Trade Finance Senior Specialist in City of London

Our ambition is to transform the lives of more than 100 million people by 2040 by expanding access to essential services such as water, energy, food, healthcare, education, and infrastructure. Our Mission is delivering integrated, high-impact solutions that expand access to essential services combining operational execution, local presence, strategic partnerships, and sustainable capital.

The Trade Finance Senior Specialist will play a key role in supporting the Commodities Trading business by managing end-to-end trade finance activities related to physical commodity transactions. The role focuses on structuring, executing, and monitoring trade finance solutions to efficiently support day-to-day trading activities, optimise credit facilities, and ensure smooth execution of export and import transactions. The successful candidate will act as a key interface between Traders, Operations, Treasury, banks, insurers, and internal group entities, with a strong focus on risk management, liquidity planning, and operational excellence.

• Trade Finance & Transaction Management

• Manage the financing of day-to-day trading transactions from contract execution through to drawdown and settlement.
• Process, monitor, and administer all types of export and import trade finance instruments, including Letters of Credit (LCs), Standby Letters of Credit (SBLCs), Guarantees, Export Collections, receivables discounting, LC discounting, and supply chain finance structures.
• Oversee all life-cycle events of trade finance instruments, ensuring timely issuance, amendments, utilisation, and closure.
• Review physical commodity contracts to ensure credit, payment, and trade finance clauses are acceptable and aligned with financing requirements.
• Overview client creditworthiness and KYC compliance.
• Liaise closely with Trading and Operations teams to understand financing needs, resolve LC-related matters, and support smooth execution of trades.
• Act as a key point of contact for traders regarding financing structures, costs of financing, and optimisation of trade flows.
• Build and maintain strong working relationships with internal stakeholders across the group, including Treasury, Finance, Risk, and Legal teams.
• Support the development and maintenance of relationships with trade finance banks and financial institutions in coordination with Treasury.

• Handle KYC and onboarding processes for new counterparties, working closely with banks and internal compliance teams.
• Review credit limit requests and coordinate with insurance brokers regarding credit insurance coverage.
• Monitor utilisation of credit lines and ensure adherence to approved limits and internal policies.
• Ensure transaction documentation and collateral are properly received, verified, and compliant with internal and bank requirements.

• Produce regular reports and forecasts covering trade flows, cashflow requirements, and utilisation of trade finance facilities in cooperation with the Treasury team.
• Oversee cash movements and balances across multiple banking partners, ensuring visibility and effective liquidity management.
• Support the continuous optimisation of financing structures, including storage, hedging-related financing, and structured trade solutions.
• Prepare and follow up the budget requirements and report of the business unit as per the BEP of the CEO.
• Contribute to the enhancement of trade finance processes, controls, and reporting frameworks.
• Support initiatives aimed at improving efficiency, risk mitigation, and scalability of trade finance operations across the commodities business.

Minimum 7–10 years of experience in Trade Finance within an oil major, National Oil Companies (NOCs) or trading house, bank trade finance desk, or structured trade finance environment.

Strong hands-on experience with physical oil trade, finance facilities, including LCs, SBLCs, guarantees, collections, and structured trade solutions.

Solid understanding of commodity and particularly oil trade life cycles, including contractual, operational, and financial aspects.

Experience dealing with banks, insurers, and external counterparties across EMEA; Strong knowledge of KYC, credit risk, and trade finance compliance requirements.

Bachelor’s degree in finance, Banking, Economics, Accounting, or a related field.

We believe that diversity strengthens our organisation and we welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds and experiences.