Import Specialist

Haier South Africa; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 350,000 - 520,000; Full time

Job summary

Haier South Africa is seeking an experienced logistics professional to manage payment and customs clearance activities for regional imports and local logistics operations. The role involves coordinating invoicing, cost allocation and data entry in SAP, while ensuring timely payments and compliance with procedures.

The ideal candidate has a bachelor’s degree in logistics or related field and at least 3 years of international logistics experience, with familiarity in SA/Africa market logistics.

Qualifications

• Familiar with international sea freight and customs clearance procedures.
• Proficient in document handling and data analysis.
• Strong cost calculation and account reconciliation skills.

Responsibilities

• Prepare monthly payment schedule and payment plan for goods.
• Manage budget for customs clearance, warehousing, transportation and other charges of local logistics vendors.
• Reconcile SA local logistics costs and coordinate invoicing for logistics, warehousing, customs clearance and transportation fees.
• Handle reconciliation and invoicing for logistics costs of free sample units exported from China.
• Conduct payment reconciliation for goods.
• Prepare cost allocation breakdown by business unit.
• Submit payment applications in GEMS system.
• Follow up payment approval progress.
• Request payment slips from Finance and distribute them to vendors.
• Daily update of container arrival, customs clearance, document and warehousing-in progress.
• Daily update of container basic information by business unit (product model, quantity, port of loading, B/L, PO).
• Review customs clearance documents and hand over to customs broker.
• Receive import documents from broker, verify release notice, shipping line charges and haulage fees.
• Confirm import charges and input data into SAP.

Skills

Sea freight knowledge

Customs clearance procedures

Document handling

Cost calculation

Account reconciliation

Data analysis

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Logistics Management or related field

Tools

SAP

GEMS payment system

Excel

Job description

1. Prepare monthly payment schedule and payment plan for goods.

2. Manage budget for customs clearance, warehousing, transportation and other charges of local logistics vendors.

1. Reconcile South Africa local logistics costs and coordinate invoicing (verification & invoicing for logistics, warehousing, customs clearance and transportation fees).

2. Handle reconciliation and invoicing for logistics costs of free sample units exported from China.

3. Conduct payment reconciliation for goods.

Payment Management

1. Prepare cost allocation breakdown by business unit.

2. Submit payment applications in GEMS system.

3. Follow up payment approval progress.

4. Request payment slips from Finance and distribute them to vendors.

Customs Clearance Management

1. Daily update of container arrival, customs clearance, document and warehousing-in progress.

2. Daily update of container basic information by business unit, including product model, quantity, port of loading, bill of lading number, PO, etc.

3. Review customs clearance documents (Bill of Lading, Commercial Invoice, Packing List, Insurance Certificate, ocean freight) and hand over to customs broker.

4. Receive import documents from broker, verify customs release notice, shipping line charges, terminal charges and haulage fees.

6. Confirm import charges and input data into SAP system.

Job Requirements

• Education Bachelor’s degree or above, major in Logistics Management, International Trade, Supply Chain Management or related fields is preferred.
• Work Experience Minimum 3 years of working experience in international logistics or supply chain. Experience in logistics for South Africa/Africa market is preferred.

Professional Skills

• Familiar with international sea freight, customs clearance procedures and relevant document handling;
• Proficient in SAP system for cost entry and management;
• Skilled in payment approval systems such as GEMS;
• Strong capability in cost calculation, account reconciliation and cost allocation;
• Advanced Excel skills for data analysis and report generation.