Import/Export Coordinator Job Description

An Import/Export Coordinator keeps the paper trail of an international shipment complete, consistent and on time. In the transportation sector the job sits at freight forwarders, non-vessel operating common carriers (NVOCCs), customs brokerages and the traffic desks of manufacturers, distributors and retailers that move their own goods across borders. The coordinator does not sign the customs entry or set the contract rate, but the shipment's documents pass across this desk on the way to being booked, cleared and delivered.

O*NET's profile of freight forwarders, which lists Export Coordinator and Air Export Coordinator among its reported job titles, sums up the core of the work: research rates, routings and modes of transport, and maintain awareness of regulations affecting the international movement of cargo. Its task list covers preparing shipping documentation such as bills of lading, packing lists, dock receipts and certificates of origin, arranging the duties, taxes and paperwork for customs clearance, and informing clients about shipping options, timelines, transfers and the regulations that affect a shipment.

The import side

On an inbound file, the coordinator chases the supplier for a commercial invoice and packing list, confirms the booking and the arrival vessel or flight, and gives the customs broker what the entry needs: product descriptions detailed enough to classify, values, country of origin, and the importer's records. When the broker comes back with a question, the coordinator gets the answer from the supplier or the buyer the same day, because cargo sitting at a terminal runs up storage and demurrage. After release, the job turns to delivery appointments, the final broker invoice and the shipment file.

The export side

Outbound work starts with the booking and the cutoff, then the paperwork the destination country and the carrier require. U.S. exports also carry a filing duty. The Census Bureau describes the Automated Export System (AES) as the export component of the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) and the system for collecting Electronic Export Information from people and companies exporting goods from the United States, Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands. A coordinator either files that information or checks that the forwarder has filed it correctly, and screens the buyer and end user before the cargo moves.

Where the money changes hands

Some shipments are paid under a letter of credit, which turns document checking into a payment control. The bank pays the seller only when the invoice, bill of lading and other papers match the credit's terms. A coordinator who reads the credit before the goods ship, rather than after, prevents the discrepancies that hold up payment.

The working rhythm

The day is set by vessel cutoffs, flight departures and time zones. Coordinators work in a forwarding system or ERP, carrier and terminal portals, email and spreadsheets, with many files open at once, and the job runs on follow-up: the missing certificate, the corrected invoice, the booking change that has to reach the trucker before pickup.

Education

O*NET places freight forwarders in Job Zone 1-2, which it describes as work that usually requires a high school diploma or GED. As a rough guide, a coordinator role is reachable from a diploma plus related experience, and an associate or bachelor's degree in logistics, supply chain management or international business shortens the learning curve on trade terms and documents. Community college programs in global logistics and customs courses taught by local trade associations are practical options for people already working in the field.

Experience

As a rough guide, coordinators come from zero to two years of work in freight customer service, shipping and receiving, warehouse documentation or carrier operations. Time at a forwarder teaches the documents and the timing; time at an importer teaches purchase orders, supplier relations and landed cost. Either is a sound base. A second language spoken by suppliers or customers can be an asset on some trade lanes.

Credentials

• Certified Customs Specialist (CCS), awarded by the NCBFAA Educational Institute: the institute's customs (import) credential.
• Certified Export Specialist (CES), awarded by the NCBFAA Educational Institute: the institute's export credential.
• IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations training, offered by IATA: its course on processing dangerous goods consignments is aimed at freight forwarder staff who handle hazardous air shipments.
• Customs broker license, issued by U.S. Customs and Border Protection after the Customs Broker License Exam: not needed for the coordinator role, but it is the credential that lets a person conduct customs business for others.

Systems

O*NET's technology list for freight forwarders includes CargoWise ediEnterprise for forwarding operations and enterprise systems such as SAP software and Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOne. Coordinators should also expect carrier booking portals, the ACE Portal on the import side, and heavy use of Excel for shipment trackers and invoice reconciliation.

Skills that separate good coordinators

• Reading a commercial invoice, bill of lading or air waybill and spotting what does not match.
• Reading the sale's trade terms well enough to tell who pays freight, insurance and duty.
• Writing short, specific emails to suppliers and carriers whose first language may not be English.
• Keeping many open files straight under deadline without dropping follow-ups.
• Knowing when a question belongs to the licensed broker or the compliance lead and handing it off quickly instead of guessing.

Employment and openings

O*NET's 2026 profile for freight forwarders reports employment of 100,300 in 2025 for the occupation, projected growth from 2025 to 2035 rated faster than average (5% to 6%), and about 9,000 projected job openings a year on average. Those figures describe the whole cargo and freight agent occupation, not import/export coordinators alone. In the industry where forwarding sits, freight transportation arrangement, BLS counted 53,390 cargo and freight agents in its May 2025 wage survey.

Refunds moved to electronic payment in 2026

One concrete change for import desks came from CBP's payment side. CBP's 2026 refunds FAQ says the agency issues all refunds electronically through the Automated Clearing House, subject to limited exceptions, as announced in an Electronic Refunds Interim Final Rule published Jan. 2, 2026. Its FAQ says an importer not yet set up for ACH refunds needs an ACE Portal account with the importer sub-account view to authorize them. Starting Oct. 10, 2026, CBP required email or SMS token verification for any change to ACH refund information in the ACE Portal. For coordinators who handle refunds, the importer's ACE setup and refund status are now part of the file to check, and CBP points the trade to its ACE reports to monitor refund status.

What automation is taking over

Some of the new tools reaching trade desks target first-pass classification and entry checks. FreightWaves reported on Sept. 29, 2026 that Flexport had added AI-driven HTS code classification, including a tool that turns the assignment of 10-digit Harmonized Tariff Schedule codes into a guided conversation, and customer-built audit rules that run against every entry in real time and flag issues to operations staff before filing. The feature was live for U.S. entries at the time of that report. Software like this catches mismatches earlier, but it hands the flagged problems to a person, and resolving them with a supplier, a broker or a buyer is still work for a person.

Where the role leads

The paths out of the coordinator chair run in a few directions. Import-heavy coordinators can study for the customs broker exam and move toward brokerage or entry writing. Export-heavy coordinators can move into export compliance, where restricted-party screening, export licensing and export classification become the main work. Others move up the operations ladder to supervisor or import/export manager, or into carrier sales and procurement, where knowing how a file breaks down helps in negotiating with carriers. People who build depth in one trade lane or one difficult commodity, such as food, chemicals or high-value electronics, carry that knowledge between employers.

What to watch

Refund procedures and export-control rules both changed between November 2025 and November 2026, and each change landed on the people who prepare the paperwork. The coordinators who keep up with CBP's Cargo Systems Messaging Service notices and Federal Register rules are better placed to answer client questions, and that knowledge is a base for a move into compliance work.

Dear Ms. Alvarez,

I am applying for the Import/Export Coordinator opening on your ocean and air team. For the past two years I have worked as an export documentation clerk at a regional forwarder in Savannah, where I prepare commercial invoices, packing lists and certificates of origin for shippers of machinery parts and paper products, and check every booking against the carrier's cutoff before I release the paperwork.

The part of the job I value most is catching problems before they cost a client money. Last spring a long-time customer sent a sale under a letter of credit that named a different discharge port than the booking. I flagged it the morning the shipment was booked, the customer had the bank amend the credit, and the documents went through on first presentation. Small catches like that have made me the person my supervisor hands the difficult files to.

I am comfortable in CargoWise, carrier booking portals and Excel, and I keep my shipment files complete enough that any teammate can pick one up and answer a client. I also handle our weekly broker invoice reconciliation and have learned a good deal about entry data from those conversations.

I want to move to a desk that handles both import and export work, and your team's mix of trade lanes is the reason I am applying. I am preparing for the NCBFAA Certified Customs Specialist exam now, and the customs broker exam is my next goal.

Thank you for considering my application. I would welcome the chance to talk about how I could support your team.

Sincerely, Jordan Reyes