Customs and Regulatory Manager

Manager- Customs & Regulatory

Responsibilities

• Customs Compliance: Ensure 100% compliance with national customs laws, import/export policies, and free trade agreement (FTA) provisions; maintain current knowledge of tariff schedules, duty rates, DGFT/CBIC circulars, and exemptions.
• Licensing & Regulatory: Manage licenses/registrations (e.g., IEC, AEO, BIS/WPC, EPR, AD/CVD applicability), coordinate renewals, and ensure adherence to sectoral regulations (dangerous goods, pharma/cold chain, hazardous materials, etc.).
• Operations Governance: Oversee import/export clearance processes (BOE, shipping bills, bills of lading/airway bills), HS classification, valuation, country-of-origin and preferential duty claims; resolve queries with customs, port/airport/ICD authorities, custodians, and CHAs/brokers.
• Documentation Control: Validate and archive trade documents (commercial invoices, packing lists, COO, SDF/EDF, LUT/Bond, e-waybills, permits), ensuring completeness, accuracy, and auditability.
• Stakeholder Management: Partner with CHAs, freight forwarders, carriers, bonded warehouse operators, and internal teams (procurement, plant, finance, sales) to meet TATs and improve first-time-right clearance.
• Audit & Assurance: Lead internal controls, conduct periodic self-audits, support statutory/third-party audits, and drive corrective & preventive actions (CAPA).
• Risk & Dispute Management: Identify and mitigate risks related to classification, valuation, transfer pricing, SVB, IGCR/advance authorization, EPCG; manage adjudications, show-cause notices, and appeals with legal support.
• Data, Systems & Analytics: Maintain master data (HSN, party, port codes), leverage customs/e-filing systems (ICEGATE, SWIFT, eSANCHIT), and produce dashboards on cost-to-clear, dwell times, and duty savings.
• Continuous Improvement: Drive projects to reduce lead time, improve duty optimization (FTA, RoDTEP/SEIS where applicable), and digitize documentation workflows.
• Training & Awareness: Coach operations teams on regulatory updates, product restrictions, sanctions/denied party screenings, and record retention policies.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• On-time, first-time-right customs clearance rate (target ≥ 98%).
• Reduction in clearance TAT / dwell time (target improvement vs. baseline).
• Number of audit non-conformities and closure cycle time (target: zero major).
• Duty optimization realized via FTA/exemptions (% savings vs. eligible baseline).
• Accuracy of HS classification and valuation (internal QA pass rate ≥ 99%).
• Regulatory breach incidents (target: zero) and dispute outcomes (favorable %).
• Data integrity in systems (master data error rate ≤ 0.5%).

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain/Logistics/Commerce/Finance; professional certifications (e.g., CHA/Customs Broker License, FIATA, IATA-DGR, CILT, or equivalent) preferred.
• 5–10 years of relevant experience for Manager; 2–5 years for Specialist (imports/exports, customs brokerage, or trade compliance within 3PL/4PL, manufacturing, or freight forwarding).