Import & Operations Manager

About Kinova

Kinova Co., Ltd. is a premium beauty, health, family-care and pet-care distributor in Thailand and Southeast Asia, with a presence in Europe — a bridge between international brands and Southeast Asian consumers. We handle the whole chain: market entry and strategy, regulatory and import, warehousing and logistics, retail distribution, e-commerce and local marketing — across modern trade, specialty stores and the leading online platforms. We are growing fast, and the team is growing with us.

Role Overview

You own everything between the supplier's factory and the customer's hands: product registration with the Thai FDA, international shipping and customs clearance, landed-cost accuracy, warehousing and stock, delivery into our retail customers, and online order fulfilment.

This is the operational spine of the business. Nothing reaches a shelf, a store or a customer without going through this role first.

Key Responsibilities

Product registration and regulatory

• Own the registration timeline for every product entering Thailand, coordinating with our external FDA registration partners
• Track cosmetic notifications, food and supplement registrations, and hazardous-substance registrations where applicable
• Ensure Thai labelling compliance before production and before shipment
• Maintain establishment licences and keep registration records current

International shipping and customs

• Book and manage inbound freight from Europe and Asia, sea and air
• Manage incoterms and negotiate with freight forwarders
• Oversee customs clearance and HS code classification
• Secure FTA certificates of origin and apply preferential duty where available
• Resolve clearance issues and keep goods moving

Landed cost and documentation

• Maintain accurate landed cost per SKU — product, freight, duty, clearance, handling
• Reconcile actual landed cost against the cost model and explain variances
• Manage import documentation end to end: invoices, packing lists, certificates, permits
• Recover import VAT and keep records audit-ready

Stock management

• Own inventory accuracy across the warehouse and every sales channel
• Plan inbound shipments against sales forecast and stock cover; flag shortage and overstock risk early
• Manage batch and expiry tracking, and act on short-dated stock before it becomes a write-off
• Run cycle counts and full stock takes; investigate and resolve discrepancies
• Manage the 3PL relationship — receiving, storage, service levels and cost

Delivery to retailers

• Plan and execute deliveries into Central/Tops distribution centres, specialty stores and other retail customers
• Manage delivery appointments, booking windows and the documentation each retailer requires
• Own fill rate and on-time delivery — the two numbers retailers judge a supplier on
• Resolve short-shipments, rejections and returns with the retailer's DC
• Coordinate with the commercial team on promo volumes and launch timings

Online fulfilment

• Own pick, pack and dispatch for marketplace and direct-to-consumer orders
• Keep dispatch within platform SLAs — late shipment rate is a seller penalty, not just a service issue
• Manage packaging standards, consumables and shipping costs per order
• Handle returns and reverse logistics, and feed damage or quality patterns back to the team
• Keep platform stock counts in sync with real availability

Supplier and partner coordination

• Place and track purchase orders with international suppliers
• Manage forwarders, customs brokers, registration partners and the 3PL on service and cost
• Flag supply risk early — lead-time changes, MOQ issues, shortages

Qualifications

Required

• 3–5 years in import, supply chain, logistics or distribution operations in Thailand
• Hands-on experience with Thai FDA product registration — cosmetics, food, supplements or household products
• Solid customs clearance knowledge: HS codes, duty rates, FTA certificates of origin
• Experience managing freight forwarders and negotiating rates
• Stock management experience with real accountability for inventory accuracy
• Able to build and maintain a landed-cost calculation
• Strong Excel or Google Sheets
• Fluent Thai and working English — you will deal with international suppliers daily
• Organised, precise, and comfortable chasing until something is closed

Preferred

• Cosmetics, supplements, food or pet products
• Experience with a distributor or importer handling multiple brands
• Modern trade delivery experience — DC bookings, fill rate, retailer compliance
• Marketplace fulfilment experience and familiarity with platform SLAs
• 3PL or warehouse management exposure
• Familiarity with FTA schemes relevant to Europe and Asia sourcing
• ERP or inventory system experience

What We Offer

• Be part of Kinova's founding team — build the systems the whole business runs on
• Full ownership of import and operations end to end, not one step of it
• Work directly with international suppliers, freight forwarders and Thailand's major retailers
• Hands-on environment where your impact is measurable from day one
• Opportunity to grow into a supply chain leadership role as the company scales
• Competitive salary commensurate with experience
• Office-based at our Lat Krabang office, Bangkok — a hands-on role close to the stock, the team and the shipments