Customs Relations and Accounting Advisor

The Shell Group has been present in France since 1919. Shell France, a subsidiary of Shell plc and currently based in Puteaux, markets petroleum products and services: automotive and aviation fuels and biofuels, lubricants, bitumen and mobility cards. It has 85 service stations on motorways and expressways as well as a lubricant factory in Nanterre. The Customs Relations and Accounting Advisor will be an integral part of France Controller team and be accountable for end-to-end Customs support to Shell France business teams and other Shell subsidiary active on the French market (Shell Trading Rotterdam). Primary focus will be on compliance of excise duties declaration and payment (>€200mln p.a., 90% related to Mobility business) and a close monitoring on customs regulations applicable to petroleum products and biofuels. The Customs Relations and Accounting Advisor should be willing to work from Shell France headquarters (Puteaux, France) to build the right connections with local teams, external stakeholders (mostly located in Paris area) and to manage declarations and requests to Customs offices, which are still in paper format. **ACCOUNTABILITIES** Effective customs advisor with the following key deliverables: - Review and sign-off of customs declarations and payments of the TICPE (domestic tax on consumption of energy products) every 10 days. - Support the central regulatory teams in the implementation of the EU directives applicable to companies in energy sector. - Ensure appropriate customs proxies, guarantees and authorizations are in place, with regular updates based on business flows changes. - Provide customs advice on new business models, products or contracts. - Prepare requests for reimbursement of the TICPE of embassies fleets to the customs administration and monitor these refunds in Shell France accounts (€1.5mln p.a.). - Approve the configuration and changes of excise duties in GSAP master data to ensure billing accuracy. - Carry out regulatory monitoring, including on new energies (electricity, LNG, hydrogen, biogas) and assess any impacts on procedures and business models. - Ensure robust processes / controls for any subsequent customs control. - Coordinate yearly external audit to get MAC (release to consumption) and CEE (energy savings certificate) volumes certified. **DIMENSIONS** - Shell representative at UFIPem and CPDP customs committees (industry associations) **INTERFACES** - Work directly with the business account managers and traders. - Close collaboration with MIT who provides the majority of operations activities. - Collaborate with regulatory advisors. - Manage external relationships with French officials (French energy and customs directorates, customs offices), depot managers, customs representatives and industry associations. **REQUIREMENTS** - Experienced customs professional with the ability to work with varying local and international stakeholders as well as external parties building on thorough understanding of business activities / flows and local regulations. - Strong business partnering focus, and ability to challenge, support and build trust and credibility with business partners. - Happy to embrace ambiguity whilst bringing structure, discipline and excellence. - Strong communication, both written and verbal, and interpersonal skills. - Strong problem-solving skills. - French speaker is required given the local interfaces and complexity of laws interpretation. - Business fluency in English is mandatory - Accounting knowledge. - Knowledge of SAP FI and HM modules is a plus.