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Trade Compliance Manager

Role Title:

Location:

Needham, MA

Job Advert Description

The Trade Compliance Manager is responsible to lead and manage Clarks America’s trade compliance across the supply chain operations. The Compliance Manager oversees multiple programs and processes aligning our procurement, shipping, and delivery efforts to ensure compliance with US Import Regulations outlined by the US Dept of Commerce, Customs and Border protection, Department of Treasury, USF&W & FTC and any other special trade programs or regulatory agencies. The Compliance Manager monitors and directs Customs Compliance and continuing training programs as it relates to trade compliance.

What You'll Do:

Own and drive the strategic Trade Compliance for the Clarks Americas.

Trade Compliance Includes: Ensuring Clarks Americas comply with all US and Canadian Customs regulations to support the import of footwear into each country.

Collaborate with Global Supply Chain including Senior Management, Legal, Product, Logistics, Quality and Regulatory, Finance, Sourcing, etc., to drive strategic direction of trade compliance processes to ensure robust compliance management that meets current requirements of all countries and regions with which business is being conducted.
Work within the Americas to identify and implement short term and long-term strategic cost savings strategies, e.g. Duty engineering, FTA and FSFE
- Duty engineering is the act of suggesting design changes to a shoe to get a more favourable duty rate which affect the profit margin of a shoe. For example, removing a heal support in an athletic shoe to qualify the the shoe as non-athletic this design change reduces the duty from 20% to 9%.
- Free Trade Agreement Analysis (FTA) CPTPP and USMCA. Ensure that the shoes produced in the qualifying countries meet every requirement to qualify for the free or lower duty rate which is all dependent of each agreements qualification.
- First Sale for Export (FSFE) The First Sale Rule enables U.S. companies to significantly reduce landed costs to capture duty and tax savings. A middleman is introduced into the transaction creating a three-tier transaction the buyer, middleman and the factory. The transaction between the middleman and the factory are at arm’s length which is minus the overhead costs the buyer can declare the lower valuation between the middleman and the factory thus creating the duty savings

Work with local management, businesses and IT to address unique needs appropriately. Leading projects and programs in line with agreed strategy and pipeline.
Develop and conduct regular global trade compliance trainings across businesses and functions.
Participate in regular external meetings/trainings funnel down any communications and/or training to the relevant personnel within the Americas and communicate any issues requiring escalation to the Executive Leadership Team
Keep abreast of pertinent regulations updates or changes that effect the business and respond accordingly to update all functions/personnel in the Americas that are affected by changes.

Includes but not limited to:

New Free trade agreements
Potential duty changes due to a new congressional law or presidential executive orders
Sourcing decisions based upon a country’s political climate.
Trade sanctions announcements.
New regulations regarding labelling

Ability to interpret multiple, complex sets of regulations and determine what is relevant for each function of the Americas business
Mitigate risk to the organization through proactive process management ensuring that all activities are carried out in accordance with Clarks Americas policies, standards, and applicable laws in the area of import and export compliance.
Audit preparation with US Customs and the Canadian Border Service Agency to ensure a smooth and successful audit is accomplished.
Manage trade compliance processes and performance
Develop and implement methods to communicate trade compliance performance for sites and functions in the division.
Initiate audits and support sites in internal assessments, desk audits, completion of post audit follow-up actions and evaluate common themes in audits and develop programs to proactively address issues across sites in the region.
Drive continuous process improvements to maximize customer delivery, quality, operational excellence and financial benefits associated with corporate standards and industry best practices.
Interface with internal and external customers, freight forwarders, Customs and other governmental authorities, customs brokers, on all matters pertaining to customs and import and export regulation
Manage CTPAT program and maintain the CTPAT portal
Classify products for the region using Range tracker and other mechanisms to ensure load into SAP Develop and maintain up-to-date article classification databases for the Americas
Track performance of Customs’ KPIs for monthly reporting
Coordinate record keeping methods across multi office locations.
Maintain current, up to date manuals concerning regional regulatory practices Provide direction to customs brokers to make corrections to customs entries when errors are found from internal Auditing effort by team
Manage small package clearance and queries from DHL, FedEx and UPS and update S&OP’s as needed

What You'll Bring With You:

5 to 8 years’ experience in the following:

Knowledge of Federal import trade regulations, as enforced by various government agencies, including US Customs and Border Protection, Food and Drug Administration, Environmental Protections Agency, United States Department of Agriculture, United States Fish and Wildlife Services and others
Knowledge of the International Freight Industry
Working knowledge of US and Canada Harmonized Tariff Classification
Awareness of principles of Warehousing and Distribution and FTZ management
HTS Classification efficiency and knowledge
Canada HS classification knowledge
Licensed Broker required
Experience in application of regulatory requirements, forms, licenses and certifications affecting imported and exported products.
Project Management experience in the Regulatory arena

About Clarks

Clarks, based in Somerset, England, has been at the forefront of innovative shoemaking since its foundation in 1825, when brothers James and Cyrus Clark made a slipper from sheepskin off-cuts. At the time it was ground-breaking: a combination of invention and craftsmanship that has remained at the heart of what the brand does now. In the Clarks archive of more than 22,000 pairs are shoes that have sparked revolutions and defined generations. From the original Clarks Desert Boot, first designed by Nathan Clark and launched in 1950, to the iconic Wallabee, each design has an instantly recognizable signature that makes it unmistakably Clarks.

This season, we’re proud to introduce the Clarks Collective: five incredible activists championing authentic social change. From mental health awareness and LGBTQ+ rights to greater racial equality, these trailblazers are committed to creating a brighter future for us all – bringing to life Clarks’ new global campaign, For the World Ahead. Through spotlighting their stories and supporting their chosen charities and initiatives, we’re ready to lead the way. After all, we’re originators, not imitators. It’s who we are, who we’ve always been. And to change the world of tomorrow, we’re doing things differently today.

Clarks International believes that the principle of equality of opportunity is fundamental to the company's operations. Our long held aim is to provide just and fair treatment for all employees. We will not discriminate on the grounds of sex, age, disability, marital status, colour, race, religion, ethnic origin, sexual orientation or gender reassignmen

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