Skipper can set about article after international award (7)
I believe the answer is:
captain
'skipper' is the definition.
('captain' can be a synonym of 'skipper')
'can set about article after international award' is the wordplay.
'can' becomes 'tin' ('tin' can be a synonym of 'can').
'set about' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'article' becomes 'a' (indefinite article).
'after' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'international award' becomes 'cap' (eg international footballers earn caps).
'tin' placed around 'a' is 'tain'.
'tain' put after 'cap' is 'CAPTAIN'.
(Other definitions for captain that I've seen before include "Commander of a ship" , "soldier" , "Skipper" , "eg Hook, Cook" , "Chief" .)