Financial Controller | Commodity Trading

Salary: c. 120 – 130,000 GBP base, Bonus + Equity Options

Location: London, Europe

Imperium Commodity Search is confidentially retained by a rapidly growing, AI-native physical commodity trading business that grew approximately 6x last year and is continuing to scale internationally. The business is building a differentiated trading platform that combines physical commodities expertise with proprietary technology, data and automation to operate more efficiently across global markets.

Our client is seeking a full-time Financial Controller to take ownership of the financial management and control of an increasingly active physical trading business. With core finance infrastructure and bookkeeping support already in place, the role has a distinctly commercial and forward-looking mandate, working closely with the CEO, trading, operations and technology teams.

Central to the role will be cash flow, liquidity, working capital and capital allocation; maintaining real-time visibility over where capital is deployed, further developing transaction-level forecasting and ensuring funding is available to support the trading book as it scales. The Financial Controller will also own transaction-level financial control and reporting across P&L, inventory, receivables, costs and margins, while helping develop live financial MI and a reliable source of truth across the company’s trading and accounting systems. The role will additionally support the continued expansion and management of banking, credit and trade finance facilities, alongside management, Board and investor reporting.

This is not a traditional backward-looking controllership role: the successful candidate will act as a commercial financial partner to the business, bringing structure to a fast-moving environment, challenging trade economics where appropriate and helping build the financial infrastructure required for the company’s next stage of growth.

You will be:

• Taking ownership of cash flow, liquidity, working capital and capital allocation across the trading business, ensuring capital is deployed efficiently and available to support current and upcoming trades.
• Further developing the firm’s transaction-level cash flow forecasting and liquidity frameworks, linking supplier payments, inventory, receivables, collections and financing obligations into a forward-looking view of funding requirements.
• Managing short-term liquidity and payment priorities, maintaining clear visibility over committed and prospective cash requirements across the trading book.
• Owning the financial control of the physical trade lifecycle, including transaction-level P&L, inventory and goods in transit, receivables, logistics and financing costs, accruals and margin recognition.
• Acting as a commercial financial partner to the trading and operations teams, assessing transaction economics, cash conversion, credit exposure and return on working capital.
• Developing live financial MI and dashboards that provide clear visibility over trading performance, capital deployment, liquidity and overall business performance.
• Working closely with the technology team to ensure trading, operational and accounting data reconcile into a reliable financial source of truth.
• Owning management accounts, forecasting and financial reporting for senior management, the Board, investors and financing counterparties.
• Managing the financial workstream across existing and new banking, credit and trade finance facilities, including lender reporting, financial modelling, due diligence, utilisation and funding-capacity analysis.
• Overseeing receivables, customer credit exposure and trade‑credit insurance, including ageing, collections visibility, credit limits, insurer reporting and claims.
• Maintaining robust treasury and payment controls across multiple banks, currencies and jurisdictions, while overseeing the existing bookkeeping resource and day‑to‑day finance processes.
• Continuing to strengthen financial controls, processes and documentation as the business scales, bringing greater structure and resilience without unnecessary bureaucracy.
• Coordinating with external accountants, auditors and advisers around tax, statutory filings, year‑end accounts and audit requirements.
• Supporting proportionate KYC, AML and sanctions controls relevant to an international physical commodity trading business.

We would love to speak to you if you have:

• A proactive, ownership‑led mentality – someone who takes responsibility for problems, drives them through to resolution and escalates with clear recommendations rather than simply identifying issues.
• A low-ego, highly collaborative working style, with the confidence to challenge constructively, communicate directly and work effectively with a hands‑on CEO, trading teams and other senior stakeholders.
• The judgement and adaptability to operate comfortably in a fast‑moving, entrepreneurial environment, where priorities can change quickly, information may be incomplete and not every answer comes from an established playbook.
• Strong commercial instincts, with the ability to balance financial discipline and control with the realities of an active trading business, bringing structure without creating unnecessary bureaucracy.
• Significant experience in finance management, financial control or a closely related role, ideally within a physical commodity trading, transactional or working‑capital intensive business.
• Strong practical experience of cash flow, treasury, liquidity and working capital management, with the ability to understand how individual transactions affect the wider capital and liquidity position.
• A strong grounding in accounting, management reporting and financial controls, supported by an ACA, ACCA, CIMA, CPA or equivalent qualification.
• Experience working with trading or operational teams and the ability to understand transaction economics, including margins, cash conversion, inventory, receivables, financing costs and capital requirements.
• Experience developing management reporting, dashboards and financial MI, translating detailed financial and operational information into clear, commercially useful insight for leadership.
• A track record of improving financial processes, controls and reporting within a growing organisation, with an interest in using technology, data and automation to make the finance function more effective.
• Experience within physical commodity trading or a closely related environment would be a strong advantage, particularly exposure to trade finance, inventory accounting, international payments or customer credit.
• The ambition to become a trusted financial partner to senior management and to grow with a rapidly scaling international trading business.