Adding An Analyst Or A Specialist

Dear Import/Export Compliance Manager,

I manage a one-person trade compliance department.  I’ve just received word that my request for budget to get a direct report has just been granted.  The new person will be responsible for a host of things from classification, broker management and applying for export licenses.  I’m trying to figure out the proper job title and wanted to get your opinion.  Thoughts?

Overjoyed in Oxnard

Dear Overjoyed,

Congratulations on getting a new position added!  Hopefully this will allow your department to accomplish bigger and better things within the company.  Since the role is new and your company doesn’t have a firmly established structure, you have some flexibility in the title that you choose.  Still, the Import/Export Compliance Manager thinks that there is a definite framework for positions based on responsibility.  Let’s get to it!

First off, let’s go through sort of the progression of positions up the food chain within an Import/Export Compliance Department.  Or better yet, let’s start from the top and work down.  At the top, the head person is management, either a VP, Director or, most likely, a Manager.  There can be many of these or, in your case, just one.  Below anyone calling themselves manager and thus having the responsibility of managing living, breathing people, are two main job titles, according to the Import/Export Compliance Manager: Analyst and Specialist.  The Import/Export Compliance Manager has seen some other job titles for trade compliance professionals without direct reports such as Advisor and Manager. 

In the view of the Import/Export Compliance Manager, the key distinction between an Analyst and a Specialist is rather simple; an Analyst creates processes while a Specialist follows them.  The talents required to be awesome at each are entirely different. 

As a one-person Import/Export Compliance Department, you have had to embody all three of these positions: manager, analyst and specialist.  Let’s say you were the person to set up your company’s import/export compliance program from scratch.  You of course determined that there was a need for the classification of all products your company ships.  This was acting as a manager.  You then set up a process whereby you found out what products your company was shipping by inserting yourself into the order management process, the shipping process and hopefully the new product development process.  This was acting as an Analyst.  Lastly, you followed your own process for ensuring that new products were fully classified and evaluated for import/export compliance issues before they were shipped out the door.  This was acting as a Specialist.

The Import/Export Compliance Manager thinks that certain mindsets and talents are required to succeed at each type of position.  A crack Analyst is someone who is comfortable with taking action on their own, capable of managing a project and running a meeting on their own without you looking over their shoulder and has dissatisfaction with the status quo (i.e. never utters the words ‘Well, that’s the way we’ve always done it’).  An excellent Specialist is detail-oriented and content to potentially perform the same tasks day after day after day.  Both need to be good at interacting with people, especially because you are such a small department. 

You need to look at the tasks that you have drawn up for the new position and determine whether they are Analyst-level tasks, Specialist-level tasks or a combination of the two.  You will need to throw yourself, as Manager, into the mix.  Do you think there is a sufficient amount of Specialist work to hire someone as a full-time Specialist?  Is there a 50/50 mix of Specialist and Analyst work?  Will you be handling exports while the successful candidate will handle all import duties (with supervision and ownership from you, of course).  This analysis should paint a good picture for you of the type of position you are really searching for.  If they’re expected to perform as an Analyst, even if they also perform Specialist-level tasks, call them an Analyst.  Otherwise, they’re a Specialist.

As for the full title, it’s best to just stick the words ‘Import/Export Compliance’, ‘Export Compliance’ or ‘Import Compliance’ in front of the title.  That will tell everyone they interact with that they cover everything.  If your department grows, your employees will become more specialized and you can adjust the job titles accordingly. 

One more thing: don’t be afraid to bring in someone with no import/export compliance experience into the role.  The Import/Export Compliance Manager is a huge believer in hiring for talent (things that can’t be taught) versus skills (things that can).  Experience is wonderful but is no substitute, when hiring for an Analyst role, for having someone who has no problem in knocking a few heads together (in a nice way, of course) in order to get a gaping compliance hole filled with a solid process.  The same applies for a Specialist role; just because someone has no experience doesn’t mean that, after they learn how to file for export licenses, review CF 7501s and/or classify products, they won’t be outstanding in the role.  Experience is helpful, of course, but don’t let it keep you from hiring someone who will do an incredible job for you. 

Again, congratulations for gaining the ability to make your department even more awesome!