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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for International Supervisor

💰 $ - $

OperationsManagementInternational

🎯 Role Definition

The International Supervisor oversees day-to-day international operations, ensuring compliant, efficient, and customer-focused delivery across borders. This role blends people leadership, cross-functional coordination, and process ownership to manage global shipments, vendor relationships, country-level teams, and compliance with trade regulations. The ideal candidate is experienced in international logistics and customs, adept at translating strategic goals into measurable KPIs, and excels at leading multicultural teams to deliver on-time, cost-effective outcomes while maintaining high quality and regulatory standards.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • International Coordinator
  • Logistics Specialist
  • Export/Import Analyst

Advancement To:

  • Regional Operations Manager
  • Global Logistics Manager
  • Head of International Operations

Lateral Moves:

  • Supply Chain Planner
  • Global Compliance Lead

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Lead and supervise international operations teams across multiple countries or regions, including recruiting, onboarding, coaching, performance reviews, and career development to ensure high-performing, culturally aligned teams.
  • Manage end-to-end international shipment lifecycle (air, ocean, courier) including booking, routing, consolidation, tracking, and delivery to meet customer SLAs while optimizing cost and transit time.
  • Ensure full compliance with international trade regulations (export controls, import regulations, customs clearance, INCOTERMS) and lead implementation of changes resulting from new trade rules or sanctions.
  • Own relationships with third-party providers (3PLs, freight forwarders, customs brokers, carriers) and negotiate service level agreements, rates, and contracts to secure reliable and cost-effective logistics solutions.
  • Monitor, analyze, and report key performance indicators (KPIs) such as on-time delivery, landed cost variance, customs clearance times, claims rate, and operational cost per shipment; create actionable plans to improve metrics.
  • Develop and execute risk management programs for international operations including contingency plans for political instability, natural disasters, port disruptions, and supply chain bottlenecks.
  • Coordinate cross-functional initiatives with Sales, Customer Success, Finance, Procurement, and Warehousing to resolve order exceptions, expedite high-priority shipments, and align on customer expectations.
  • Implement process improvements and standard operating procedures (SOPs) for international movements to streamline workflows, automate repetitive tasks, and reduce error rates using Lean or Six Sigma methods where applicable.
  • Oversee customs documentation accuracy (commercial invoices, packing lists, certificates of origin, export declarations) and ensure harmonized tariff code classification and valuation practices to prevent delays and penalties.
  • Manage dispute resolution for international claims, damaged goods, and missing shipments, including root-cause analysis, carrier/insurer negotiations, and customer communications to maintain satisfaction and recover costs.
  • Control department budgets for international operations, track spend against forecasts, identify opportunities to reduce costs (consolidation, mode optimization), and present P&L impacts to senior leadership.
  • Drive continuous improvement in international order-to-delivery processes by leveraging data analytics, automation tools (TMS, ERP), and best practices to scale operations reliably during peak demand and growth.
  • Facilitate cross-border onboarding for new markets, including local regulatory research, selection of partners, site readiness, and pilot launches to expand company footprint internationally.
  • Manage multilingual escalations and complex customer issues, acting as the escalation owner for cross-border operational incidents and coordinating rapid resolution across time zones.
  • Ensure accurate customs and trade compliance training for local teams, maintain audit-ready documentation, and coordinate internal or third-party compliance reviews and corrective action plans.
  • Lead tariff optimization, duty drawback and bonded warehouse strategies where applicable to minimize landed costs while ensuring compliance with customs laws in targeted countries.
  • Oversee inventory visibility and allocation for international demand, coordinate intercompany transfers, and collaborate with demand planning to avoid stockouts and reduce expedited freight.
  • Support product classification and restricted party screening processes, collaborating with Legal and Compliance to ensure trade sanctions and embargo lists are respected.
  • Monitor geopolitical, economic, and regulatory shifts that affect international operations and advise leadership on strategic adjustments to network design, sourcing, or routing.
  • Establish and maintain strong stakeholder communications, producing regular status reports, stakeholder briefings, and post-incident reviews to improve transparency and drive operational accountability.
  • Lead technology adoption and integration projects relevant to international operations (TMS, customs clearance portals, EDI/API connectivity) and validate system configurations to support scaling.
  • Champion health, safety, and security standards for shipments and field teams (dangerous goods handling, cold chain protocols, facility security) and ensure local compliance and incident reporting.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
  • Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
  • Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
  • Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
  • Provide mentorship and cross-training to junior operational staff to build bench strength and redundancy across shifts and time zones.
  • Assist in preparing executive summaries and operational briefings for Board or investor updates when international operations impact strategic metrics.
  • Participate in vendor selection processes, pilot trials, and continuous vendor performance management programs.
  • Support corporate sustainability initiatives by tracking and reporting international transportation carbon emissions and identifying greener routing alternatives.
  • Coordinate localization efforts for documentation and customer communications to meet country-specific language and regulatory needs.
  • Assist Legal and Compliance with responses to customs audits and provide documentation and process evidence during inquiries.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • International logistics and freight management (air, ocean, courier, intermodal)
  • Customs regulations and documentation (export/import, HS classification, duties)
  • Trade compliance (sanctions screening, export controls, Incoterms)
  • Transport Management Systems (TMS), Warehouse Management Systems (WMS), or ERP integrations (experience with SAP, Oracle, or equivalent)
  • Data analysis and KPI reporting (Excel advanced skills, SQL familiarity, BI tools such as Power BI or Tableau)
  • Contract negotiation and vendor management for 3PLs and freight partners
  • Project management for cross-border initiatives (Agile or Waterfall methodologies)
  • Budgeting, cost-to-serve analysis, and P&L impact assessment
  • Risk assessment, contingency planning, and crisis management
  • Familiarity with customs clearance software, EDI/API shipment tracking, and documentation automation

Soft Skills

  • Strong cross-cultural communication and leadership across distributed teams
  • Stakeholder management and executive-level reporting
  • Problem solving and root-cause analysis under time pressure
  • Decision-making with incomplete information and ambiguity tolerance
  • Coaching, people development, and conflict resolution
  • Negotiation skills and vendor relationship building
  • Customer-focused mindset with empathy and service orientation
  • Adaptability and resilience in fast-changing international environments
  • Attention to detail and process discipline
  • Continuous improvement mentality and curiosity for data-driven change

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, International Business, Supply Chain Management, Logistics, or related field.

Preferred Education:

  • Master's degree (MBA, MSc in Supply Chain/Logistics) or professional certifications (CBP licensed broker, CIPS, CILT, APICS/CPIM/CSCP).

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • International Business
  • Supply Chain Management / Logistics
  • Business Administration
  • Global Trade & Customs Compliance
  • Operations Management

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 3–7 years of progressive experience in international logistics, trade compliance, or global operations roles.

Preferred:

  • 5+ years managing international teams or cross-border operations, with demonstrable achievements in process optimization, cost savings, or service improvement across multiple countries.
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