Export Director Job Description

An Export Director is the senior commercial leader accountable for a UK firm’s international sales: which overseas markets it enters, how it sells into them, what it charges, how goods or services get there and whether the business stays on the right side of customs, export control and sanctions rules along the way. The role is narrower than a Sales Director, who usually covers domestic and international sales together, and narrower than a Commercial Director, whose remit runs across pricing, contracts and commercial strategy for the whole business. It is also distinct from an international CFO, who leads the finance function of a business operating across borders rather than its export sales.

In practice an Export Director owns export market entry strategy; the management of overseas distributors, agents and, where they exist, subsidiaries; export pricing and its interaction with foreign exchange; logistics and fulfilment; customs and trade compliance; export documentation; trade finance and international credit risk; and the cultural and regulatory adaptation needed to sell in each market. Depending on the size of the business and how its commercial team is structured, the Export Director usually reports to the Managing Director, Chief Executive, Commercial Director or Sales Director.

This page sets out the role specification, the sector scenarios in which firms hire Export Directors, the post-Brexit trade rules the role has to work within, how pay is structured, the experience and qualifications to look for, and how a search is run. If you are ready to hire, our Export Director recruitment service covers permanent, interim and fractional appointments.

Sample Export Director Job Description

The template below is a starting point that clients can adapt. It is written for a mid-sized UK manufacturer or consumer goods business selling through a mix of distributors, agents and direct accounts. Smaller exporters will usually trim the team leadership elements; businesses selling controlled goods will want to strengthen the compliance sections.

Job purpose

To lead the company’s international sales and export operations, growing profitable overseas revenue in line with the agreed strategy while keeping every export compliant with UK and destination-market customs, export control, sanctions and product rules.

Key responsibilities

• Set the export strategy and market priorities, including which markets to enter, exit or develop, and present it to the board for approval.
• Build the annual export budget with finance, covering revenue, gross margin, cost of sale, foreign exchange assumptions and credit exposure by market.
• Choose the route to market in each territory (distributor, agent, direct sales or local subsidiary), and appoint, manage, review and where necessary replace overseas partners.
• Negotiate distribution and agency agreements with legal advice, covering exclusivity, targets, pricing, stock, marketing support, termination and governing law.
• Set export price lists and discount structures, choose the right Incoterms for each customer, and protect margin against currency movements and freight costs.
• Lead international tenders and major account negotiations, and bring in trade finance, export credit insurance or UK Export Finance support where it strengthens a bid.
• Own export compliance: commodity classification, rules of origin, customs declarations through brokers or forwarders, export licences where needed, and sanctions and end-user screening.
• Work with operations and logistics on freight, documentation and delivery performance, and with quality and regulatory teams on product marking, labelling and certification.
• Lead, recruit and develop the export team, including regional managers, account managers, export administration and any trade compliance staff.
• Report monthly to the leadership team and regularly to the board on export performance, pipeline, risks and market developments.

Person specification: essential

• A track record of growing export revenue profitably in a comparable sector, including opening at least one new market.
• Experience of appointing and managing overseas distributors or agents, including difficult performance conversations and terminations.
• Working knowledge of customs procedures, Incoterms, rules of origin and export documentation, and the judgement to know when to bring in specialists.
• Commercial and financial literacy: export pricing, margin management, foreign exchange exposure and international credit risk.
• Willingness to travel internationally, often at short notice, and the ability to build relationships across different business cultures.

Person specification: desirable

• Qualifications from the Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade, or equivalent trade compliance training.
• Experience of export controls and licensing, where the business sells military, dual-use or other controlled items.
• A language relevant to the firm’s main export markets.
• Experience of setting up or running an overseas subsidiary or branch.
• Experience in a private equity-backed or fast-growing business where export growth was part of the investment case.

A job description should also state the reporting line, location and hybrid working expectations, the likely travel commitment and the scope of budget and hiring authority. Candidates at this level look closely at those points, and vagueness about authority is one of the most common reasons strong people turn a role down.

UK Firm Sector Scenarios for UK Export Director Appointments

The title is the same across sectors, but the job is not. What an Export Director spends their week on depends heavily on what the business sells, where and through which channels. Getting the sector scenario right at the brief stage is the single biggest factor in finding the right person.

Manufacturing firms exporting to EU and rest-of-world markets

Precision engineering, aerospace and defence suppliers, automotive components, electronics, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, and construction equipment manufacturers all appoint Export Directors. The role here typically covers building and managing an overseas distributor network, leading international project tenders, running after-sales service and spare parts revenue, and owning customs declarations. In aerospace, defence and some electronics businesses, strategic export controls become a core part of the job rather than a background compliance matter. Firms in this space often pair the hire with wider manufacturing executive recruitment as they build out the senior team.

Food and drink exporters

Premium food brands, Scotch whisky, gin and spirits, beer, confectionery, speciality and organic food, and seafood exporters face a different set of problems. The Export Director manages relationships with major international retailers and distributors, and has to reconcile UK food safety requirements with those of each destination market. Labelling and consumer information rules vary by country, alcohol exporters must deal with excise and duty regimes, and many products need health or phytosanitary certificates. Food and drink exporters selling into the EU should also be tracking the UK-EU sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement, covered below, because it is likely to change the paperwork and checks they face. Consumer-facing businesses in this category often draw on FMCG executive recruitment for the wider leadership team.

Industrial equipment exporters

Makers of industrial machinery, agricultural and construction equipment, power generation plant, water treatment and process equipment sell high-value items, often into large projects. The Export Director leads tenders for major international projects, works with project finance structures, and frequently uses export credit insurance or guarantees through UK Export Finance. Agent and distributor management and after-sales service matter as much here as winning the original order, because the lifetime revenue from parts and servicing is often where the margin sits.

Technology and SaaS firms expanding internationally

Enterprise and B2B SaaS, fintech, regtech and consumer technology firms rarely use the title Export Director, but some do when the role is specifically about taking a UK product into overseas markets. The work involves international subscription pricing, data residency and data protection (UK GDPR, EU GDPR, US state privacy laws and Asia-Pacific regimes), international VAT and GST on digital services, withholding tax and transfer pricing, partner and channel programmes, and close work with customer success on major overseas accounts. Many of these businesses end up hiring a Head of International or a Chief Revenue Officer instead, and the brief should be clear about which they need.

Consumer goods exporters

Premium consumer brands, fashion and apparel, home and garden products, personal care and cosmetics, and consumer electronics exporters need an Export Director who can manage international retailers and marketplaces alongside direct-to-consumer e-commerce. The role overlaps with brand marketing on how the brand is positioned in each market, with product teams on local adaptation, and with finance on duty, tax and returns. Cosmetics and electronics in particular bring product safety and conformity marking requirements that differ between the UK, the EU and other markets.

SMEs scaling international export operations

For a growing SME, the first Export Director is often the person who turns opportunistic overseas orders into a deliberate strategy. The role covers choosing which markets to enter and in what order, appointing distributors that suit the firm’s scale, putting export operations on a proper footing, and using the support available from UK Export Finance and the Department for Business and Trade. This is also where fractional and interim appointments are most common: a business that cannot yet justify a full-time Export Director can still get senior export leadership for two or three days a week.

Professional services firms with international clients

Consulting, technology services and financial advisory firms with a significant overseas client base sometimes appoint an Export Director or an international client lead. The customs and logistics elements fall away, but international contracting, tax on cross-border services, local regulatory requirements and client development across several markets remain.

UK Post-Brexit Trade Regulatory Framework Intersection with Senior Export Director Scope

A capable Export Director does not need to be a customs specialist, but they do need to understand the rules well enough to make commercial decisions, ask the right questions of freight forwarders, brokers and advisers, and recognise when something is about to go wrong. These are the areas that matter most for UK exporters as of November 2026.

HMRC Customs Declaration Service (CDS)

The Customs Declaration Service is HMRC’s system for all UK import and export declarations. It replaced the old CHIEF system, with imports moving first and exports completing the move in 2024. Exporters need an EORI number, and the Export Director should understand customs procedure codes and the data their broker or forwarder submits on their behalf, because errors in declarations sit with the exporter, not just the agent.

UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA)

The TCA, in force since 1 January 2021, gives tariff-free, quota-free access to the EU for goods that meet its rules of origin. That condition is where many exporters come unstuck. The Export Director needs to understand preferential origin, how cumulation works, and how supplier declarations support an origin claim, because goods that fail the rules pay the EU’s standard duty. The TCA does not remove customs declarations or regulatory checks, and product rules still need attention: UKCA and CE marking, UK REACH and EU REACH, and other product requirements apply on each side of the border.

UK-EU SPS agreement

Following the May 2025 UK-EU summit, the two sides have been negotiating a sanitary and phytosanitary agreement that would bring the UK into dynamic alignment with EU rules on food, plant and animal health, with only limited exceptions. In return, most routine certificates and checks on agrifood trade between Great Britain and the EU would fall away. As of November 2026 the agreement is still being negotiated, and the government has said it intends it to take effect from mid-2027. For a food and drink Export Director this is the most important regulatory change on the horizon, and candidates should be able to talk about how they are preparing for it.

Windsor Framework

Trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland runs under the Windsor Framework, the name now used for the arrangements that replaced the original Northern Ireland Protocol. Goods staying in Northern Ireland can move through the green lane by traders registered under the UK Internal Market Scheme, while goods at risk of moving on into the EU go through the red lane with full checks. Firms with significant Northern Ireland or Republic of Ireland trade need an Export Director who understands which route applies.

Border Target Operating Model

The Border Target Operating Model sets out the UK’s risk-based import controls on goods from the EU and the rest of the world, including health certificates and checks on animal and plant products. It is mainly an import regime, but it matters to Export Directors whose businesses bring in components, ingredients or packaging, and it will be affected by the SPS agreement once that takes effect.

Strategic export controls and the Export Control Joint Unit

Military, dual-use and other controlled goods, software and technology need export licences from the Export Control Joint Unit, part of the Department for Business and Trade. The main licence types are the Standard Individual Export Licence (SIEL), the Open Individual Export Licence (OIEL) and Open General Export Licences (OGELs). ECJU is moving licence applications from its old SPIRE system to a new service called LITE, and exporters have been moving across in stages. In aerospace, defence and many technology businesses, the Export Director carries real accountability here, and experience of running an internal compliance programme is a genuine requirement rather than a nice-to-have.

Financial and trade sanctions (OFSI and OTSI)

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, part of HM Treasury, enforces UK financial sanctions, and the Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation enforces trade sanctions. The Export Director needs screening of customers, distributors, end users and banks against the UK sanctions list, licences where needed, and a clear process for dealing with high-risk markets and diversion risk.

Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) status

AEO is HMRC’s trusted trader status. AEO Customs Simplifications (AEOC) and AEO Security and Safety (AEOS) can bring faster clearance and easier access to simplified customs procedures. For larger exporters, getting and keeping AEO status is often part of the Export Director’s remit.

Incoterms 2020

The International Chamber of Commerce’s Incoterms 2020 rules are still the current edition. Their eleven rules (EXW, FCA, FAS, FOB, CFR, CIF, CPT, CIP, DAP, DPU and DDP) set out who arranges and pays for carriage, insurance and customs clearance, and where risk passes from seller to buyer. Choosing the wrong one is a common source of margin loss and disputes. DDP in particular leaves a UK exporter responsible for import clearance and duties in the buyer’s country, which many firms take on without fully understanding it.

Commodity codes, the UK Global Tariff and trade agreements

Every product needs a correct commodity code, based on the World Customs Organization’s Harmonised System and looked up through the UK Trade Tariff. The code decides the duty paid in the destination market, whether a trade agreement preference applies, and whether licensing or other controls are triggered. The UK Global Tariff sets the duty on goods coming into the UK, which matters for imported components and for duty relief schemes such as inward processing. Beyond the TCA, the UK’s own free trade agreements set the preferential rates available in many rest-of-world markets, and the Export Director should know which apply to the firm’s target markets.

UK Export Finance (UKEF)

UK Export Finance is the UK’s export credit agency. It offers export insurance, bond support, working capital support and buyer finance, usually delivered alongside banks. For capital equipment and project exporters, knowing how to bring UKEF into a deal can be the difference between winning and losing a tender.

Product rules: UKCA, UK REACH and CITES

UKCA marking applies to many goods sold in Great Britain, while the EU still requires CE marking, and the government has extended recognition of CE marking for many product categories in Great Britain. UK REACH runs separately from EU REACH for chemicals. Exports of species or products covered by CITES need permits. The Export Director does not need to manage each of these personally, but needs to know which apply and who in the business owns them.

UK Export Director Compensation Calibration

Export Director pay varies widely, and published salary surveys rarely separate the role from wider sales leadership, so we prefer to benchmark each mandate against the live market rather than quote general ranges. The factors that move the package are:

• Scale of export revenue. The share of turnover that comes from overseas, and how much of it the role directly controls, is the main driver.
• Sector and complexity. Controlled goods, project-based capital equipment and regulated food and drink exports usually command more than straightforward distribution of finished goods, because the candidate pool is smaller.
• Market spread. Running a handful of EU distributors is a different job from managing subsidiaries, agents and project sales across several continents.
• Ownership. Private equity-backed businesses typically offer lower base pay relative to the total package, with sweet equity or management incentive plans tied to exit value.
• Travel and location. Heavy travel commitments, overseas postings or a requirement to be based near a plant or port all affect the package.

Bonus design deserves attention. Bonuses based only on export revenue can reward low-margin deals and poor credit decisions, so better structures weight gross margin, cash collected, new market entry or distributor performance alongside revenue. For interim and fractional appointments, pay is set as a day rate, which depends on the same factors plus the urgency and length of the assignment.

UK Export Director Required Experience and Qualifications

Experience counts for more than qualifications in this role, but the right credentials are a useful signal, particularly where trade compliance is a big part of the job.

International export career background

Strong candidates have usually held an Export Director or Head of Exports role at a comparable firm, or have run international sales, a regional territory or an overseas subsidiary for a UK business with material export revenue. Look for evidence that they have opened a new market rather than only inherited one, appointed and removed distributors, and taken responsibility for the margin and credit risk on export deals, not just the order book.

Sector-specific export experience

Most clients want sector experience, and in some sectors it is close to essential. A manufacturing exporter will usually look for someone who has sold engineered products overseas; a food and drink exporter will want experience with international retailers, food safety and labelling rules; a technology firm will want someone who has scaled a product internationally. Transferable candidates can work well, but the brief should say which sector knowledge is a must and which can be learnt.

Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade qualifications

The Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade, which received its Royal Charter in 2024 and was formerly the Institute of Export & International Trade (IOE&IT), is the main UK professional body for international trade. Its certificate and diploma qualifications in international trade, and its specialist courses in customs, trade finance and export controls, are a good indicator that a candidate understands the technical side of exporting. They matter most where the Export Director also leads the trade compliance team.

Marketing, procurement and business qualifications

• Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM). CIM qualifications, particularly those with an international marketing element, suit roles with a strong brand and market development side.
• Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS). The CIPS Level 6 Professional Diploma and MCIPS or FCIPS membership are relevant where the role spans supply chain and logistics.
• MBA. Mid-market and private equity-backed businesses sometimes prefer an MBA for the most senior export roles, though a strong track record usually outweighs it.
• Sector credentials. Export control compliance training for aerospace and defence roles, and food safety qualifications for food and drink roles.

Languages

Where a firm’s export revenue is concentrated in particular regions, a relevant language can strengthen a candidate considerably, especially for distributor negotiations and retailer relationships. It is rarely a deal-breaker on its own, and clients should be careful not to narrow the pool unnecessarily.

Export Director KPIs and Performance Measures

Agreeing a small set of measures before the appointment helps both sides. Revenue alone is a poor guide to export performance, because it can be bought with discounts, generous credit terms or unprofitable markets. The measures we see working best combine growth, profitability, cash and compliance:

• Export revenue and growth by market and by channel, against budget.
• Gross margin on export sales, after freight, duty, distributor discounts and currency effects.
• Debtor days and bad debt on overseas accounts, which show whether credit risk is being managed.
• Distributor and agent performance against agreed targets, including stock levels, sell-out data where available and marketing activity.
• New market progress, measured by milestones such as partner appointed, first orders, registrations or certifications obtained.
• Order-to-delivery performance and the rate of shipments delayed by documentation or customs problems.
• Compliance record: declaration errors, licence breaches, sanctions screening exceptions and the outcome of any HMRC or ECJU checks.

For a first Export Director in a growing business, it is often sensible to weight the first year towards building the foundations, such as the right partners in the right markets and compliant processes, rather than short-term revenue targets that encourage the wrong deals.

UK Export Director Senior Commercial Reporting and Engagement Framework

Reporting line

Export Directors usually report to the Managing Director or Chief Executive in smaller and mid-sized firms, or to a Commercial Director, Sales Director or Group International Director in larger groups. The role normally sits on the senior leadership team, reporting monthly on export performance and regularly to the board on international strategy, major tenders, new market entry and significant compliance risks. Where export revenue is a large share of turnover, some firms put the Export Director on the board itself.

It is worth being clear about how the role sits alongside the rest of the commercial team. Where a business also has a Sales Director or Commercial Director, the brief should spell out who owns pricing, key accounts and the sales pipeline, so that the Export Director is not left with responsibility for overseas results but without authority over them.

Team leadership

The size of the team varies with the business, but an Export Director typically leads regional or territory managers, international account managers, export operations and logistics staff and, in larger exporters, a trade compliance manager. They also manage people they do not employ directly: overseas distributors and agents, freight forwarders and customs brokers. The ability to get results through partners in other countries is one of the clearest differences between a strong Export Director and a capable domestic sales leader.

Working with finance

The relationship with the finance function matters more in this role than in most sales leadership roles. Foreign exchange exposure, international credit risk, letters of credit and documentary collections, transfer pricing on intra-group sales and VAT treatment of exports all need joint decisions. Businesses with complex international structures often hire at both ends, pairing an Export Director with a finance leader through international CFO recruitment.

The First 90 Days for a New Export Director

The early months shape how quickly a new Export Director becomes effective. A sensible plan, agreed with the Managing Director before the start date, usually covers four areas.

Understanding the current export business

Reviewing revenue, margin and credit history by market and by customer, reading every distribution and agency agreement, and checking how export pricing, Incoterms and payment terms are actually being applied. It is common to find that a few markets or partners drive most of the profit, and others absorb time and working capital.

Meeting partners and customers

Visiting or speaking to the main distributors, agents and direct accounts early gives the new leader an honest view of the brand’s position in each market, and signals to partners that the business is taking exports seriously.

Checking compliance and operations

Confirming that commodity codes, origin claims, licences and sanctions screening are in order, and that brokers and forwarders are submitting accurate declarations. Problems found here are much cheaper to fix in month two than after an HMRC enquiry.

Agreeing the plan

By the end of the first quarter, the Export Director should be able to present a market prioritisation, a view on which partners to keep, develop or replace, and the resources needed. Our executive onboarding guide covers how to structure the wider induction for senior hires.

Export Market Entry Routes: Distributors, Agents and Subsidiaries

Choosing how to sell into each market is one of the most consequential decisions an Export Director makes, and candidates should be able to explain why they chose a given route in past roles.

Distributors

A distributor buys the goods, holds stock, sells on its own account and usually handles import clearance and local after-sales service. It is the most common route for manufacturers and consumer brands because it limits the exporter’s credit and operational exposure. The trade-off is less control over pricing, brand presentation and customer data, so the agreement and the way it is managed matter a great deal.

Commercial agents

An agent finds customers and negotiates sales on the exporter’s behalf in return for commission, while the exporter sells and ships directly. This gives more control over price and customer relationships but leaves the exporter with the credit risk, import logistics and local compliance. In the EU, commercial agents have statutory protections, including rights to compensation or indemnity when an agency ends, so termination needs careful handling and legal advice.

Direct sales and e-commerce

Some businesses sell directly to overseas customers, either through their own sales team or online. This works well for high-value project sales and for consumer brands with strong direct channels, but it brings the exporter into contact with destination-market VAT, import duties, returns and consumer protection rules.

Subsidiaries, branches and joint ventures

Where a market becomes large enough, setting up a local subsidiary or branch gives full control, at the cost of local employment, tax, accounting and governance obligations. Joint ventures with local partners are used in markets where ownership rules or relationships make a solo entry difficult. These moves usually involve the finance and legal teams as much as the Export Director, and businesses building overseas operations often hire local leadership through international executive recruitment.

Export Finance Options and UK Export Finance Support

Getting paid, and funding the gap between shipment and payment, is part of the Export Director’s job as much as the finance team’s. Candidates should be comfortable with the main tools and know when each is appropriate.

• Open account terms are the norm with established partners in lower-risk markets, but leave the exporter carrying the credit risk unless it is insured.
• Letters of credit give strong payment security through the banking system, but documents must match the credit terms exactly or payment can be delayed or refused.
• Documentary collections sit between the two, using banks to exchange shipping documents for payment or an accepted bill of exchange.
• Trade credit insurance, from private insurers or through UK Export Finance where private cover is not available, protects against buyer default and some political risks.
• Working capital and invoice finance help fund production and the period before overseas customers pay.

UK Export Finance works mainly through banks and brokers. Its support includes export insurance, bond support for advance payment and performance bonds on export contracts, working capital support, and finance for overseas buyers of UK goods and services. It also has export finance managers around the UK who can talk an exporter through what is available. An Export Director who knows when to bring UKEF in can make a tender competitive or allow the business to take on a contract it could not otherwise fund. Final decisions on any finance product sit with the finance function and the lender, so this is an area where the Export Director and CFO need to work closely together.

Senior UK Export Director Search — Methodology

Exec Capital runs Export Director searches on a structured, retained basis, adjusted for the particular dynamics of this market. Every search is run by our specialist team, with Adrian Lawrence FCA overseeing each mandate.

Structured brief development

Every mandate starts with a brief that sets out the firm’s sector scenario, its target markets (EU, rest of world or particular regions), the sales channels it uses or wants to build, the trade compliance responsibilities the role will carry, including export controls where relevant, the qualifications that genuinely matter, and how the role fits with the existing commercial team. A clear brief shortens the search and avoids the most common failure: hiring a good salesperson who is not equipped for the regulatory and operational side of exporting.

Candidate pool research

The candidate pool includes Export Directors at comparable firms in the same sector, international sales leaders ready to step up, regional leaders who have run overseas territories for UK businesses, and leaders of overseas subsidiaries looking to return to a UK-based role. Because many of the best candidates are not actively looking, direct approach research is central to the process.

Assessment

We test candidates on the parts of the role that are hardest to judge from a CV: the markets they actually opened, the distributor decisions they made, how they handled margin and credit risk, and how well they understand the customs, origin and controls issues that apply to your products. References focus on results that can be checked.

Interim and fractional options

Not every business needs a full-time permanent Export Director straight away. An interim Export Director can cover a gap, lead a specific market entry or fix an underperforming distributor network. A fractional Export Director can give a smaller exporter senior leadership for a few days a week while the export business grows. Our wider interim executive recruitment and fractional C-suite services explain how these arrangements work. Our Export Director search covers all three models.

Adjacent Senior UK Commercial Recruitment Engagement

Sometimes the right answer to an export problem is a different role. These are the most common alternatives and companions to an Export Director hire.

• Sales Director. Where domestic and international sales need to sit under one leader, Sales Director recruitment may be the better route.
• Commercial Director. Where the need extends to pricing, contracts and overall commercial strategy, see Commercial Director recruitment.
• Business Development Director. Where the focus is new partnerships and new markets rather than running an established export operation, see the Business Development Director job description.
• International CFO. Where the international challenge is about structure, tax, treasury and reporting rather than sales, the finance hire usually comes first.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between an Export Director and a Sales Director?

A Sales Director usually leads all sales, domestic and international. An Export Director focuses only on overseas markets and carries responsibilities a Sales Director rarely has, such as customs, rules of origin, export controls, international logistics and trade finance.

Does an Export Director need to be a customs expert?

No, but they need enough knowledge to make sound commercial decisions and to manage brokers and forwarders properly. In businesses that export controlled goods, or where there is no separate trade compliance manager, deeper technical knowledge becomes essential.

Which qualifications should we look for?

Qualifications from the Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade are the most directly relevant. CIM, CIPS and MBA qualifications can be useful depending on the role, but a record of building export revenue profitably usually matters more.

Will the UK-EU SPS agreement affect the role?

For food, drink, plant and animal product exporters, yes. The agreement is still being negotiated, with the government aiming for it to take effect from mid-2027, and it is expected to remove most routine SPS certificates and checks on trade with the EU. An Export Director in these sectors should be planning for it now.

Can we hire an Export Director on a fractional basis?

Yes. Fractional Export Directors work part time, often two or three days a week, and suit SMEs that need senior export leadership before they can justify a full-time hire. Interim appointments suit businesses covering a gap or delivering a defined project such as entering a new market.

What does an Export Director do in their first year?

In most businesses the first year is about reviewing the existing export markets and partners, fixing compliance and pricing gaps, choosing priority markets and putting the right distributors or agents in place. Revenue growth often follows in the second year once those foundations are in place.