Senior Compliance Specialist, Trade

MATSYS•Sterling, VA

3d•$105,000 - $125,000

About The Position

MATSYS is seeking a detail-oriented and experienced Senior Compliance Specialist to support the Company’s trade-compliance program and broader regulatory compliance initiatives. The role serves as a technical resource for export controls, import compliance, sanctions, licensing, restricted-party screening, and regulatory recordkeeping. The Specialist helps ensure business activities comply with applicable U.S. trade regulations, including EAR, ITAR, OFAC requirements, and customs and import/export requirements. Working with cross-functional teams, the Specialist supports licensing activities, compliance assessments, employee training, audits, internal controls, policy development, and corrective-action tracking. This is a senior individual-contributor position with no direct supervisory responsibilities. The Specialist supports designated program owners, license holders, Responsible Persons, and leadership in maintaining effective compliance programs and escalating potential regulatory risks. The role also supports administration and maintenance of assigned regulatory licenses, permits, registrations, certifications, and approvals, including ATF-related requirements as applicable. The successful candidate will help strengthen MATSYS’s compliance posture by maintaining reliable processes and documentation, supporting timely and accurate licensing, identifying risks early, and enabling business teams to operate efficiently within applicable regulatory requirements.

Requirements

Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government security clearance.
Bachelor’s degree in International Trade, Business, Compliance, Law, or a related field; equivalent relevant professional experience may be considered.
Five or more years of experience in trade compliance, export controls, import/export operations, customs, regulatory compliance, or a closely related field.
Strong working knowledge of EAR, ITAR, OFAC requirements, export classifications, licensing processes, restricted-party screening, trade documentation, and regulatory recordkeeping.
Experience working in a regulated environment, preferably within defense, aerospace, advanced manufacturing, dual-use technology, government contracting, or a related industry.
Strong analytical, organizational, documentation, written communication, and verbal communication skills.
Demonstrated ability to interpret regulatory requirements, exercise sound judgment, maintain confidentiality, manage competing priorities, and escalate issues appropriately.
Ability to collaborate effectively with technical teams, business stakeholders, program owners, and senior leadership.

Nice To Haves

Seven or more years of experience in trade compliance or export controls.
Experience supporting ATF-regulated activities and/or Arms, Ammunition, and Explosives (AA&E) operations, including regulatory licenses, permits, registrations, inspections, and associated recordkeeping.
Familiarity with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS), customer flow-down requirements, procurement integrity, ethics, cybersecurity, supply-chain compliance, quality requirements, or other government-contracting compliance obligations.
Experience supporting internal and external audits, government inspections, corrective-action plans, investigations, or voluntary-disclosure assessments.
Relevant export-control, customs, international-trade, or compliance certifications.

Responsibilities

Support compliance with EAR, ITAR, OFAC, customs, import/export, sanctions, and other applicable trade regulations.
Assist with export jurisdiction and classification determinations for products, software, technical data, technology, services, and related activities.
Prepare, coordinate, track, and maintain export license applications, agreements, exemptions, exceptions, provisos, renewals, amendments, and supporting documentation.
Conduct and document restricted-party and sanctions screening, embargo reviews, end-use and end-user assessments, and diversion-risk evaluations.
Evaluate proposed exports, imports, shipments, technical-data transfers, foreign-person access, international travel, demonstrations, marketing activities, customers, suppliers, and business opportunities for trade-compliance implications.
Support development and implementation of trade-compliance procedures, technology-control measures, internal controls, training, and documentation practices.
Maintain complete, accurate, and audit-ready trade-compliance records in accordance with applicable regulatory requirements.
Monitor regulatory changes and communicate relevant requirements, risks, and recommended actions to stakeholders.
Identify, document, and promptly escalate potential violations, high-risk transactions, and matters requiring management review, including potential disclosure considerations.
Partner with Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain, Shipping and Receiving, Program Management, Business Development, Human Resources, Information Technology, Security, Finance, and executive leadership to support compliant operations.
Support administration and maintenance of assigned regulatory licenses, permits, registrations, certifications, and approvals, including ATF-related requirements as applicable.
Maintain license and permit inventories, compliance calendars, renewal schedules, training records, required documentation, and open action items.
Coordinate documentation for license applications, renewals, amendments, inspections, audits, regulatory submissions, changes in responsible personnel, and facility changes.
Assist designated license holders, Responsible Persons, program owners, and functional leaders with regulatory inspections, audits, agency requests, corrective actions, and compliance documentation.
Support broader compliance initiatives, including policy and procedure development, employee training, risk assessments, internal reviews, audit preparation, ethics and conflicts-of-interest matters, and process improvement.
Develop and maintain practical compliance tools, checklists, guidance documents, training materials, tracking logs, and recordkeeping systems.
Perform other related duties as assigned.