CUSTOMS COMPLIANCE MANAGER - SAI, MAERSK LOGISTICS AND SERVICES SOUTH AFRICA - South Africa
(2025-01)
Lead the development, implementation, and oversight of the Customs House Brokerage (CHB) compliance framework across the SAI area, aligning with both global Maersk standards and local regulatory requirements, while actively driving product growth, sales collaboration, and client onboarding.
- Ensured full adherence to customs laws and regulations, conducting internal quality audits and vendor performance reviews.
- Developed and implemented KPIs for third-party vendors to monitor service delivery, compliance, and operational risk.
- Collaborated with Operations and CX teams to deliver seamless CHB service execution, leveraging tools such as United and IDP to increase efficiency and accuracy in customs declarations.
- Worked closely with Procurement, Product, and Vendor Management to onboard and manage customs service providers, ensuring visibility of all declarations and mitigating compliance risks.
- Played a key role in developing CHB product differentiators and competitive positioning, supporting area-wide initiatives to increase adoption of digital customs solutions.
- Worked closely with Sales to drive pipeline growth, directly engaging as Subject Matter Expert (SME) on customs solutions during client meetings, tenders, and onboarding sessions.
- Successfully supported multiple new CHB client integrations across SAI.
- Partnered with Sales and Tender teams to prepare competitive RFI/RFQ responses, CHB pricing proposals, and value propositions tailored to client needs.
- Represented Maersk in business reviews with major accounts, providing performance insights, compliance updates, and operational improvement plans.
- Conducted in-person client visits to strengthen relationships
CUSTOMS EXECUTION SUPERVISOR - MAERSK LOGISTICS AND SERVICES SOUTH AFRICA - South Africa
(2022-04 - 2024-12)
- Ensured global customs compliance standards are maintained within the execution teams
- Oversaw customs compliance within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region and Mauritius, managing import and export clearances.
- Implemented regulatory compliance protocols for customs clearance across multiple jurisdictions, ensuring adherence to international customs and excise laws.
- Enhanced compliance protocols and procedures to ensure adherence to regulatory requirements and mitigate risks of non-compliance.
- Maintained good relationships with Customs, OGAs, and internal and external stakeholders for compliance hygiene.
- Implemented measures to achieve transparency in productivity & variable costs, enabling better analysis & control to optimize overall.
- Mitigated unnecessary revenue leakage and managed vendor costs and team output-related costs.
- Maintained high customer satisfaction by providing efficient, high-quality, compliant service.
- Managed customer expectations through team alignment goals.
- Implemented digital tools and automation to soften the blow on daily operational efforts.
- Stayed up to date with industry/company-specific modernization initiatives.
- Maintained IOPs and process maps/flows for team visibility & transparency.
- Managed post-audit processes for customs declarations, ensuring adherence to SARS audit standards and driving compliance improvements.
- Implemented continuous process improvements to enhance efficiency, reduce errors, and optimize compliance with customs regulations.
CUSTOMS SUPERVISOR - C. STEINWEG LOGISTICS - South Africa
(2016 - 2022)
- Ensured SARS compliance
- Ensured that correspondence and interaction between our organization and SARS meet the criteria legislated in terms of the Customs Act.
- Processed customs documents i.e., framing of all types of Bills of Entries
- Processed for all modes of transport – import, export, and ex-bond.
- Performed quality control of all entries processed by entry clerks.
- Maintained the Acquittal report, customs stops, provisional payments and penalties register.
- Processed adjustments, refunds, Drawbacks, DA70's, Embargo releases, ITAC permit applications, SADC and EUR certificate submissions.
- Arranged port health, state vet and plant inspector releases.
- Assisted with Tariff classification, tariff queries, client queries, VAT and duty calculations.
- Ensured the warehouse and bond store are SARS compliant.
CUSTOMS BROKER - TURNERS SHIPPING - South Africa
(2006 - 2016)
- Framed all bills of entry and prepared cargo dues
- Checked deferment balances, prepared costing sheets and maintained the product listing on the system
- Checked entries when required
- Conducted work allocations, analysis and reporting
- Maintained entries queries schedule and follow up.
- Enhanced client service, recorded and resolved external client queries
- Ensured that clearance was done timeously
- Processed customs declarations for bulk oil shipments, including facilitating the cross-border movement of oil products while ensuring compliance with customs regulations.
- Specialized in customs declarations for oil and energy products, working with various stakeholders to ensure seamless operations
