager

🌐 We're Hiring: Customs Manager📍 Location: United Arab Emirates (Remote) 🕒 Employment Type: Full-Time 💼 Experience Level: Mid-Level to Senior-Level 🌐 Work Arrangement: Fully RemoteAbout UsWe are a globally connected organization focused on maintaining compliant, efficient, transparent, and cost-effective international trade operations.Our teams collaborate across Customs, Trade Compliance, Logistics, Supply Chain, Procurement, Finance, Legal, Tax, Warehousing, Transportation, and Commercial Operations to ensure goods move across borders efficiently while meeting all applicable customs and trade requirements.The RoleWe are seeking an experienced Customs Manager to lead customs operations, import and export compliance, customs classification, valuation, documentation, duty optimization, broker management, customs audits, and trade-process improvement.The successful candidate will ensure that international shipments are accurately classified, properly documented, correctly valued, timely cleared, and compliant with applicable customs and trade requirements, while identifying opportunities to reduce delays, costs, penalties, and compliance risks.Key ResponsibilitiesLead and manage the organization's customs-management function.Develop and implement the customs and trade-compliance strategy.Establish customs policies, procedures, controls, and governance frameworks.Ensure compliant import and export operations across applicable markets.Monitor changes in customs laws, regulations, procedures, tariffs, and trade requirements.Translate regulatory changes into operational requirements.Establish customs-compliance standards across Supply Chain, Logistics, Procurement, Warehousing, and Commercial teams.Maintain strong relationships with customs authorities and relevant government agencies.Coordinate with customs authorities regarding declarations, inspections, classifications, valuations, rulings, disputes, and other matters.Serve as the primary internal point of contact for customs-related issues.Manage relationships with customs brokers, freight forwarders, clearance agents, and other trade-service providers.Establish broker service-level agreements and performance standards.Monitor broker accuracy, clearance times, documentation quality, compliance, and responsiveness.Conduct regular broker-performance reviews.Identify recurring broker errors and develop corrective actions.Ensure customs brokers operate according to approved organizational procedures.Review import and export declarations.Ensure customs entries contain accurate product descriptions, classifications, quantities, values, origins, and supporting documentation.Establish controls to prevent inaccurate or incomplete declarations.Monitor customs-entry quality.Investigate declaration errors and discrepancies.Implement corrective and preventive actions.Manage customs classification activities.Establish and maintain accurate Harmonized System (HS) classifications.Review product specifications and technical information to determine appropriate tariff classifications.Maintain classification databases and supporting documentation.Coordinate classification reviews with Product, Engineering, Procurement, Legal, Tax, and Trade Compliance teams.Monitor changes to tariff schedules and classification requirements.Obtain customs rulings or advance classification decisions where appropriate.Maintain evidence supporting classification decisions.Review customs valuations.Ensure imported goods are appropriately valued for customs purposes.Analyze transaction values, assists, royalties, commissions, freight, insurance, related-party transactions, and other relevant valuation considerations.Identify potential valuation risks.Coordinate with Finance and Tax teams on customs valuation matters.Maintain appropriate valuation documentation.Manage country-of-origin requirements.Determine and document applicable rules of origin.Ensure origin claims are supported by appropriate evidence.Review certificates of origin and supplier origin documentation.Monitor preferential trade-agreement eligibility where applicable.Identify opportunities to reduce duties through legitimate origin and trade-preference programs.Maintain origin documentation and supporting records.Manage customs-duty and tax requirements.Calculate and monitor customs duties, import taxes, fees, and other applicable charges.Review duty payments and customs invoices.Investigate unexpected duty charges.Identify opportunities for legitimate duty optimization.Monitor duty exposure by product, supplier, country, and trade lane.Coordinate with Finance and Tax on customs-duty accounting.Ensure timely payment and reconciliation of customs liabilities.Review customs deposits, guarantees, bonds, or other financial-security requirements where applicable.Identify opportunities for duty recovery.Review overpayments, incorrect classifications, valuation errors, duplicate payments, and other recoverable customs costs.Manage duty-drawback, refunds, exemptions, reliefs, suspensions, or similar programs where applicable.Maintain supporting documentation for duty-recovery programs.Monitor recovery performance.Manage temporary imports, re-exports, bonded movements, free-zone movements, and other special customs procedures where applicable.Ensure appropriate documentation and controls are maintained.Monitor deadlines associated with temporary admissions and customs regimes.Prevent unplanned customs liabilities resulting from expired or incorrectly managed special procedures.Manage customs requirements for free-zone and mainland movements where applicable.Coordinate movement of goods between free zones, ports, warehouses, and customers.Ensure appropriate customs documentation and declarations are completed.Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)Performance will be measured through a combination of compliance, cost, service, and operational KPIs, including:Customs-clearance cycle timeCustoms declaration accuracyCustoms documentation accuracyCustoms compliance rateCustoms penalties and finesCustoms audit findingsCustoms audit closure rateDuty-cost reductionDuty-recovery valueDuty-payment accuracyHS-classification accuracyCountry-of-origin accuracyCustoms-valuation accuracyBroker error rateBroker service-level performanceCustoms-query resolution timeCustoms-inspection rateShipment-hold rateCustoms-related shipment delaysPre-clearance success rateImport/export transaction volumeCustoms-processing cost per shipmentFree-zone/bonded-inventory accuracyCustoms permit complianceCustoms-record completenessRegulatory-change implementation timeCustoms-risk closure rateAutomated customs-processing rateCandidate ProfileThe successful candidate should have experience in customs management, trade compliance, international logistics, import/export operations, freight forwarding, supply chain, or a closely related discipline.This role is suitable for a detail-oriented and commercially minded trade professional who can balance regulatory compliance with efficient cross-border movement of goods.What You'll BringProven experience managing customs and import/export operations.Strong knowledge of customs procedures and international trade requirements.Experience with HS classification, customs valuation, and rules of origin.Strong understanding of import and export documentation.Experience managing customs brokers and freight forwarders.Experience handling customs audits, inspections, queries, and disputes.Strong knowledge of customs-duty calculations and duty-optimization opportunities.Experience with duty refunds, exemptions, drawbacks, bonded arrangements, or similar programs is advantageous.Strong understanding of free-zone, bonded, temporary-import, re-export, and special customs procedures where applicable.Experience with customs permits, licenses, and authorizations.Strong knowledge of customs compliance controls and risk management.Experience with customs master data and trade-compliance systems.Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.Experience reconciling customs declarations with ERP and financial records.Advanced Microsoft Excel skills.Experience with ERP, TMS, WMS, customs-management, or global trade-management systems.Experience with Power BI, Tableau, SQL, or trade-compliance analytics is advantageous.Strong process-improvement and project-management capabilities.Excellent communication and stakeholder-management skills.Strong negotiation and relationship-management capabilities.Ability to work effectively across Customs, Logistics, Procurement, Finance, Tax, Legal, Warehousing, and Commercial teams.Strong leadership and team-development capabilities.Ability to work independently and effectively within a fully remote environment.Relevant degree in International Trade, Customs, Supply Chain Management, Logistics, Business Administration, Law, Finance, or a related discipline.Customs, trade-compliance, CIPS, supply-chain, or equivalent professional certification is advantageous.Strong knowledge of UAE customs and GCC trade procedures is highly desirable.Experience with UAE free zones, ports, airports, and customs-clearance processes is advantageous.Arabic language proficiency is advantageous.