The Director of Trade Compliance & Quality leads Zhone’s global trade compliance program and supports the development and implementation of the company’s Quality Management System.
The primary responsibility of this position is Trade Compliance. The successful candidate must have extensive, hands-on experience managing U.S. and international import/export compliance in a global business environment, including export controls, customs, product classification, sanctions and restricted-party screening, licensing, regulatory documentation, and international shipping requirements.
The role provides subject-matter expertise and practical guidance to Engineering, Supply Chain, Operations, Logistics, Sales, Finance, Legal, and other stakeholders to help ensure Zhone products and transactions comply with applicable trade laws and regulatory requirements.
As a secondary but strategically important responsibility, the Director leads Zhone’s Quality Management System initiatives, with the objective of achieving and subsequently maintaining ISO 9001 and TL 9000 certification.
The position requires a practical, hands-on leader capable of developing policies and procedures, resolving complex compliance matters, preparing the organization for audits and certifications, and working effectively with suppliers, contract manufacturers, customers, regulatory authorities, freight forwarders, customs brokers, and certification bodies.
Key Responsibilities
Trade Compliance - Primary Responsibility
- Lead and continuously improve Zhone’s global import and export compliance program.
- Interpret and apply applicable U.S. and international trade laws and regulations, including the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), ITAR where applicable, U.S. Customs requirements, sanctions requirements, and FCC-related regulatory considerations.
- Manage classification of products, components, software, and technology using Export Control Classification Numbers (ECCNs) and Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) classifications.
- Determine export authorization and licensing requirements and manage applicable export licenses and import permits.
- Manage denied-party, restricted-party, sanctions, embargo, and country-of-destination compliance.
- Review transactions involving controlled or potentially restricted technologies, customers, countries, suppliers, end users, and end uses.
- Provide guidance on the handling and transfer of export-controlled technical information and technology.
- Establish and maintain trade compliance policies, procedures, work instructions, records, and internal controls.
- Ensure accurate customs, import/export, and international shipping documentation.
- Support proper determination and documentation of country of origin, customs valuation, tariff classification, and applicable trade requirements.
- Support compliance associated with global sourcing, contract manufacturing, product transfers, and changes in manufacturing location.
- Monitor regulatory developments, assess business impact, and implement required process and documentation changes.
- Conduct or coordinate periodic trade compliance audits and risk assessments.
- Develop and deliver role-appropriate trade compliance training.
- Maintain documentation needed for internal audits, external audits, disclosures, and regulatory inquiries.
- Investigate and resolve complex or escalated trade compliance matters.
- Coordinate with customs brokers, freight forwarders, suppliers, customers, regulatory authorities, and external trade counsel, as appropriate.
- Partner with Engineering to obtain the technical information necessary for defensible product classifications and regulatory assessments.
- Provide practical compliance guidance that supports business execution while maintaining appropriate regulatory controls.
Quality Management - Secondary Responsibility
- Lead Zhone’s initiative to achieve and maintain ISO 9001 and TL 9000 certification.
- Develop, implement, and maintain an effective company-wide Quality Management System (QMS).
- Conduct gap assessments against ISO 9001 and TL 9000 requirements and establish a prioritized certification-readiness roadmap.
- Develop and maintain quality policies, procedures, work instructions, records, and document-control requirements.
- Establish and coordinate the internal quality audit program and QMS management reviews.
- Manage or oversee nonconformities, Corrective and Preventive Action (CAPA), root-cause analysis, and verification of corrective-action effectiveness.
- Establish and monitor quality performance indicators and applicable TL 9000 measurements.
- Coordinate quality requirements with Zhone’s ODM, EMS, component, and other manufacturing partners.
- Support supplier qualification, supplier performance monitoring, supplier corrective actions, and quality audits, as appropriate.
- Coordinate with Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, and Customer Support on product and process quality matters.
- Lead preparation for certification and surveillance audits and serve as a primary interface with certification bodies.
- Ensure audit findings and nonconformities are appropriately investigated, documented, corrected, and closed.
- Drive continuous improvement using quality data, customer feedback, product returns, manufacturing issues, field performance, and supplier performance.
