Sr. Director, Global Trade Compliance

About the Job

The Sr. Director, Global Trade Compliance will serve as the company's senior authority on global trade compliance, providing enterprise leadership across customs, export controls, economic sanctions, and related international trade regulations. This highly influential role will establish the global vision, governance framework, and risk posture for trade compliance while advising executive leadership on regulatory developments, geopolitical risks, cost considerations, and strategic business implications. The successful candidate will lead the global trade compliance organization and establish consistent standards, controls, and practices across regions, business units, and legal entities. Working closely with Legal, Supply Chain, Finance, Operations, IT, Product Development, and executive leadership, this leader will enable compliant business growth, protect the company's license to operate, and support optimization of total landed cost across the global supply chain.

Key Responsibilities

Enterprise Leadership and Strategy

• Define and lead the company's global trade compliance vision, strategy, governance framework, and risk posture across all regions, business units, and legal entities.
• Serve as the executive sponsor for the global trade compliance program, ensuring consistency, scalability, and alignment with corporate strategy and risk tolerance.
• Provide strategic guidance regarding trade policy, geopolitical developments, regulatory changes, supply chain disruption, and their potential business implications.
• Develop enterprise trade compliance KPIs and regularly communicate compliance posture, trends, risks, and remediation progress to senior leadership.

Regulatory Compliance and Governance

• Oversee compliance with applicable U.S. and international trade requirements, including ITAR, EAR, OFAC, U.S. customs laws, and relevant foreign customs and trade regimes and arrangements.
• Serve as the final authority on commodity classification, jurisdiction and licensing determinations, country of origin, customs valuation, Partner Government Agency requirements, and sanctions-screening practices.
• Establish and maintain enterprise policies, procedures, internal controls, escalation protocols, governance forums, and recordkeeping standards.
• Translate evolving regulations into clear, timely, and practical requirements for business and functional stakeholders.

Risk Management, Investigations, and Assurance

• Direct enterprise trade compliance risk assessments, internal audits, and investigations.
• Oversee remediation plans and systemic improvements that strengthen controls, accountability, and compliance sustainability.
• Act as the senior executive accountable for government inquiries, enforcement matters, disclosures, and consent management related to trade compliance.
• Lead trade compliance due diligence, risk assessment, and integration activities for mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and joint ventures.

Operational Enablement and Cost Optimization

• Oversee global tariff classification, including HS and HTS, country-of-origin programs, and customs valuation standards to create consistency and audit defensibility.
• Lead strategies involving Free Trade Agreements, drawback, special customs programs, sourcing alternatives, and trade-preference utilization.
• Partner with Supply Chain, Sourcing, and Product Development leaders to incorporate trade compliance and tariff efficiency into sourcing, product design, and operational-footprint decisions.
• Promote operational efficiency and landed-cost optimization while maintaining effective, audit-ready controls.

Free Trade Agreements, Systems, and Data Governance

• Provide executive oversight of Free Trade Agreement programs, including supplier engagement, qualification methodologies, audit readiness, and risk mitigation.
• Sponsor governance initiatives for import and export systems, master data, analytics, and reporting to improve accuracy, traceability, and compliance assurance.

Organizational Leadership and External Engagement

• Lead, develop, and retain a high-performing global trade compliance team while defining organizational structure, capability requirements, and succession plans.
• Establish policy and performance expectations for customs brokers, freight forwarders, screening providers, and other trade-related service partners.
• Engage with government agencies, auditors, industry organizations, and trade associations as the company's senior trade compliance representative.

Qualifications

Knowledge and Experiences

• At least 12 years of progressive experience in global trade compliance, customs, export controls, or regulatory leadership.
• Demonstrated experience working within a multinational manufacturing, industrial, or professional advisory environment.
• Proven success designing, scaling, and governing trade compliance programs across multiple regions and business units.
• Deep knowledge of U.S. and international customs, export controls, sanctions requirements, classification, licensing, origin, valuation, and trade-preference programs.
• Significant experience advising executive leadership regarding regulatory developments, geopolitical issues, supply chain exposure, and trade-related business risks.
• Proven leadership in trade compliance due diligence, integration, transformation, and risk assessment for corporate transactions.
• Bachelor's degree in International Business, Supply Chain, Finance, Accounting, Engineering, or a related field.

Preferred Qualifications

• An advanced degree and relevant professional credentials or expertise, such as Certified Customs Specialist, Licensed Customs Broker, or Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism experience, are strongly preferred.
• ITAR Eligibility: Candidates must be U.S. Persons as defined by ITAR, 22 CFR120.15, meaning U.S. citizenship or lawful permanent resident status.

Core Competencies

• Enterprise Perspective: Approaches compliance as an enterprise capability and connects regulatory requirements with broader corporate priorities.
• Strategic Thinking and Execution: Translates complex trade risks and regulatory developments into clear strategies, scalable programs, and actionable business decisions.
• Executive Influence: Communicates with credibility and clarity and can influence executives, senior leaders, and boards on complex regulatory and risk matters.
• Sound Judgment and Integrity: Demonstrates discretion, independence, and thoughtful judgment when managing regulatory exposure, investigations, and enforcement matters.
• Commercial and Operational Acumen: Balances compliance rigor with operational efficiency, customer requirements, cost considerations, and commercial realities.
• Global Collaboration: Builds alignment and accountability across functions, regions, business units, and external partners in a complex matrixed environment.
• Inspirational Leadership: Develops talent, strengthens organizational capability, coaches effectively, and creates a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.
• Change Leadership: Leads transformation with resilience, adaptability, and a disciplined focus on sustainable processes, controls, and results.

Pay

• Salary Range: $195,800 - $283,700. The salary offered will vary depending on your location, job-related skills, knowledge, and experience.

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