Senior Manager - Export Controls and Customs Compliance

nscaleoperationsukltd; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Nscale is building its export controls and third party risk programme across the UK, EU, US and APAC. You will support the Director, Third Party Risk and Export Controls in delivering the operational component of the programme and own day-to-day compliance oversight of licensing, classification, and counterparty risk.

You will establish audit and assurance layers for logistics and customs, manage screening, and coordinate training and guidance for business enablement to scale compliance across

Qualifications

• Hands-on experience with US EAR and UK export controls (licensing, classification, end-use/end-user analysis).
• Experience building and maintaining export controls programmes and risk assessments.

Responsibilities

• Own day-to-day export licensing oversight and ELC portfolio management.
• Build audit and assurance layers for logistics, customs and third-party risk.
• Maintain screening postures and regulatory horizon scanning for sanctions and trade measures.
• Oversee import/export documentation controls and compliance with HMRC and EU/Norway standards.
• Support training, awareness, and self-service guidance for business enablement.
• Partner with stakeholders to operationalize compliance and remediation activities.

Skills

Export controls

Regulatory compliance

Due diligence

Auditing

Risk assessment

Policy development

Job description

About Nscale

Nscale is the GPU cloud engineered for AI. We provide cost-effective, high-performance infrastructure for AI start-ups and large enterprise customers. Nscale enables AI-focused companies to achieve superior results by reducing the complexity of AI development. Our GPU cloud bolsters technical capabilities and directly supports strategic business outcomes, including cost management, rapid innovation, and environmental responsibility. At Nscale, our Legal & Compliance team plays a critical role in driving business success by partnering with stakeholders to anticipate regulatory change, operationalize compliance requirements, and deliver solutions that protect the company while enabling commercial opportunities, to scale confidently, sustainably, and with integrity. We thrive on a culture of relentless innovation, ownership, and accountability, where every team member takes pride in their work and drives it with excellence and urgency. As an Nscaler, you'll build trust through openness and transparency, where everyone is inspired to do their best work. If you join our team, you'll be contributing to building the technology that powers the future.

About the Role

Nscale is building its export controls and third party risk programme, across a footprint spanning the United Kingdom, Norway, the European Union, the United States, and APAC. This role will support the Director, Third Party Risk and Export Controls in delivering that programme, with primary focus on delivering the operational component of the programme.

You will own day-to-day delivery of export licensing compliance oversight of the logistics and customs chain through which our GPU estate moves. You will build the audit and assurance layer, and you will be the first point of contact for the business on tactical queries that relate to export controls, sanctions, customs and counterparty risk.

What you'll be doing

Export Controls

• Conduct export compliance risk assessments on new opportunities using internal Policy artefacts, and iterate on these artefacts as required by the evolving regulatory landscape.
• Manage export licence and End User Certificate portfolio.
• Support enhanced due diligence and ownership and control analysis, including the headquarters and ultimate-parent tests that apply to certain counterparties.
• Maintain the appropriate restricted party screening posture across the relevant lists and jurisdictions.
• Produce a weekly regulatory horizon scan across export controls, sanctions and trade measures, against a watch list set by the Director.
• Support the export control classification programme, covering product inventory, classification register, and United Kingdom and European Union control list mapping.

Logistics and Customs Compliance Oversight, Assurance and Audit

• Own compliance oversight of importer of record and exporter of record arrangements, and of third-party logistics providers, customs brokers and freight forwarders.
• Assure appropriate Incoterms allocation and the contractual allocation of import and export responsibility across supply, colocation and statement of work arrangements.
• Maintain import / export documentation control procedures and recordkeeping standards to ensure ongoing compliance with HMRC, U.S. Export Administration Regulations and similar Norwegian and EU standards.
• Maintain post-shipment verification preparedness, ensuring prompt resolution of regulator documentation audit requests.
• Operate the inter-company and in-country asset transfer mechanism, including GPU location validation and reconciliation.
• Run denied party screening across the logistics chain, covering carriers, brokers, forwarders and consignees.
• Design and run an assurance and audit plan over logistics and customs partners, including sample-based entry audits, a findings log and remediation tracking.
• Support the compliance audit and assurance programme across the Export Controls remit: annual plan, control testing schedule, findings log and remediation tracking.
• Support the Enterprise Level Controls and risk and control cycle, and associated testing timetable.

Procedures

Draft, consult on, and update version-controlled domain-relevant policies and procedures.

Business Enablement

Own triage and first-line response for internal queries on export controls, sanctions, customs and third party risk, and maintain the compliance case register.

Build and maintain a self-service guidance layer: decision trees, frequently asked questions and practical playbooks designed for business enablement.

Build and deliver export control, sanctions and customs awareness training, including red-flag training for commercial, procurement and supply chain teams.

About You

Essential

Hands-on experience of the United States Export Administration Regulations and of United Kingdom export controls, covering licensing, classification, and end-use and end-user analysis. This must be operating experience rather than oversight of an outsou