Senior Customs Clearance Operator – Lichfield

About the position:

The purpose of the Senior Customs Clearance Operator is to process Customs clearances. You will be responsible for calculating and processing customs clearances including duties and taxes to be paid. Entering details onto specialised customs software which may include CHIEF, CNS, Destin8 and CFSP, Datafreight and Sequioa. You will be responsible for issuing the correct documents on behalf of the customer to ensure that customs are cleared in a timely and efficient manner allowing shipments to continue on their journey.

Required to have a substantial understanding of all relevant customs related laws and regulations. Expected to maintain your understanding and keep up-to-date with changes as they occur, so as to be able to advise customers on import and export restrictions, tariff systems, insurance requirements and all other customs related matters.

You will be expected to use your experience and knowledge of Custom clearances to address more challenging and complicated tasks across the department and support and mentor more junior and less experienced staff to gain a greater depth of knowledge.
Key Tasks and Responsibilities will include:

Effectively, efficiently and accurately process primarily, but not exclusively, Road Freight customs clearances for all customers within the guidelines of all relevant laws and regulations.
Work closely with existing customers to maintain service levels.
Liaise with all customers, suppliers, government agencies, freight forwarders, importers, exporters et al as required to prepare and process primarily, but not exclusively, Road Freight customs clearances for Hellmann UK
Arrange Import clearances in to Bond & removal from Bond for Road Freight, Sea Freight & Air Freight if required.
Identify opportunities for developing value added services for existing customers.
Create, link & discharge all Customs documents including T1, T2, T2 groupage, T2F, T2LF, NES & NCTS export entries.
Arrange ad-hoc Customs shipments for Hellmann Partners and complete the invoices to be sent to Partners.
Interface with HMRC regarding compliance issues as required.
Mentor and support less experienced staff, assisting them with queries and advise as and when required.
Responsible for tackling more complicated and challenging clearance processes and addressing the more challenging issues that may arise.
You may be asked at times to attend customs related seminars or complete courses that are designed to maintain a certain level of understanding and knowledge of customs legislation and requirements.
Maintain knowledge and keep up to date on Customs Clearance legislation, laws and regulations
Act as a point of contact for customs clearance issues in the absence of the Customs Clearance Managers and Supervisors
Support the development, understanding and training of less experienced Customs Clearance staff as required by their managers and provide out of hours support.
About you:
The ideal candidate will have:

5 x GCSE or equivalent Grade A – C including Maths & English
Competent in commercial IT packages including Microsoft 365
Experience of working within a customer facing environment and Customs clearance processing with a basic understanding of the law and regulations surrounding Customs Clearance requirements.
The ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines whilst working effectively under their own initiative with a flexible adaptable approach.
Good written and verbal communication skills.
Desirable:
Logistics/ Customs Clearance qualification
Knowledge of CIP techniques (Kaizen, Lean, 6 sigma, Etc)
Knowledge of the Datafreight and/or the Sequoia systems