The Exim Manager — Export-Import Manager — is the professional figure who oversees the strategic and operational management of a company's internationalization processes. In 2021, the Italian standards body, UNI, published the UNI 11823 standard, which for the first time in Italy codifies the requirements of competence, ability, and knowledge of this profession. It's a development that reflects an already existing reality: internationalization requires specific multidisciplinary competencies, and these competencies have professional standards that can be recognized and assessed.
It's worth articulating what this figure concretely does, what the UNI standard has codified, and what the different organizational options are that Italian companies have developed over the years to cover the functions it oversees.
The Exim Manager's areas of work
The Exim Manager's competencies cover several dimensions of a company's internationalization activity.
Strategic market analysis. Identifying opportunities in foreign markets, assessing the specifics of each, comparing alternatives, understanding competitive and regulatory dynamics. It's analysis that serves both for the initial decisions on which markets to cover and for the ongoing monitoring of those already being served.
Planning entry strategies. For each target market, identifying the appropriate entry mode — direct export, through distributors, through marketplaces, through local partnerships, possibly through direct presence. Each option has implications of cost, risk, and control that must be evaluated.
Customs and international tax management. Customs classification of products, rules of origin for EU preferential agreements, customs valuation, customs documentation, international taxation (intra-EU VAT with the OSS scheme, proof of export for non-EU zero-rating, management of the post-Brexit United Kingdom). It's a technical area with evolving regulations that requires specific expertise.
The contractual structure of operations. Choosing the appropriate Incoterms for each transaction, the structure of international sales contracts, managing payment methods (bank transfer, letter of credit, documentary collection), any distribution or agency contracts with local partners.
Risk management. Currency risk for operations in foreign currencies, credit risk of international customers, country risk for exports to unstable markets, operational risk. Management through specific instruments such as currency hedging, credit insurance through SACE, public guarantees, possible financial hedging instruments.
Financial planning of exports. Cash flow specific to international operations with payment cycles often longer than the domestic market, access to public support instruments (SACE, SIMEST, European funds), international tax planning, working capital management.
Managing international logistics. Selecting and coordinating logistics partners for the different corridors, optimizing transport times and costs, managing shipment insurance, managing international returns.
Relationships with local partners. Selecting distributors, agents, possible consultants in the target markets, managing the relationship over time, evaluating performance.
Ongoing monitoring. Regulatory developments that change operating conditions, competitors' moves, the evolution of demand, emerging opportunities, possible growing risks.
Articulated this way, it's a complex function that requires multidisciplinary competencies. It's no coincidence that the UNI standard found it relevant to codify it professionally.
The UNI 11823:2021 standard
The UNI 11823:2021 standard codified the professional figure of the Exim Manager through three main dimensions.
The required technical knowledge. Customs law and procedure, international trade regulation, international taxation, international contractual techniques, forms of payment and bank guarantees, regulations on credit insurance, market analysis and benchmarking techniques, principles of project management.
The operational skills. The ability to analyze markets and identify opportunities, apply project management techniques to internationalization projects, use digital tools to manage operations, communicate effectively in multicultural environments, manage complex negotiations.
The transversal competencies. Strategic thinking, decision-making ability, managing complexity, intercultural sensitivity, the ability to build and manage relationship networks.
The standard also provides for ways of assessing competencies through professional certification paths. For those operating in the field or those structuring professional development paths, it's a useful reference.
For companies, the existence of the standard offers an objective standard for assessing the qualification of professional figures — internal or external — who operate in these areas.
The organizational models of Italian companies
Italian companies have developed several organizational models over the years to cover the Exim functions. It's worth articulating them without value judgment — they're different models suited to different situations.
A dedicated internal figure. Companies of significant size or with substantial export volumes typically have a dedicated internal figure, possibly structured as an export office. It's a model that allows integrated management and the capitalization of competencies over time, and that becomes sustainable when the volumes justify the investment.
Distribution among existing internal figures. Many Italian SMEs distribute the Exim functions among different figures — the entrepreneur or commercial director for the strategic decisions and the relationships with the main partners, an administrative figure for the customs and tax paperwork, the accountant for international tax advice, the freight forwarder for logistics. It's a model that works when the different figures coordinate their responsibilities effectively and when the volume doesn't exceed the capacity for integrated management.
Temporary Export Manager. A formula that has progressively established itself in Italy is the Temporary Export Manager — a qualified professional who works for the company part-time, generally one or two days a week, for periods that can range from a few months to a few years. It's a formula often supported by public contributions (Regions, Chambers of Commerce, ICE) that reduce the cost for companies. It allows access to senior competencies without the commitment of a full-time hire.
Specialized external consulting. Consulting firms specialized in export management offer services at a rate proportionate to the actual volume of work. They generally combine customs, tax, contractual, and market-analysis competencies. For companies operating in a few markets with contained volumes, it can be an effective solution.
Partnership with "full-service" freight forwarders. Some freight forwarders have developed competencies that go beyond mere logistics — structured customs management, contractual support, possible advice on specific markets. For companies that work in close partnership with a freight forwarder of this kind, part of the Exim functions can be covered through this relationship.
Combined models. Many Italian companies use combinations of these options — a possible part-time internal figure for coordination, specialized external consultants for specific technical areas, operational partnerships with qualified freight forwarders. It's often the realistic solution for companies in a phase of international growth.
Each of these models has specific advantages and limits. The choice depends on several factors: the size of the company, current and projected export volumes, the number of markets covered, the complexity of products and sectors, the availability of internal figures with the potential to grow into Exim roles, access to qualified consultants and partners.
What the UNI standard signals to companies
Regardless of the organizational model chosen, the existence of the UNI standard signals to companies some dimensions it can be useful to be aware of.
Exim is an articulated professional discipline. The required competencies are multidisciplinary and specific, codified in recognized professional standards. Recognizing that this is a discipline with its own body of knowledge helps in the decisions of selecting the figures (internal or external) who operate in this area.
Qualifications can be assessed objectively. For those selecting an Exim figure — whether as an employee, an external consultant, or a Temporary Export Manager — the UNI standard provides objective criteria for assessing the qualification. Professional certifications according to the standard are a concrete reference.
Structured training exists. For companies that want to develop internal figures, there are specific training paths aligned with the UNI requirements. Chambers of Commerce, industry associations, business schools offer qualified programs. For companies in the phase of building their Exim capabilities, it's a concrete resource.
The risk areas are identified. The standard articulates the required competencies, also implicitly identifying the areas where shortcomings produce risks — customs compliance, international taxation, contract management, currency-risk management. For companies, it's a useful map for assessing where any internal competence gaps deserve priority attention.
AI tools as an amplifier of Exim capabilities
A recent transformation with relevant implications is the availability of AI tools that amplify the capabilities of managing the Exim functions. For Italian SMEs, this means that levels of sophistication that until recently required more structured teams are today accessible with sustainable investments.
The areas where the impact is particularly relevant include several dimensions.
Accessible market analysis. Building detailed briefings on the target markets — segment size, competitive dynamics, specific regulations, emerging opportunities — is today an activity that with AI tools takes a fraction of the time it took in the past.
Ongoing regulatory monitoring. Maintaining awareness of the evolution of the regulatory framework in the target markets is an activity that AI tools make more sustainable as structured monitoring.
Assisted customs classification. Systems that support the customs classification of products by analyzing descriptions and technical characteristics.
Managing international documentation. Tools that produce compliant customs documentation and verify consistency between different documents.
Translation and multilingual management. Managing documentation, communications, contracts in different languages is today sustainable with professional quality at a fraction of the costs of the past.
Support for strategic decisions. AI tools can support the analysis of internationalization scenarios, the evaluation of alternative markets, the simulation of the impacts of specific decisions.
Ongoing training. Access to qualified training content on Exim — courses, case studies, simulations, regulatory updates — is progressively democratized.
AI tools don't replace the qualified professional figure but significantly amplify its capabilities. An Exim figure — internal or external — supported by AI tools can manage operational complexity that would otherwise require larger teams.
The Exim Manager is a structured professional figure with multidisciplinary competencies codified by the UNI 11823:2021 standard. For Italian companies that export, the functions this figure oversees are covered through different organizational models — a dedicated internal figure, distribution among existing figures, a Temporary Export Manager, specialized external consulting, partnership with qualified freight forwarders, combinations of these options.
Each of these models has its own logic, specific advantages, situations in which it works well. The choice depends on the specific characteristics of the company — size, volumes, markets, complexity, available resources. The existence of the UNI standard offers an objective reference for assessing the qualification of the figures who operate in these areas, regardless of the model chosen.
For companies evaluating how to structure or evolve their Exim organization, it can be useful to consider which areas require priority attention, what level of investment is sustainable in relation to the size and volumes, which qualified external resources are accessible in their own territory.