Customs Business Development Manager

Would you like to be part of a value-driven, commercially oriented international environment where we enable global trade every day? An opportunity exists for a Customs Business Development Manager to join our team Nairobi, Kenya.

The Business Development Manager is a sales-oriented Customs House Brokerage (CHB) professional accountable for accelerating the growth, market share and profitability of the Customs House Brokerage business. The role develops and executes the CHB growth strategy, builds and converts a healthy opportunity pipeline in collaboration with Sales, and leads customer engagement from prospecting through pricing, negotiation, contracting and implementation.

Operating within the Customs Product organization, the role connects Product, Operations, Commercial, Customer Experience, Finance and Compliance to translate customer needs into competitive, compliant, operationally feasible and scalable customs solutions. This role carries clear accountability for agreed CHB sales, volume, revenue and gross profit targets.

Core mandate: Win new CHB business, deepen CHB penetration in existing accounts, and convert market opportunities into sustainable revenue, clearance volume and gross profit growth.

WHAT WE OFFER:

When you join Maersk, you’ll find that the world is your workplace. You’ll work in a culturally diverse, stimulating environment, surrounded by new ideas and different ways of doing things. We believe in individual performance within highly professional teams supported by our distinctive values. To us teamwork means acceptance, respect, dedication, and the idea that we can achieve more when we all pull together.

Living our values means competing in the marketplace in an ethical way so our name is synonymous with being a credible and valuable business partner. Through Constant Care and Humbleness, we strive to prepare for the future, while never forgetting that our customers and competitors are key to our ability to improve. In our daily work, Uprightness and Our Employees mean that transparency and accountability in everything we do go hand in hand with being an inspiring, challenging place to work. At Maersk, we take pride in hiring the best person for the job – irrespective of gender, age, nationality, or religious belief.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Sales & Business Development:

• Develop and execute a CHB growth strategy to increase customs clearance revenue and market share.
• In collaboration with Sales, build and maintain a robust CHB sales pipeline, ensuring consistent conversion of qualified prospects into customers.
• Own and lead customer engagement from prospecting through needs discovery, solution development, pricing, negotiation, contracting and implementation.
• Own and achieve agreed CHB sales, customs clearance volume, revenue and gross profit targets.
• Develop business cases for growth initiatives, new services and priority investments.

Customer Acquisition & Retention:

• Drive customer traction by acquiring new CHB customers and expanding CHB service adoption within existing accounts.
• Develop compelling CHB value propositions that address customer pain points related to customs compliance, cargo clearance, border delays and regulatory requirements.
• Conduct regular customer reviews to identify CHB upselling and cross-selling opportunities.
• Monitor customer satisfaction, retention risks and service improvement opportunities, coordinating corrective actions with the relevant teams.

Market Development & Customer Insights:

• Monitor CHB market trends, competitor activity, customs regulations and relevant industry developments.
• Identify new growth opportunities across imports, exports, bonded operations, transit cargo and customs consulting services.
• Represent the company at relevant industry forums, customer events and trade associations.
• Gather customer and market insights and provide structured feedback to Product and Operations teams to enhance service offerings and competitiveness.

Solution Selling & Commercial Enablement:

• Work closely with Sales, Customer Experience, Finance, Compliance and Operations teams to design competitive customs solutions.
• Support pricing, proposal development, tender responses, business cases and commercial negotiations.
• Ensure proposed solutions are compliant, operationally feasible, scalable and aligned with target margins.
• Ensure smooth onboarding and transition of won business into operations, with clear ownership, implementation milestones and customer communication.

Product Performance & Pipeline Management:

• Maintain accurate CHB pipeline, opportunity and customer activity reporting.
• Track pipeline value, conversion rates, revenue growth, customs clearance volumes, gross profit, customer acquisition and customer retention.
• Deliver regular sales forecasts and business development updates, highlighting risks, opportunities and actions required.
• Identify performance gaps and coordinate corrective actions to improve growth, profitability, product penetration and customer outcomes.

Cross-functional Leadership:

• Collaborate with Customs Operations teams to improve service delivery, capacity, consistency and customer experience.
• Coordinate with Commercial teams to prioritize pursuits, develop account plans and expand CHB penetration.
• Partner with Digital and Transformation teams to advance automation, standardization and process improvement.
• Influence stakeholders without direct authority and maintain clear accountability across the opportunity-to-implementation cycle.

Regulatory, Compliance & Governance:

• Maintain current knowledge of customs regulations, trade compliance requirements and government initiatives relevant to target markets.
• Assess regulatory changes and translate them into customer opportunities, service enhancements and implementation requirements.
• Ensure all customer solutions and commercial commitments comply with internal governance, customs regulations and trade compliance standards.
• Engage regulatory authorities, industry bodies and strategic partners where required.

Strategic Projects & Transformation:

• Lead strategic initiatives that enhance CHB capabilities, competitiveness and growth.
• Drive service standardization, digital adoption and continuous improvement across the CHB product.
• Support implementation of new technologies, services and operating models that improve customer experience and profitability.

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR

Someone with:

• A bachelor’s degree in supply chain management, Logistics, International Trade, Business Administration, Economics or a related discipline.
• Professional certification in Customs, Trade Compliance, Sales, Commercial Management or Supply Chain Management is an advantage.
• 5-10 years of relevant experience in customs brokerage, freight forwarding, logistics, international trade or a related field.
• Demonstrated experience in CHB sales, business development, customer acquisition or solution selling, with evidence of delivering revenue, volume or gross profit growth.
• Strong understanding of customs regulations, customs clearance processes, bonded operations, transit cargo and international trade practices.
• Experience developing value propositions, customer solutions, pricing inputs, proposals, tenders and business cases.
• Experience working effectively across Sales, Product, Operations, Customer Experience, Finance and Compliance functions.

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Maersk is committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace, and we embrace different styles of thinking. Maersk is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applicants without regard to race, colour, gender, sex, age, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, marital status, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, medical condition, pregnancy or parental leave, veteran status, gender identity, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with all legal requirements.

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