Import Manager

Company Description

“We’re not in the shipping business; we’re in the information business” -Peter Rose, Expeditors Founder

Expeditors satisfies the increasingly sophisticated needs of international trade through customized solutions and seamless, integrated information systems. Our services include the consolidation and forwarding of air or ocean freight, customs brokerage, vendor consolidation, cargo insurance, time-definite transportation, order and risk management, warehousing, distribution and customized logistics solutions. Expeditors is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

Global supply chain management is what we do, but at the heart of Expeditors you will find professionalism, leadership, and a friendly environment, all of which foster an innovative, customer service-based approach to logistics.

• 18,000 trained professionals

• 300+ locations worldwide

• Fortune 500

• Globally unified systems

At Expeditors, we recruit, train, and retain the very best logistics and technical experts the world over. We love to promote from within—more than 27 percent of our staff of 17,000 employees has been at Expeditors 10 years or more. Our high retention rate is influenced by a unique compensation program for positions that are more than just jobs—they’re chances to grow, thrive, and do what you love.

Job Description

Scope: The Import Manager develops and manages the branch import function across Ocean Import, Air Import, Customs Brokerage, and Order Management, providing leadership for operations, finances, sales partnership, people, systems, compliance, service execution, and continuous improvement.

Core Responsibilities:

Integrated Import Strategy and Product Leadership

• Lead branch import strategy across Ocean Import, Air Import, Customs Brokerage, and Order Management.

• Align product teams so customers experience one coordinated import organization.

• Identify gaps and implement cross-functional solutions that improve quality, visibility, compliance, and customer experience.

Customer, Sales, and Business Development Partnership

• Partner with Sales, CRDM, Account Management, T&I, and Product Managers on onboarding, RFQs, QBRs, lane reviews, service recovery, and business development.

• Ensure customer SOPs, service levels, compliance needs, reporting expectations, and billing requirements are understood and executable.

• Represent the integrated import capability to customers and internal stakeholders with professionalism and clarity.

Operational Excellence and Process Discipline

• Maintain a consistent operating rhythm across import products, including KPI review, exception management, escalation, and follow-up discipline.

• Ensure smooth freight flow across documentation, processing, clearance, release, delivery, order visibility, billing readiness, and customer communication.

• Lead root cause analysis and corrective actions for service failures, compliance gaps, missed milestones, escalations, and billing issues.

Compliance, Risk, and Control

• Maintain compliance discipline across customs clearance, import documentation, customer SOPs, regulatory requirements, internal controls, security requirements, and company policies.

• Work with Trade Compliance, Customs Brokerage, Security, Finance, and product leaders to identify and manage operational risk.

• Promote a culture where compliance, controls, and customer trust are part of daily execution.

Financial Management and Profitability

• Manage import financial performance, including revenue growth, profitability, margin, billing quality, cost control, and loss prevention.

• Partner with Finance and Product Managers to support accurate invoicing, timely billing, and profitable execution.

• Use financial reporting and operational insights to identify improvement opportunities and make informed decisions.

People Development and Leadership

• Recruit, train, coach, develop, and retain high-performing import employees and leaders.

• Build leadership depth through supervisors, leads, senior agents, product experts, and future managers.

• Create a culture of accountability, customer service, compliance, collaboration, learning, and continuous improvement.

Systems, Reporting, and Analytics

• Promote disciplined use of Expeditors systems, import applications, customs systems, Order Management tools, dashboards, and reporting resources.

• Ensure operational data is timely, accurate, and useful for customers, teams, analytics, compliance, and financial management.

• Use reporting to monitor performance, backlog, exceptions, dwell, clearance activity, shipment status, order activity, and productivity.

Qualifications

Required

• 7+ years of freight forwarding, import operations, customs brokerage, order management, logistics, transportation, customer service, or supply chain experience.
• Leadership experience managing teams, customer requirements, compliance expectations, and cross-functional execution.
• Strong understanding of import operations, customs clearance, customer SOPs, service provider coordination, controls, and financial performance.
• Strong communication, escalation management, customer relationship, problem-solving, organizational, and systems skills.

Technical Skills

• Strong understanding of software development principles.
• Experience with automation platforms such as Power Automate.
• Experience with Microsoft Copilot and M365 technologies.
• Familiarity with data structures, APIs, integrations, and system architecture.
• Basic understanding of AI, machine learning, LLMs, and prompt engineering.
• Ability to troubleshoot technical issues independently.

Business Skills

• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Ability to understand complex operational processes.
• Experience translating business requirements into technical solutions.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.

Preferred

• Prior experience as a Product Manager, Operations Manager, Customs Brokerage Manager, Ocean Import Manager, Air Import Manager, or Order Management Manager.
• Licensed Customs Broker or strong customs brokerage compliance experience, where applicable.
• Experience with customer implementations, RFQs, QBRs, analytics, scorecards, operational data, and cross-product team development.
• Experience developing automations, applications, or digital solutions.
• Experience leading cross-functional projects.
• Experience working in operations, logistics, finance, or enterprise shared services environments.
• Certifications in Microsoft Power Platform, Azure AI, Microsoft Copilot, or related technologies.

Additional Information

Expected base salary: $70,304.00

Eligible for bonus

Expeditors offers excellent benefits:

• Paid Vacation (first year prorated based off month of hire then eligible for 15 days)
• Holidays (10)
• Flexible Days (2)
• Paid Sick Time (accrual rate of 1 hour of sick time per 30 hours paid)
• 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan with employer match
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP)
• Medical, Prescription Drug, Dental & Vision Coverage
• Health Savings Account (HSA)
• Life and Disability Insurance
• Paid Parental Leave (additional eligibility criteria)
• Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account (DC FSA)
• Commuter Benefit
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Learning & Development Program
• Educational Assistance and Reimbursement

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO Guidelines.