Customs Manager
It doesn’t matter how well a logistics or supply chain operation is planned in terms of getting fully laden vehicles between factories, warehouses and fulfilment centres if the customs aren’t all in order. If you’re moving goods from one country to another, it can be the weak link in the process, adding days, hours or weeks to journeys, or in the worst case, revealing exports that should never have been attempted.
Enter the customs team, whose job it is to stress test all ongoing and future logistics activities for a company to ensure that both export and import are legally compliant as regards customs. And at the head of that team is the customs manager. Their job is to oversee the team, which might cover multiple jurisdictions, to keep all that freight flowing freely between parties. In smaller organisations, the customs manager might be a one-person team, tasked with operating over multiple territories or dealing with diverse classifications of goods.
The skills required
When looking for customs manager jobs, you should be an experienced and fully accredited specialist in the field of import and export, perhaps in a specific sector or between certain jurisdictions. Some jobs require you to have a hands-on role checking consignments yourself to ensure they are compliant in terms of quality, weight, size or count. You’ll be expert in the customs declaration procedure in your field, and will know how to optimise supply chain and logistics within the remit of customs procedures.
Communication of often complex laws and protocols will be essential, as you may often be asked to explain the scope of certain customs rules if a company is looking to make strategic decisions based on the trading laws between two nations. Experience in customs compliance, tax or duty applications will be essential.
Customs Manager Jobs in Newcastle-under-Lyme
The Staffordshire town of Newcastle-under-Lyme (not to be confused with Newcastle-upon-Tyne) adjoins the city of Stoke-on-Trent along all of its eastern edge; without looking at a boundary map it would be difficult to discern where one ends and the other begins. The town did have a similar industrial history to Stoke, namely pottery and porcelain manufacture, until the mid-1700s when it all but stopped, giving way to brick making, clothing, cotton milling, coal mining and engineering. Engineering and clothing manufacturing still dominate the town’s industries; many military and police uniforms are made here.
In the early 1900s, the Stoke area was an amalgamation of a number of moderately sized towns, chief among them Stoke, Hanley, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Burslem, Fenton, Tunstall, Longton, Smallthorne, Kidsgrove, and Audley. A motion was put to parliament to amalgamate them all into one city in what was known as the Federation of Stoke-on-Trent. Newcastle-under-Lyme was the only one to reject the plan, partly because the others were heavily involved in the pottery industry and Newcastle no longer was. Newcastle’s opposition was recognised and so it came to be that the town now exists almost engulfed by Stoke-on-Trent.
With a population of about 75,000 and a huge regeneration effort recently being completed, Newcastle-under-Lyme has undergone something of a rebirth of late, after a few decades of gradual decline. We do see more Customs Manager jobs appearing in the town, which is often indicative of renewed economic activity.
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Customs managers at Cast UK
The world is changing fast, and it’s vital for importing and exporting businesses to know exactly what is allowable, and how to get the most out of the regulations. That’s why high performance customs managers are regularly sought.
If you’re running an import/export operation and need a customs manager, call 0333 121 3345 today – Cast UK will be able to put you in touch with experts in your sector.
Candidates looking for this kind of work should register with us using the link below, even if you haven’t seen a specific role today. We’ll be able to match you up with global businesses looking for your skills.
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