Director, Global Trade

Overview

Position Summary

The Director, Global Trade Compliance & Trade Operations is a senior enterprise leader responsible for defining and advancing the company’s global trade strategy, integrating regulatory compliance with world-class import/export operations. This role operates at the intersection of risk governance and supply chain execution, ensuring the organization can scale globally while maintaining strict adherence to international trade laws.

This role carries elevated scope, visibility, and influence—serving as a trusted advisor to executive leadership and a key enabler of global growth. The Director will lead transformation initiatives, shape global policy, and build a forward-looking trade capability that supports a complex, innovation-driven life sciences business.

Responsibilities

Key Responsibilities

• Define and lead the enterprise-wide vision and multi-year roadmap for global trade compliance and operations.
• Act as a strategic advisor to senior leadership on trade-related risks, opportunities, and geopolitical developments.
• Translate complex regulatory environments into actionable business strategies that enable growth while safeguarding compliance.
• Drive alignment between global trade strategy and broader supply chain, commercial, and innovation priorities.

• Establish and maintain a robust global compliance framework, including policies, controls, and governance mechanisms across all regions and business units.
• Provide executive-level oversight of compliance with:
• Export controls (EAR)
• Sanctions/embargo regulations (OFAC, EU, UN)
• Global customs and import/export regulations
• Lead enterprise risk assessments, compliance audits, and regulatory readiness efforts.
• Oversee investigation, escalation, and resolution of complex compliance issues, including voluntary disclosures where necessary.
• Interface directly with regulatory authorities and internal / external counsel on high-impact matters.

• Own end-to-end global import/export performance, ensuring seamless integration between compliance requirements and operational execution.
• Drive operational excellence and standardization across regions, balancing global consistency with regional regulatory needs.
• Oversee strategic partnerships with customs brokers and freight forwarders.
• Establish and govern performance metrics tied to service, cost, compliance, and customer impact.
• Lead initiatives to enhance resilience, visibility, and agility across global trade flows.

• Anticipate and proactively manage risks related to sanctions, export controls, classification, valuation, and country-of-origin.
• Lead advanced trade optimization strategies, including:
• Free Trade Agreement (FTA) programs
• Duty savings and avoidance mechanisms
• Tariff mitigation and classification strategies (e.g. FSFE, NRI)
• Continuously evaluate global trade landscapes to identify risks and opportunities tied to geopolitical shifts and regulatory changes.

• Own the global trade technology strategy, including the implementation and optimization of Global Trade Management (GTM) systems.
• Champion automation, data integrity, and analytics to enhance compliance accuracy and operational efficiency.
• Drive integration of trade systems into core ERP and supply chain platforms to enable end-to-end visibility.
• Leverage advanced analytics to inform decision-making, monitor risk indicators, and improve performance outcomes.

• Serve as a key partner to Supply Chain, Legal, Manufacturing, Finance, Regulatory Affairs, and Commercial leadership.
• Provide proactive guidance on trade implications for product development, technology transfers, market expansion, and M&A activities.
• Influence enterprise decision-making by embedding trade considerations early in strategic initiatives.
• Elevate trade compliance as a business enabler rather than a control function.

• Lead, scale, and develop a globally distributed organization spanning compliance and trade operations.
• Build a strong leadership bench and succession pipeline, with a focus on long-term capability development.
• Establish a high-performance culture centered on accountability, continuous improvement, and ethical conduct.
• Deliver enterprise-wide training and awareness programs to strengthen compliance culture.

Qualifications

Qualifications

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in International Business, Supply Chain, Law, or related field (advanced degree strongly preferred).
• 12–15+ years of progressive experience in global trade compliance and international logistics, including significant leadership scope.
• Demonstrated success leading global trade programs in life sciences, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, or other highly regulated industries.
• Experience interacting with executive leadership and influencing enterprise-level decisions.

Technical Expertise

• Deep expertise in export controls, sanctions regulations, customs compliance, and global logistics.
• Advanced knowledge of classification (ECCN/HTS), licensing, valuation, and origin rules.
• Strong experience with GTM systems (e.g., SAP GTS) and ERP integration.
• Proven ability to lead audits, regulatory engagements, and complex compliance investigations.

Leadership & Competencies

• Proven ability to operate with autonomy in high-impact, high-visibility roles.
• Strong strategic orientation combined with disciplined execution.
• Exceptional stakeholder management, with the ability to influence at executive levels.
• Demonstrated success leading transformation and building scalable global capabilities.

Company Description

Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT)  is a global leader in life sciences and diagnostics, dedicated to accelerating the benefits of pioneering science through analytical technologies, informatics, and service. With a focus on regulated, high-volume testing environments, our innovative portfolio harnesses deep scientific expertise across chemistry, physics, and biology. We collaborate with customers around the world to advance the release of effective, high-quality medicines, ensure the safety of food and water, and drive better patient outcomes by detecting diseases earlier, managing routine infections, and combating antibiotic resistance. Through a shared culture of relentless innovation, our passionate team of ~16,000 colleagues turn scientific challenges into breakthroughs that improve lives worldwide.  

Diversity and inclusion are fundamental to our core values at Waters Corporation. It benefits our employees, our products, our customers and our community. Waters complies with all applicable federal, state, and local laws. Qualified applicants are considered without regard to sex, race, color, ancestry, national origin, citizenship status, religion, age, marital status (including civil unions), military service, veteran status, pregnancy (including childbirth and related medical conditions), genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, legally recognized disability, domestic violence victim status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Waters is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. All hiring decisions are based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs at the time.

Key Words

supply chain trade compliance tariff mitigation export controls logistics