Operational Team Leader/ Customs Operations Team Leader (Rotterdam)

Operational Team Leader

What is the purpose of the position?

"Coordinating, facilitating, and ensuring quality and efficiency; from 'manual declaration' to 'automated, error-free, and compliant workflows'."

The Operational Team Leader is responsible for the daily coordination and management of a team of Declarants and the assurance of quality, compliance, and process efficiency. In collaboration with the Branch Manager, you translate strategic objectives into concrete team and process results.

The Branch Manager and Operational Team Leader work complementarily to each other; however, the ultimate responsibility for the team lies with the Branch Manager.

• Daily work coordination: Assigning declarations, monitoring progress, and adjusting in real-time during volume peaks with digitalization as a central focus; escalating bottlenecks to the Branch Manager.

• Quality monitoring & coaching/training on content: Checking samples, identifying structural errors; providing substantive feedback and sharing it with the Branch Manager. And providing additional training where necessary.

• Compliance & regulation: Overseeing the correct application of customs legislation, health and safety legislation, and GDPR. Supporting and following up on internal and external audits and inspections. Supervising compliance with obligations arising from customs licenses, such as declaration deadlines, handling of claims, and other AEO responsibilities.

• Continuous improvement: Initiating and monitoring improvement proposals regarding processes, systems, and working methods. With the goal of being able to offer high-quality service. Contributing to strategic change initiatives in collaboration with the Branch Manager.

• Digitalization: Proposing manual and labor-intensive processes via interfacing & IDP or data entry out to achieve KPIs and objectives. Stimulating and monitoring the use of digital tools by the operational team and signaling disruptions or opportunities in digitalization to the Digital Lead/Team, customer, or Branch Manager.

• Stakeholder management: Coordinating with internal and external parties, such as customers, other branches/departments, and government agencies.

• Strengthening culture: Creating a safe, open, and quality- and performance-oriented working environment in which collaboration is paramount.

• Problem solving: first-line contact point for problems arising from operational activities. Timely signaling of bottlenecks and escalations, and taking (proactive) measures in consultation/collaboration with the Branch Manager.

• Reporting & analyses: Providing input based on existing analyses of volumes, suspense accounts, KPIs, or QBRs.

• Customers: performing customer Check-Ins, handling complaints/claims in consultation with the Branch Manager, maintaining operational customer contact for the purpose of high-quality service.

Operations

• Effectiveness: number of completed declarations per FTE per working day, versus target.

• Digital: proposing manual and labor-intensive processes via interfacing & IDP or data entry out to achieve KPIs and objectives.

• Compliance & audits: ensuring the quality of declarations, timely follow-up of deadlines for declarations and claims, supervision of compliance with AEO requirements (customs licenses), and supervision of the execution of internal and external audits.

• Quality: Active contribution to the "One Way Of Working" project to realize a national way of working.

• Capacity planning: looking at current volumes and expected volumes in combination with staffing levels.

Customers & Commerce

• Customer satisfaction (NPS / CSAT/Customer Check-In): Measure how satisfied customers are with the service and the contact.

• Service quality: Processing time and error rates in declarations (≤ X% deviations) (optional)

• Proactive signaling: Reporting unexpected volumes or deviations to the Branch Manager (timely escalation).

• Digitalization: Share of automated input (IDP / interfaces) within the team (e.g., +Y% per quarter) (optional)

Team & People

• Performance management: Achieved percentage of goals and/or KPIs of both individuals and (sub)teams.

• Stimulating a positive culture focused on accuracy, responsibility, and customer orientation.

• Steering on change management in consultation with the Branch Manager.

Change Management (optional)

• Implementation support: Timely and error-free adoption of new systems/procedures within the own team.

• Feedback loop: Quarterly report with improvement points and lessons learned for the Branch Manager.

• Improvement:

  • Result-oriented attitude when implementing new processes, systems, and working methods.

  • Skilled in creating support, dealing with resistance, and ensuring continuous improvement. (optional)