Director, Global Trade Compliance

Abercrombie & Fitch Co.•Columbus, OH

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director, Trade Compliance leads Abercrombie & Fitch Co.’s global trade compliance and Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) strategy, governance, and execution. The role ensures compliance with U.S. Customs and international trade regulations while improving operational efficiency, speed to market, supply chain resilience, and landed cost. As the company’s primary trade expert and a strategic advisor to executive leadership, the Director works across Finance, Tax, Technology, Sourcing, Transportation, Planning, International, Franchise, and Wholesale. The role brings trade considerations into business decisions early, balances compliance with commercial agility, and supports evolving sourcing and growth strategies. It also builds scalable capabilities and future leaders, using analytics, automation, and process modernization to reduce risk, strengthen business continuity, and identify financial opportunities.

Requirements

At least 10 years of progressive experience in global trade compliance, customs, international logistics, or related functions.
Deep expertise in global trade compliance, including U.S. import and customs regulations, HTS classification, customs valuation, country of origin, tariff strategy, duty optimization programs, FTZ operations, broker management, audits and controls, regulatory interpretation, and international trade program administration.
Experience supporting international sourcing operations in retail, apparel, footwear, consumer products, or another high-volume global supply chain environment.
Demonstrated experience leading enterprise-wide compliance programs and influencing executive stakeholders in complex, matrixed organizations.
Proven ability to lead cross-functional initiatives that balance compliance rigor with business enablement, operational agility, and speed to market.
Strong understanding of sourcing strategies, merchandise flow, inventory management, and supply chain operations, and ability to translate regulatory requirements into business solutions.
Experience managing customs brokers, audits, regulatory inquiries, disclosures, and compliance investigations.
Curiosity, commitment to continuous learning, and ability to work effectively amid ambiguity and rapidly changing regulations while balancing compliance risk with business growth.
Demonstrated success transforming or modernizing a trade compliance capability, including process redesign, technology implementation, systems integration, control framework development, and change management.
Demonstrated success building, developing, and leading high-performing teams.
Exceptional executive communication, presentation, collaboration, and stakeholder-management skills, including the ability to explain complex trade and tariff issues, connect them to financial and business outcomes, and influence decisions across a matrixed organization.

Nice To Haves

Licensed Customs Broker certification.
Experience with apparel and textile trade compliance requirements.
Knowledge of free trade agreements, duty drawback, tariff mitigation programs, and First Sale methodologies.
Experience implementing or optimizing FTZ programs within distribution center operations.
Familiarity with trade compliance and supply chain systems such as SAP, Descartes, GTM platforms, or automation tools.
Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, International Business, Logistics, or a related field.

Responsibilities

Develop and lead the company-wide global trade compliance strategy, governance framework, and operating model.
Advise executive leadership on trade risks, regulatory and tariff developments, sourcing impacts, and optimization opportunities, translating complex issues into business recommendations.
Monitor geopolitical, regulatory, tariff, and trade developments; assess their impact on sourcing, business continuity, growth initiatives, and supply chain risk; and recommend timely actions.
Lead trade compliance governance, audit readiness, internal controls, and corrective action initiatives.
Assess and use artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, and automation to identify compliance risks, monitor regulatory changes, improve efficiency, and support decision-making.
Ensure compliance with U.S. Customs and Border Protection regulations and other applicable import and export requirements across global sourcing operations.
Oversee product classification, customs valuation, country-of-origin determinations, broker management, recordkeeping, and post-entry compliance.
Direct FTZ operations and administration, including inventory controls, admissions, weekly entries, regulatory reporting, recordkeeping, and audit readiness across the distribution network.
Identify and implement opportunities to improve FTZ utilization, duty savings, tariff mitigation, and landed cost performance.
Partner with cross-functional teams to incorporate trade considerations into sourcing diversification, market expansion, inventory flow, and operational execution.
Lead trade program utilization strategies, including free trade agreements, duty drawback, First Sale opportunities, and supply chain security initiatives such as C-TPAT.
Balance compliance requirements with business enablement to improve speed to market, reduce landed cost, and strengthen supply chain resilience.
Manage relationships with customs brokers, FTZ authorities, consultants, carriers, government agencies, and external compliance partners.
Establish performance metrics, dashboards, controls, and reporting for trade compliance, FTZ performance, savings, liabilities, and risk; improve duty forecasting and ensure duty data in systems is accurate and trusted by Planning and Finance.
Lead GTM and FTZ transformation initiatives, including automation, systems integration, workflow redesign, control development, and data-quality improvements.
Define and monitor key performance indicators for compliance, controls, audit readiness, duty accuracy, savings realization, broker performance, and operational effectiveness; address gaps and drive continuous improvement.
Build, develop, and lead a high-performing trade compliance and FTZ team through coaching, mentoring, succession planning, and a culture of accountability, collaboration, and operational excellence.
Create documented, repeatable processes, robust controls, and cross-functional knowledge sharing to reduce reliance on tribal knowledge and key individuals.
Provide internal stakeholders with guidance, education, and training on trade compliance, FTZ operations, and changing global trade regulations.