Director, Customs Clearance Programs
DHL
Erlanger, KY, USA
Posted on Apr 1, 2026
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Distinguished as No. 1 World’s Best Workplace™ by Great Place to Work and Fortune Magazine
DHL is committed to maintaining an environment that empowers every team member to make the greatest possible impact on our business. Our culture is about personal commitment - to our business, to each other and to our global communities. DHL is dedicated to being a great place to work. In addition to competitive compensation packages, our employees enjoy a range of programs, services and benefits that bring the best to their personal lives.
Start YOUR career with DHL today…
The Director, Customs Programs leads the response to current and emerging U.S. Tariff and Customs complexities by providing strategic expertise and driving automation to enhance operational efficiency and compliance. Provides strategic leadership and it is accountable of setting direction for the deployment, optimization, and governance of the Digitalization transformation Program of the USA Customs clearance processes including existing EGAP and local tools as well as digitalization initiatives including RPA, machine learning and AI for customs processes.
With national accountability, this role serves as a senior integrator between U.S. Customs operations, BIT, Compliance, Global Program Teams, and regional stakeholders to ensure digital solutions are effectively designed, deployed, adopted, and scaled to deliver measurable business outcomes. The Director translates complex business and regulatory requirements into actionable program roadmaps, ensures disciplined execution, and advances the U.S. CCX (Customs Customer Experience) digitalization strategy.
Key Responsibilities
* Provide strategic leadership and full ownership of the U.S. Digitalization Transformation roadmap, defining direction, priorities, and national deployment strategy in partnership with BIT, while guiding functionality expansion and long‑term optimization to address evolving U.S. Tariff and Customs complexities.
* While the Global teams develop long‑term tools and solutions, this role will lead the CCX (Customs Customer Experience) program in the U.S., and in the short term will concurrently drive solutions and make progress at the local and country level to keep pace with the rapidly evolving Customs legislation landscape.
* Establish governance, adoption strategies, and performance metrics to maximize utilization, business value, and user effectiveness through structured training, feedback mechanisms, and analytics.
* Provide executive oversight for the implementation and scaling of automation solutions and capabilities, ensuring strong data governance and process alignment.
* Lead the Digitalization Transformation team and define a strategy and roadmap to optimize US customs clearance processes like Formal process (STAR and premier Customers), Broker Turn Over, LVS HS Automation (PCT), IOR predictor + OCR, GCCP Automation and SGL - Super green Lane.
* Define and track KPIs to measure adoption, operational performance, customer experience impact, and return on investment.
* Serve as the senior U.S. business partner to BIT, country SMEs, regional and global program teams to define, prioritize, and validate functional requirements, solution designs, and change requests.
Skills & Qualifications
* Bachelor’s degree in Business Management, Computer Science, Information Systems, Business Administration, or related field.
* Minimum 7+ years of experience in Operations, Customs operations, BIT for Operations, or similar environments.
* Demonstrated experience coordinating digital tools, system deployments, or program rollouts.
* Prior exposure to customs tools or clearance applications is highly valuable.
* English proficiency required.
* Strong leadership and interpersonal skills with the ability to influence across functions and teams with and without direct authority.
* Excellent communication skills (written and verbal) with the ability to convey technical concepts to operational teams.
* Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
* Critical thinking with a problem-solving mindset and a strong orientation toward results.
* High attention to detail with disciplined follow-through.
* Customs Broker's License preferred.
Employee Benefits & Incentives
DHL benefits and incentive offerings are designed to reflect a substantial experience for both employees and their dependents during their career and life journey. The specifics will vary, but wherever you join and in whatever role, you'll find our benefits and rewards are among the best in the industry. They include:
* Competitive Pay
* Bonus/Incentive Programs
* Retirement Savings - 401K with company match
* myShares - Voluntary plan to buy discounted company shares
* Medical, Dental, Vision, well-being programs
* Tuition Reimbursement
* Generous Paid Time Off - Starting at 4 Weeks (PT/FT)
* Paid Leave
* Employee Discount Program
* Employee Assistance & Work Life Program
* Outstanding training opportunities
DHL is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to persons with disabilities. The job application process includes this application and possibly one or more interviews. If you believe that you might need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application process, please send an e-mail to [1] ada@dhl.com, and include your contact information and the requested accommodation. Only messages related to requests for these types of reasonable accommodations will be returned.
We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected characteristic, The EEO is the Law and supplement are available here: [2] Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal (dol.gov)
References
Visible links
1. mailto:ada@dhl.com
2. https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/OFCCP/regs/compliance/posters/pdf/22-088_EEOC_KnowYourRights.pdf
Distinguished as No. 1 World’s Best Workplace™ by Great Place to Work and Fortune Magazine
DHL is committed to maintaining an environment that empowers every team member to make the greatest possible impact on our business. Our culture is about personal commitment - to our business, to each other and to our global communities. DHL is dedicated to being a great place to work. In addition to competitive compensation packages, our employees enjoy a range of programs, services and benefits that bring the best to their personal lives.
Start YOUR career with DHL today…
The Director, Customs Programs leads the response to current and emerging U.S. Tariff and Customs complexities by providing strategic expertise and driving automation to enhance operational efficiency and compliance. Provides strategic leadership and it is accountable of setting direction for the deployment, optimization, and governance of the Digitalization transformation Program of the USA Customs clearance processes including existing EGAP and local tools as well as digitalization initiatives including RPA, machine learning and AI for customs processes.
With national accountability, this role serves as a senior integrator between U.S. Customs operations, BIT, Compliance, Global Program Teams, and regional stakeholders to ensure digital solutions are effectively designed, deployed, adopted, and scaled to deliver measurable business outcomes. The Director translates complex business and regulatory requirements into actionable program roadmaps, ensures disciplined execution, and advances the U.S. CCX (Customs Customer Experience) digitalization strategy.
Key Responsibilities
* Provide strategic leadership and full ownership of the U.S. Digitalization Transformation roadmap, defining direction, priorities, and national deployment strategy in partnership with BIT, while guiding functionality expansion and long‑term optimization to address evolving U.S. Tariff and Customs complexities.
* While the Global teams develop long‑term tools and solutions, this role will lead the CCX (Customs Customer Experience) program in the U.S., and in the short term will concurrently drive solutions and make progress at the local and country level to keep pace with the rapidly evolving Customs legislation landscape.
* Establish governance, adoption strategies, and performance metrics to maximize utilization, business value, and user effectiveness through structured training, feedback mechanisms, and analytics.
* Provide executive oversight for the implementation and scaling of automation solutions and capabilities, ensuring strong data governance and process alignment.
* Lead the Digitalization Transformation team and define a strategy and roadmap to optimize US customs clearance processes like Formal process (STAR and premier Customers), Broker Turn Over, LVS HS Automation (PCT), IOR predictor + OCR, GCCP Automation and SGL - Super green Lane.
* Define and track KPIs to measure adoption, operational performance, customer experience impact, and return on investment.
* Serve as the senior U.S. business partner to BIT, country SMEs, regional and global program teams to define, prioritize, and validate functional requirements, solution designs, and change requests.
Skills & Qualifications
* Bachelor’s degree in Business Management, Computer Science, Information Systems, Business Administration, or related field.
* Minimum 7+ years of experience in Operations, Customs operations, BIT for Operations, or similar environments.
* Demonstrated experience coordinating digital tools, system deployments, or program rollouts.
* Prior exposure to customs tools or clearance applications is highly valuable.
* English proficiency required.
* Strong leadership and interpersonal skills with the ability to influence across functions and teams with and without direct authority.
* Excellent communication skills (written and verbal) with the ability to convey technical concepts to operational teams.
* Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
* Critical thinking with a problem-solving mindset and a strong orientation toward results.
* High attention to detail with disciplined follow-through.
* Customs Broker's License preferred.
Employee Benefits & Incentives
DHL benefits and incentive offerings are designed to reflect a substantial experience for both employees and their dependents during their career and life journey. The specifics will vary, but wherever you join and in whatever role, you'll find our benefits and rewards are among the best in the industry. They include:
* Competitive Pay
* Bonus/Incentive Programs
* Retirement Savings - 401K with company match
* myShares - Voluntary plan to buy discounted company shares
* Medical, Dental, Vision, well-being programs
* Tuition Reimbursement
* Generous Paid Time Off - Starting at 4 Weeks (PT/FT)
* Paid Leave
* Employee Discount Program
* Employee Assistance & Work Life Program
* Outstanding training opportunities
DHL is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to persons with disabilities. The job application process includes this application and possibly one or more interviews. If you believe that you might need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application process, please send an e-mail to [1] ada@dhl.com, and include your contact information and the requested accommodation. Only messages related to requests for these types of reasonable accommodations will be returned.
We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected characteristic, The EEO is the Law and supplement are available here: [2] Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal (dol.gov)
References
Visible links
1. mailto:ada@dhl.com
2. https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/OFCCP/regs/compliance/posters/pdf/22-088_EEOC_KnowYourRights.pdf
