Global Trade Compliance Senior Specialist

Metrea; Washington; On-site; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive medical plan options

HSA/FSA accounts

Dental and vision coverage

6% employer 401(k) match

Fully paid parental leave

Generous PTO

Life and disability insurance

AD&D Coverage

Pet Insurance

Employee Assistance Program

Subsidized gym membership

Job summary

Metrea in Washington, DC seeks a Global Trade & Customs professional to ensure compliance with export controls and sanctions laws across the business. You will work with GTC, Legal, and programs to apply international trade laws and drive compliant international operations.

The role requires interpreting complex regulations, developing licensing strategies, and coordinating investigations while delivering training and governance improvements. Travel up to 15% is expected.

Qualifications

• Strong commitment to compliance, integrity, and ethical standards.
• Practical knowledge and experience applying export control/customs/trade compliance requirements such as ITAR, EAR, and Customs regulations.

Responsibilities

• Ensure compliance with international trade regulations, including ITAR, EAR, U.S. Customs regulations, and applicable foreign customs laws
• Independently interpret and apply export control requirements to business operations and transactions
• Provide timely guidance and escalation support for high-risk, complex, or ambiguous compliance scenarios
• Independently prepare and/or lead complex export authorization workflows, ensuring documentation accuracy, completeness, and timeliness
• Develop and execute licensing strategies as applicable, including interpretation and communication of license provisos/conditions.
• Conduct complex export classification determinations and produce defensible classification rationales suitable for audit/regulatory scrutiny
• Lead and coordinate export control/sanctions investigations, including scoping, data collection support, root cause analysis, and corrective action planning
• Draft and/or review investigation reports and support voluntary disclosure preparation when required, ensuring clarity and factual accuracy
• Develop, implement, and continuously improve compliance policies, SOPs, and governance frameworks across licensing, classification, and related controls
• Monitor regulatory changes and translate them into actionable business guidance, while delivering training and mentoring to build team capability

Skills

Compliance mindset

Analytical thinking

Communication skills

Attention to detail

Continuous learning

Multi-tasking

Defense experience

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent

Tools

DECCS

SNAP-R

Microsoft 365

Customs ACE or OCR EASE

Job description

Company Overview

Metrea delivers effects-as-a-service to national security partners across five domains and more than a dozen mission areas. These include airborne ISR, electronic warfare, secure communications, aerial refueling, special air missions, aerial firefighting, and advanced simulation. We own the whole stack: designing, building, and operating turnkey capabilities that give our partners decisive, asymmetric advantage against rapidly evolving threats.

Our operating model is built around three interlocking pillars. The Support Groups provide a global shared-service – spanning people, finance, platform, operations, legal, and engagement. This frees up our Core Groups, who develop and own mission capabilities end-to-end, to focus entirely on delivery. The Market Groups apply a regional lens, ensuring that our agile and adaptable capabilities remain aligned to the wicked problems that matter most to our partners across the Americas, EMEA, and Asia-Pacific.

At the heart of our model is a simple but powerful idea: be a true partner with skin in the game. Our partners need effects, not just equipment. By owning the full stack – from the lab to the field – we are able to drive a continuous cycle of innovation that keeps our partners ahead. It’s a fast-moving, intellectually demanding environment where talented people are given real responsibility, work on problems that matter, and contribute to an enterprise that is growing quickly and deliberately.

Headquartered in Washington, DC, with facilities across the United States, the United Kingdom, as well as Continental Europe and Asia-Pacific.

Position Summary

The Global Trade & Customs (GTC) teamis responsible forthe compliance execution of global export controls, sanction laws, and regulations. The preferred candidate will work closely with GTC, Legal, and programs to apply international trade laws and regulations to support and drive international business.

What You’ll Do

• Ensure compliance with international trade regulations, including ITAR, EAR, U.S. Customs regulations, and applicable foreign customs laws
• Independently interpret and apply export control requirements to business operations and transactions
• Provide timely guidance and escalation support for high-risk, complex, or ambiguous compliance scenarios
• Independently prepare and/or lead complex export authorization workflows, ensuring documentation accuracy, completeness, and timeliness
• Develop and execute licensing strategies as applicable, including interpretation and communication of license provisos/conditions.
• Conduct complex export classification determinations and produce defensible classification rationales suitable for audit/regulatory scrutiny
• Lead and coordinate export control/sanctions investigations, including scoping, data collection support, root cause analysis, and corrective action planning
• Draft and/or review investigation reports and support voluntary disclosure preparation when required, ensuring clarity and factual accuracy
• Develop, implement, and continuously improve compliance policies, SOPs, and governance frameworks across licensing, classification, and related controls
• Monitor regulatory changes and translate them into actionable business guidance, while delivering training and mentoring to build team capability

What You Bring

• Strong commitment to compliance, integrity, and ethical standards
• Excellent judgment and analytical problem-solving skills; ability to distinguish what is known vs. assumed in ambiguous scenarios
• Effective communication, interpersonal, and stakeholder relationship management skills
• Demonstrated proactive, organized, and detail-oriented execution—especially in high-stakes compliance work
• Dedicated to continuous learning, self-development, and professional growth
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in high-pressure environments while maintainingquality and documentation rigor
• Experience in defense and aerospace industry is (preferred)

AdditionalEligibilityQualifications

• Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent professional experience) with minimum 4 years of relevant experience in trade compliance or related fields
• Practical knowledge and experience applying export control/customs/trade compliance requirements such as ITAR, EAR, and Customs regulations
• Proficient in the following software/tools: DECCS, SNAP-R, Microsoft 365
• Practical knowledge of Customs ACE or OCR EASE acceptable

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical plan options
• HSA/FSA accounts
• Dental and vision coverage
• 6% employer 401(k) match
• Fully paid parental leave for all new parents
• Generous PTO
• Life and disability insurance
• Long-term and Short-term disability coverage
• AD&D Coverage
• Pet Insurance
• Employee Assistance Program
• Subsided gym membership / plans throughWellhub

WorkAuthorization/SecurityClearance

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States.

AAP/EEO Statement

This Companyis an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race,color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteranstatusor other characteristics protected by law.

PositionTypeandExpectedHoursofWork

This is a full-timeexemptposition with typical working hours of Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Hours and work shifts may changein accordance withdepartment and business needs.Exempt Employees must have the ability to be on-call and available, asbusiness needs require.

WorkEnvironment

This joboperatesin an office setting.

Travel

Approximately, 15% travel required.

Our Firmware

At Metrea, our single core value is Rooted in Humility, and our four cornerstone attributes are Entrepreneurial, Systematic, Discerning, and Over-Deliver. These form what we call our Teammate Firmware. Just like technical firmware connects software and hardware, our Firmware is the constant interface between our mission and our people. It defines how we show up, how we work together, and how we solve complex problems.

Our team Firmware creates a web-like, hyper-collaborative, dynamically hierarchical way of working that helps us adapt quickly, communicate openly, and distribute decision-making to where expertise actually lives. It enables groups to self-organize around hard problems, shift fluidly as priorities evolve, and operate with the trust, curiosity, and discipline required in a complex mission space. This foundation allows us to deliver elegant, effective solutions and uphold our purpose: protecting our precious inheritance.