Trade Compliance Manager/Senior Manager

At Maybell Quantum, we're redefining the future of computing. As a venture-backed quantum hardware innovator experiencing rapid growth, we build the cryogenic infrastructure that quantum computers run on — dilution refrigerators, cryogenic RF wiring, and the related systems used by quantum computing companies, national labs, and research institutions worldwide. Quantum computers will be as transformative to the next 30 years as the internet was to the last 30—and our team is creating the hardware foundation to make this revolution possible.

Position Overview

We're seeking a Trade Compliance Manager/Senior Manager to own trade compliance for Maybell globally. This is the first dedicated compliance hire at the company; the function currently runs through the President with outside counsel support. You will build it.

Compliance at Maybell is not a back-office function. Our products sit squarely inside the emerging export control regime for quantum technology, and getting it right determines what we can ship, to whom, and how our engineering teams across four countries are able to work together. We operate from Denver, with facilities in Münster, Germany and Helsinki, Finland, are establishing operations in Singapore, and ship to customers across North America, Europe, and Asia.

The work is substantive from day one. We have active shipments requiring licensing, a distributor relationship in Korea with end-user obligations, engineering collaboration across US, German, Finnish, and Singapore teams that raises deemed export questions, and a product line whose classification sits in a part of the Commerce Control List that is still developing.

This is not a documentation or logistics coordination role. You are the decision-maker on classification and licensing, and you will be expected to defend those decisions. The role does not report into Operations, Engineering, or Sales, by design, and the compliance answer is not negotiated after the commercial commitment is made — you will be in the room early. You'll partner closely with Operations, Engineering, Sales, Supply Chain, IT, and HR, and report to the President.

Key Responsibilities

Classification and Licensing

Classify Maybell products, components, software, and technical data under the EAR, including the quantum-specific ECCNs (3A90x, 4A9xx series) and related controls

Determine license requirements per transaction; prepare, file, and manage BIS license applications and license exception determinations

Obtain and actively manage the export licenses required to establish Maybell's Singapore operations, and keep them in good standing as those operations run

Manage equivalent processes with BAFA in Germany, Singapore Customs, the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and other national regimes as our footprint requires

Maintain classification records and jurisdictional determinations to an auditable standard

Deemed Exports and Technical Data

Own the deemed export program: assess nationality-based access requirements for controlled technical data across our Denver, Münster, Helsinki, and Singapore engineering teams

Partner with IT and engineering leadership to define access controls on CAD, PLM, and technical documentation systems — you decide who may have access; IT implements it

Support hiring and onboarding decisions where foreign national access to controlled technology is implicated

Maintain a current log of employee nationality and immigration status as required under the EAR and applicable local regulations

Transaction Screening and Diligence

Run restricted and denied party screening across customers, distributors, suppliers, and visitors

Conduct end-use and end-user diligence, including red flag escalation

Identify and apply for any licenses a specific deal requires, and track them through approval before commitments are made

Support commercial negotiations on export-related contract terms — license conditions, end-user certifications, re-export obligations, and distributor undertakings

Supply Chain and Partner Compliance

Work closely with the Supply Chain team to ensure Maybell's suppliers and partners, such as regional distributors, comply with the EAR, including export compliance diligence at onboarding and appropriate contractual commitments

Review supply chain strategy for export control implications, including sourcing locations, supplier jurisdictions, and where controlled technical data must be shared

Confirm that outsourced parts, and the technical data provided to suppliers to build them, are properly classified and authorized before release

Monitor emerging supply chain risks such as new controls, entity listings, and sanctions changes affecting suppliers and partners, and drive mitigation such as alternate sourcing or additional licensing as necessary

Travel and Ongoing Monitoring

Develop and maintain the staff travel policy to ensure business travel, including devices and technical data carried abroad, complies with export control requirements

Actively monitor employee travel declarations, IT reports, and other ongoing compliance activities to ensure Maybell remains compliant with applicable export control regimes

Program and Governance

Build and maintain Maybell's Export Compliance Program: written procedures, training, recordkeeping, internal audit, and escalation paths

Deliver role-specific training to departments

Manage outside trade counsel and consultants; scope their work and own the internal decisions

Prepare compliance materials for investor and customer diligence

Authority and Escalation

Exercise explicit authority to hold a shipment, transfer, or technical data disclosure pending compliance resolution — that authority is not advisory and does not require sign-off from Operations or Sales

Escalate unresolved conflicts between a compliance determination and a commercial or operational commitment to the CEO, not through the functions with delivery or revenue accountability

Qualifications

5+ years in export controls or trade compliance for Manager, or 8+ years with multi-jurisdictional program ownership for Senior Manager, in each case with direct hands-on responsibility for classification and licensing under the EAR

Demonstrated experience filing and managing BIS licenses, not just supporting someone who does

Working knowledge of deemed export requirements and how to operate a program in a multinational engineering organization

Experience in hardware manufacturing with genuinely controlled products — aerospace, defense, semiconductor capital equipment, scientific instrumentation, or similar

Judgment and spine; this role exists to say no when no is the right answer, sometimes to founders, sometimes at quarter end

Exposure to EU dual-use regulation and at least one national European regime (German BAFA, Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Dutch national controls) preferred

Experience building a compliance program rather than inheriting one preferred

Familiarity with emerging technology controls — quantum, advanced computing, semiconductors — preferred

Experience supporting distributor and reseller channels with end-user obligations preferred

A law degree is not required — this is not a legal role

What We Offer

• Competitive Compensation: Base salary range $130,000–$180,000, plus meaningful equity participation and annual bonus eligibility. Final title (Manager or Senior Manager) and base salary will be determined based on depth of licensing experience and multi-jurisdictional exposure.
• Real Authority: You hold and exercise the authority to stop a shipment, transfer, or disclosure pending compliance resolution, and escalation runs to the CEO.
• Growth Trajectory: A direct path to building and leading Maybell's global trade compliance function from the ground up.
• Impact: Direct responsibility for how one of the most consequential technologies of our era moves across borders.
• Exceptional Team: Collaboration with world-class scientists, engineers, and operators.
• Comprehensive Benefits: Medical, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k), and paid time off.

At Maybell Quantum, we're solving incredibly challenging problems at the cutting edge of physics and engineering. If you're excited about owning the decisions that determine where one of the most transformative technologies of our lifetime can go, we want to hear from you.

Maybell is an equal opportunity employer. Because this role involves access to export-controlled technology, we may be required to verify your status as a U.S. person or to obtain export authorization; we assess this consistently with applicable law and do not discriminate on the basis of citizenship or national origin beyond what U.S. export regulations require.