Senior Director, Global Compliance

This position requires the background, experience, and leadership skills necessary to provide effective management of global trade compliance, sustainability, and responsibility for all Designer Brands’ divisions.

The position is responsible for managing a global team of compliance professionals advising internal and external business partners, creating and/or maintaining the global compliance policies, procedures, and organizational structures and advising senior executives on how changes in government trade policies or developments in corporate social responsibility may affect Designer Brands. The position also has primary business responsibility for selecting and managing technology applications and outsourcing arrangements to support global compliance.

Primary Duties & Responsibilities

The position will be responsible for creating and maintaining trade, sustainability and social responsibility compliance programs that will be used throughout Designer Brands and is empowered to make changes when deemed necessary. This position be accountable for the following strategic activities:

• Global trade compliance including both operational and regulatory best-practice standards to comply with changing regulations
• Establish performance targets to continually improve corporate social responsibility and sustainability including but not limited to carbon footprint, supplier and vendor fair labor standards and working conditions, and responsible consumption and production
• Duty savings opportunities such as leverage of FTAs, FTZs, transfer pricing strategy, first sale, duty drawback
• Maintain records above and beyond compliance with government agencies and international trade regulations, including dashboards, digitization and key metrics for leadership and consumers
• Advise legal counsel, logistics, sales, and other areas on compliance for trade, sustainability, and responsibility
• Monitor and track compliance in both regulatory and voluntary programs and resolve violations and conflicts
• Report performance and risks related to global trade compliance, sustainability and responsibility to Leadership, Supply Chain and Legal.
• Manage and/or select service providers such as but not limited to external consultants, auditors, law firms, and customs brokers
• Maintain alignment with Finance on budgets, program costs, duty accruals and duty savings programs. Proactively implement processes to minimize duties and fees while exercising reasonable care to the highest degree
• Depth of knowledge about voluntary programs related to trade, sustainability, and responsibility such as CTPAT, PIP, AEO, RBA, FLA, RLI
• Lead selection process of compliance software. Define business requirements and interface requirements
• Directly oversee and develop team members while fostering an environment of empowerment and accountability

Education and Experience

An Equivalent Combination Of
 

• Minimum Bachelor’s Degree or higher
• Minimum 10-15 years Trade Compliance, Sustainability and Responsibility
• Exceptional level of knowledge and experience in working with government agencies, NGO’s and a broad array of service providers and advisors
• Customs Broker License Preferred
• Experience and knowledge of import/export methods and procedures and global operations, understanding of current events and changing landscapes and the trade compliance impacts to the supply chain
• Proven success in establishing, guiding, auditing, and adjusting effective corporate compliance programs
• Ability to build organizational structure and staffing strategies

Required Skills
 

• Proven flexibility and results driven
• Excellent people skills
• Strong communication skills, with a proven ability to understand key role concepts and communicate with business stakeholders
• An understanding of strategic business objectives and the ability to drive results toward them