The opportunity you've been waiting for
You know your commodity codes from your customs procedures. You understand the detail behind tariff classification, origin rules and duty exposure. And you know exactly what can happen when international trade compliance gets overlooked.
Now imagine having the ownership to put that knowledge to work across a business exporting premium Scottish food products to customers around the world.
Walkers Shortbread is looking for an International Trade Compliance Lead to take ownership of its import and export compliance framework, protect the business against regulatory and financial risk, and make sure its global trade operations are running as they should.
How you'll make your mark
This is a hands-on role with plenty of scope to shape how international trade compliance works across the business. You'll be the go-to person for customs matters, working with internal teams and external partners to keep shipments moving and standards high.
Your responsibilities will include:
- Owning customs compliance across UK, EU and international import and export activity, including HMRC and Customs Declaration Service (CDS) requirements.
- Taking the lead on tariff classification, commodity codes, customs valuation and rules of origin across the product range.
- Managing preference arrangements and duty optimisation, including Free Trade Agreements, duty relief and drawback opportunities.
- Overseeing customs brokers and third-party partners, ensuring declarations, procedure codes and supporting documentation are accurate.
- Carrying out compliance audits, identifying duty and VAT exposure, and putting practical corrective actions in place.
- Building reporting around declaration accuracy, preference utilisation and duty leakage, giving leadership clear visibility of compliance performance.
- Developing standard operating procedures and sharing your expertise with teams across shipping, sales, warehousing, finance and customer services.
What you'll bring
You'll have a solid background in international trade compliance, with the technical knowledge and confidence to take ownership of complex customs matters.
- Experience managing UK, EU and rest-of-world customs compliance.
- A thorough understanding of CDS, customs declarations and relevant authorisations such as EIDR or SDP.
- Practical knowledge of HS codes, tariff classification, origin rules, Free Trade Agreements and customs valuation.
- Experience overseeing customs brokers and international shipping partners.
- The ability to spot compliance risks, understand their financial implications and turn findings into workable improvements.
- A clear, confident approach to influencing colleagues and embedding good compliance practices across a business.
What's in it for you
- Salary: £[Insert salary range] per annum.
- Location: Aberlour, Moray.
- Working pattern: [Insert office-based/hybrid arrangements].
- Ownership: A key position with responsibility for shaping the company's international trade compliance framework.
- Influence: Direct involvement with senior stakeholders and teams across the wider business.
- Development: Scope to strengthen your technical expertise and build the function as international trade requirements evolve.
A bit more about Walkers Shortbread
Walkers Shortbread is a Scottish family business with a global reputation for its premium shortbread and baked goods. From its home in Aberlour, the business supplies customers across international markets, bringing a taste of Scotland to shelves around the world.
With global distribution comes a growing level of customs complexity. This role will bring clear ownership, consistency and oversight to international trade compliance, supporting the business as it continues to serve markets across Europe, the USA, the Middle East and APAC.
Denholm's take
We like this role because it gives a customs specialist genuine ownership. You'll have the opportunity to influence processes, challenge existing practices and make a tangible difference to how an established Scottish business trades internationally.
If you enjoy getting into the detail, understanding the bigger commercial picture and being the person others turn to when customs questions arise, we'd like to tell you more.
Get in touch with Denholm Associates for a confidential conversation about the role and what you're looking for next.
