FEA Manager (foreign economic activity): tasks, responsibilities, requirements

The area of ​​activity "manager" today includes a large number of specializations. Each of them requires a certain education, skills, personal qualities. We want to introduce the reader to such an interesting and promising work as a foreign trade manager. Who is it? What does a specialist do? What are the requirements for it? What is the salary? These and other questions will help answer this material.

Who is it?

Foreign Trade Manager - a specialist managing the export / import of products of the company or its partners abroad / from abroad.

And what about the abbreviation? FEA - foreign economic activity. What is included in this concept? All types of foreign economic activity of the company (economic, organizational, economic, commercial) that are aimed at the world market. Also, this will include the selected strategy, methods of cooperation.

Thus, foreign trade managers work in companies that intend to cooperate or are already in contact with foreign partners.

Two main areas of activity

The scope of employment of the specialist is extensive. First of all, the direction of the work of the foreign trade manager depends on the activities of the employer:

• The company is engaged in the supply of its products abroad. Accordingly, the specialist in foreign economic activity will deal with issues related to the export of goods. He needs to thoroughly study the foreign market, analyze the capabilities of competitors, find out the requirements for quality, design, and other product characteristics in the country of interest to the employer. In other words, develop an export strategy.
• The company is engaged in the acquisition of foreign products. The Foreign Trade Procurement Manager will be responsible for import matters. Here again, a thorough study of the foreign market is necessary. But in this case, it is aimed at finding a supplier, cooperation with which is the most profitable, long-term and safe.

Everyday work of a specialist

It will be important to determine what the manager for foreign economic activity is doing every business day:

• Organization of product transportation. FEA, logistics related. Therefore, this employment will somewhat resemble the work of a logistician. The manager finds the most suitable transport, builds the most convenient route.
• Development of customs import / export schemes, interaction with customs brokers (company representatives at customs).
• Work with all kinds of documentation. The most important thing here is contracts with foreign partners. To conclude the most profitable and safe foreign economic transactions, you need excellent knowledge of both domestic and foreign legislation.
• Registration of permissions - environmental, hygienic and others.
• Coordination of prices with partners, control over the flow of finances to the cash accounts of your company. It directly follows from this that the task of the foreign trade manager is also to track the exchange rate of world currencies.

Key responsibilities of the manager

Summarizing all of the above, let's highlight the key tasks and responsibilities of a specialist in foreign economic activity:

• Conclusion and support of foreign trade (for import / export) contracts.
• Negotiations, business correspondence with logistics partners, brokers on the terms of cooperation. FEA and logistics in any organization will be interconnected.
• Accompanying deliveries from their placement to receipt by the addressee.
• Control over timely payment of products by partners, transfer of finances to suppliers.
• Registration of all necessary accompanying documentation for foreign trade transactions - licenses, certificates, permits, delivery schedules and more.
• Participation in international exhibitions, conferences.
• Foreign market monitoring aimed at finding new partners.

These are the main duties of a foreign trade manager. We pass to the next important question.

Specialist Requirements

The main requirements for the manager are experience in concluding foreign economic transactions, established business relations. Specialists who possess both are valued literally worth its weight in gold in this area.

The general requirements of employers come from the duties of the manager for foreign economic activity:

• Higher education. Of course, technical or economic is desirable.
• Excellent knowledge of a foreign language - a specialist should be fluent in it, read, draw up documents. Most companies require classic English. However, depending on the partners chosen, knowledge of German, French, and even Chinese or Japanese may be required. Not only spoken language is important, but also fluency in specific terminology.
• Knowledge of the foreign market, legislation, customs requirements. Again, in relation to those states with which the employer is collaborating or planning to establish contacts. Much attention is paid here to a free orientation in positions on the world market, knowledge of legislation in the field of international trade, private law. A big plus if the specialist has experience in cooperation with customs authorities, logistics companies.
• Experience with business documents. In particular, with import / export contracts.
• Possession of a computer, other smart devices necessary for the operation of programs and applications at the level of a professional user.
• Psychological negotiation skills and public speaking skills are encouraged. It is important if the applicant is not alien to diplomacy. The specialist must also be aware of the cultural characteristics of the country where the business partner is located.

Personal qualities

Having experience in one of the types of foreign economic activity is an important requirement for the applicant. However, a number of personal qualities are also appreciated. They help the specialist himself, who is engaged in such a responsible, but also interesting activity. In particular, this is the following:

• The most important are managerial and organizational abilities.
• Initiative.
• Stress resistance.
• Sociability.
• Ability to negotiate, diplomacy, gift of persuasion.
• Self-confidence.
• Disability.
• Punctuality.
• Responsibility for their decisions and actions.

Pros of the profession

The following main advantages of working as a manager of foreign economic transactions can be distinguished:

• High wages (of course, in relation to experienced professionals).
• The possibility of developing, informative business trips to foreign countries.
• Fairly fast career growth.

Cons of the profession

Like all other labor activities, this will also have disadvantages. We list the key ones:

• Pretty nervous and hard work. This is due to the fact that in the face of uncertainty, you need to quickly make decisions on which both your own career and the development of the employer company depend.
• The so-called deadlines are situations when a large amount of work needs to be completed in a limited time.
• A high share of responsibility for each action or decision.
• The need to find a common language, to establish successful communication even with diametrically opposite partners.

How to become a specialist in foreign economic activity?

Of course, the best option is to get a higher economic education. The most suitable specialization is World Economy. Pay attention also to directions related to commerce and trade.

However, if you already have a university, humanitarian or technical education, then for retraining you can turn to short-term courses at economic universities. Their duration is from a week to a year. These are such areas as "Foreign Economic Cooperation", "Logistic Activities" and others.

Getting started and career growth

As a rule, after receiving a specialized education, a graduate has several ways:

• Find the required position in a small company.
• To get an ordinary employee in the department of foreign economic work in a large corporation.
• Find the position of assistant, assistant manager for foreign trade activities.
• To achieve the appointment of responsible for the development of a small international project, the supply of a specific product.

All these ways will help to obtain the experience so necessary in this specialization. Of course, it is not worth hoping for a high salary here.

The most important thing at the beginning of a career is to thoroughly study the world market, engage in marketing research, make business contacts and acquaintances.

Since the profession in our country is young, but at the same time quite in demand, the forecasts for fast career growth are very high. With the growth of employee responsibility, the scale of his field of activity, wages will increase.

Cash reward

The salary of the foreign trade manager consists of three components:

• The fixed part is the salary.
• Interest from transactions.
• Annual awards based on the results of particularly successful projects.

It is difficult to identify any specific figures. Salary depends on the locality and the scale of the employing company. And of course, from the professionalism and zeal of the manager himself. For a novice employee, the average in Russia is considered to be a salary of 20-40 thousand rubles. Experienced specialists, professionals in their field each month receive about 100 thousand rubles, or even more.

The manager for foreign economic activity is a young, but rather promising specialization. Here, rapid career growth, decent wages are possible. But quite high demands are made on the specialist. What is unfavorable for beginners, first of all, work experience and established business relations are appreciated here. However, there are several ways to soon find all of this. It is important not to forget about your personal qualities, because the success of a specialist here depends on his interactions with partners.