Customs Compliance Manager

Position Overview:

The Customs Compliance Manager oversees all import and export compliance activities for the distribution of aviation repair parts and components within the United States and Canada. This role ensures that the company’s global shipments adhere to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulations, Export Administration Regulations (EAR), and all aviation-specific requirements related to controlled parts, airworthiness documentation, and traceability. The manager may lead a team of compliance professionals responsible for supporting accurate, timely, and fully compliant cross-border shipments in a highly regulated industry.

Key Responsibilities:

Regulatory Compliance and Key US Responsibilities:

• Ensure all inbound and outbound aviation repair parts comply with U.S. customs laws, the Export Administration Regulation (EAR), and any applicable FAA, DOT, or international aviation regulations.
• Maintain expert knowledge of regulatory requirements involving harmonized tariff classification, country-of-origin, valuation, and export control classifications (ECCN) to include country of melt and pour.
• Ensure aviation-specific compliance, including appropriate handling of airworthiness tags (8130-3/EASA Form 1), traceability documentation, and part certification requirements as it relates to the proper classification of HTS codes for aviation repair parts.
• Complete all import and export documentation for customs forms, licenses, and permits.
• Coordinate, when required, transportation, shipping, and delivery of goods across multiple borders and regions globally.
• Maintain records for compliance that supports documentation for US, Canada, and the UK as required.
• Enforcement of global compliance footprint ensuring advice and decisions taken in North America do not impact compliance with HMRC for the ultimate parent company based in the UK.
• Responsible for handling US inbound consolidation for inbound international shipments through Expeditors – this includes managing when to consolidate and identifying areas for improvement as well as handling all issues with the Customs broker to clear goods with proper tariff codes. Can include derivative worksheets, measurements, and any other requests by the freight provider (FedEx, Expeditors, etc.).
• Manage Item card tariff codes in US NAV to ensure correct codes are being used for both import and export.
• Ensure both Sales & Procurement teams are aware of impacts of tariffs to ensure capture of total costs of acquisition.
• Maintain knowledge of changes and potential changes to tariff policies that affect relevant regions of import/export and ensure relevant personnel within business are made aware of potential impact prior to changes coming into effect.
• Ensure all documentation managed and archived accurately and in an easily retrievable manner either internally or with customs broker to ensure readiness in case of an external compliance audit.
• Carries out other reasonable duties consistent with the scope of the position.

Regulatory and Key Canadian Responsibilities:

• Responsible for handling Canada inbound consolidation from USA via Freight Boy (our Freight Forwarder) – this includes managing when to consolidate and bring up, handling PARs and ensuring Invoices available for Customs broker to clear goods with proper tariff codes.
• Review of CADs provided by broker to ensure goods cleared correctly to minimize the amount of Duty paid.
• Create, file and manage disputes for clearances completed by broker to ensure incorrect entries corrected and duties incorrectly paid are retrieved.
• Review of all FedEx Invoices to ensure correct classification of goods imported.
• Where needed, create, file and manage disputes via FedEx to ensure incorrect entries are corrected and duties incorrectly paid are retrieved.
• Work with Finance team to manage disputes to ensure Invoices paid accordingly and FedEx Finance made aware of disputes so as not to have FedEx services suspended.
• Manage Item card tariff codes in Canada NAV to ensure correct codes being used for both import and export.
• Ensure both Sales & Procurement teams are aware of impacts of tariffs to ensure capture of total costs of acquisition.
• Handle Outbound shipment Customs related inquiries from couriers, brokers and customers to ensure any delays are sorted in a timely fashion to not impact customer service levels.
• Review volume of Outbound shipment delays vs number of shipments and break down rationale for delays – controllable vs uncontrollable – use data to help identify OFI’s in shipping to create better service levels first time.
• Maintaining knowledge of changes and potential changes to tariff policies that affect relevant regions of import/export and ensure relevant personnel within business are made aware of potential impact prior to changes coming into effect
• Ensure all documentation managed and archived accurately and in an easily retrievable manner either internally or with customs broker to ensure readiness in case of an external compliance audit.
• Carries out other reasonable duties consistent with the scope of the position.

Government and Agency Liaison:

• Serve as primary contact and liaison with customs brokers as required and work closely with UK Compliance team to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.
• Serve as primary contact with USCBP, BIS, Census, and other regulatory authorities as required (may also include transportation/freight providers).
• Manage export licensing, reporting, and agency communications related to controlled aviation parts or technology.
• Ensure the company maintains necessary certifications, such as CTPAT participation or other trade programs if applicable.
• Provide guidance during customer or regulatory audits related to import/export and part documentation.

Project Focus Areas:

• Exploration of US bonded warehouse set up and establishment of Tariff Code changes being applied before final shipment to customer.
• Develop process improvements within the first 120 days to streamline and simplify the customs clearance process for Canada, US, and the UK.
• Identify and perform gap analysis to identify areas of improvement for compliance, clearance process, and future identification of tariff codes to be in compliance with US regulatory requirements and laws as well as headcount shortages or excess.
• Develop, improve, and enforce internal compliance policies, SOPs, and part-specific documentation controls.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in supply chain, International Business, Aviation Management, or related field (or equivalent experience).
• 5+ years of customs compliance or trade compliance experience, ideally in aerospace, aviation repair, or regulated technical industries.
• Strong working knowledge of CBP regulations, EAR (including ECCN classifications), HTS coding, and aviation-specific documentation requirements.
• Experience with aviation repair parts traceability requirements (8130-3, EASA Form 1, teardown documentation, etc.) strongly preferred.
• Customs Broker License, CCS, or aviation compliance certifications are a plus.
• Excellent attention to detail, analytical ability, and communication skills.