Import Coordinator
Thousands of manufacturing businesses in the UK rely on a smooth and uninterrupted flow of imports to ensure productivity is maximised. The same applies to retailers and wholesale companies too. Warehousing can take up some of the slack, but in many cases, wherever imports are optimised and storage is minimised, efficiency is at its peak. Ensuring all this happens is the import coordinator (no pressure then).
The import coordinator will be in constant contact with suppliers all around the world, making sure stocks and production levels are adequate for the projected needs of their employer. And that’s just the start of the journey – import coordinator jobs tend to require oversight of the freight import process, and that means being on the ball with transportation, usually via third party carriers.
Many import coordinator jobs will also require a degree of understanding of the paperwork and customs requirements to bring goods into the country from the various jurisdictions they deal with, although the job is often purely logistical, with the legals being covered by other specialists.
The skills required
Import coordinator job descriptions often ask for accomplished jugglers – people who can have dozens of ongoing tasks at any moment and retain a firm grasp on all of them. While you’ll usually be helped in this with software and a team of import assistants, you’ll be expected to know exactly what is coming in and how they tally with your employer’s demands.
Language skills will often be required, particularly if the employer deals with a single country. But even if your native tongue is enough to excel, you’ll still need advanced communication skills to make sure your instructions are understood – your business relies on it.
Some employers are looking for specialists in road, rail, air or sea imports, as the logistics, speed, volumes and regulations are often specific to that mode of freight transportation. Always check the description carefully.
Import Coordinator Jobs in Chester
Chester is a city on the eastern tip of Cheshire, so far to the east in fact that parts of the city are actually in Wales. The city’s old football stadium actually straddled the border so that one of its goals was in Wales, the other in England. The new ground, the Deva Stadium, is entirely in Wales – but has an English car park! The name Deva comes from Chester’s Roman name. The city still ahs most of its Roman walls and there are Roman excavations in the city, but the architectural style inside the city is much more modern: Tudor, Victorian and Medieval.
The majority of the city, and all of the walled area, is situated in a natural semi-moat formed by the River Dee. Although pleasure trips go along the Dee, it isn’t navigable in and out of the city, but throughout history canals, railways and roads have connected the city with Cheshire, the Wirral Peninsula, North Wales and Wrexham. Chester is at the end of the M56 and M53 which enter its north side, and southwards it is connected by major A-roads.
Despite its somewhat gentrified appearance and affluent populace, Chester does have a relatively strong industrial heritage, although the main sources of income and employment nowadays are retail, tourism, education and government. However, the economically active population with a huge demand for goods and services does mean that Chester has a thriving logistics, supply chain and procurement sector. For this reason, it is a good place to find Import Coordinator work.
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Jobs and candidates incoming at Cast UK
If you’re looking for the perfect import coordinator, we at Cast UK specialise in transport and logistics, and have fantastic talent pools with diverse skill sets in our networks & database with diverse skill sets. Why not give us a call on 0333 121 3345?
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