Job Description
Arhaus was founded in 1986 on a simple idea: Furniture and décor should be sustainably sourced, lovingly made, and built to last. Today, we partner with artisans around the world who share our vision, creating beautiful, heirloom-quality pieces that can be used—and loved—for generations.
Description:
The Associate Director of Import Compliance is a self-starter and strategic leader responsible for shaping Arhaus' global import compliance vision. This role owns the compliance roadmap, drives continuous improvement, and ensures that all imports comply with international, federal, and local regulations. This individual will lead and expand the compliance function, guide import operations, and collaborate with sourcing, logistics, finance, and legal teams to optimize processes and mitigate risk.
Essential Duties & Responsibilities:
- Lead the import compliance function including HTS classification, FTAs, COO, valuation, ADD, Lacey Act, FWS, FDA, and PGA compliance.
- Define and execute the multi-year international compliance roadmap, identifying improvement opportunities and operational efficiencies.
- Oversee Customs broker performance, pricing, and contract negotiation to ensure compliance accuracy and cost efficiency.
- Review and renew US Customs Bonds and ensure alignment with company import volumes and regulatory requirements.
- Manage duty audits, duty payments, and duty-reduction initiatives; deliver quarterly and annual performance reporting.
- Conduct post-entry audits for HTS, value, quantity, COO, ADD, FTA, and documentation accuracy; recommend process improvements.
- Partner with store/online teams and distribution centers to support international order sales and export compliance.
- Communicate with internal teams and external partners (brokers, freight forwarders, government agencies) to resolve issues and drive solutions.
- Provide strategic guidance to senior leadership on global trade regulation changes and business impacts.
- Mentor and potentially lead a growing Import Operations team as business volume expands.
Requirements:
- CBP Licensed Customs Broker with 5+ years of progressive import compliance leadership experience.
- Expertise in ocean and air import/export operations.
- Strong understanding of CBP and PGA regulations in a retail or consumer-goods environment.
- Advanced skills in MS Office tools including Excel, Word, and Outlook.
- Strong analytical, organizational, and prioritization abilities with a high attention to detail.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to influence cross-functional leaders.
- Demonstrated self-starter capable of building processes and leading teams in a scaling environment.
- High level of ethics, judgment, confidentiality, and integrity.
Arhaus is an Equal Opportunity Employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind. Arhaus is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all employees and to providing employees with a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions at Arhaus are based on business needs, job requirements, and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion or belief, family or parental status, or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate. Arhaus will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics. Arhaus encourages applicants of all ages.