Senior Commodity Trade Finance Specialist

This role is being hired initially on a 6-12 month Fixed Term Contract, with the possibility of converting to a Permanent Contract. Our client is an established Oil trading company, with physical assets globally. They actively source, refine, market and trade Crude Oil and Oil products, and associated financial derivatives. Due to recent and continued growth across their asset portfolio, we are seeking an experienced Trade & Commodity Financier to join their busy Finance Team based in London.

The candidate will report to the Head of Structured Finance and work closely with all members of the finance team. The successful candidate will be responsible for operationally managing the Trade Finance business. The ideal candidate would have 5-10 years’ relevant experience gained either within a Banking, Fund Finance Company or Commodity Trading House environment. You will be responsible for the execution of working capital finance, structured trade finance, receivables finance in the oil and petroleum sectors, resolving problems and finding solutions.

The candidate will require strong operational, structuring, credit analysis, risk assessment, contract negotiation, legal documentation and post-closing monitoring experience. You will need to demonstrate excellent communication skills, as well as the ability to perform successfully and efficiently under pressure. The role also requires someone that can consistently produce accurate work in a timely fashion, has excellent attention to detail and the ability to resolve problems independently.

• Day to day operations of the group trade finance facilities.
• The maintenance and development of existing financing lines with focus on the Oil and Gas sector.
• Management of the transaction lifecycle, from contract through to drawdown.
• Helping with credit limit requests and operational queries and reporting of liabilities to Group.
• Building and maintaining external relationships with financiers.
• Liaising with business units, listening to their requirements, and helping create alternative/structured financing solutions.
• Typical Structures range from payables financing, receivables financing, hedging financing, Inventory monetisation all the way through to term debt and rated products.
• Monitoring, amending and issuing of Guarantee and LCs.
• Working with Treasury to help accurately forecast incoming and outgoing cash movements.
• Help on building out bank presentations and reports.
• Ad hoc help on financing projects where needed.

• Work based experience gained within a multinational, commercial environment, within the commodity sector, including recent exposure to the oil and gas industry.
• Experience managing relationships with banks and suppliers.
• Receivables and Inventory financing knowledge a must.
• Excel, Word and Outlook experience.
• Numerical, financial, researching and analytical skills.
• IT skills including using Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint (SAP skills an advantage).
• Report writing and presentation skills.
• Commercial and entrepreneurial spirit: Ability to travel.
• Keen influencing and negotiation skills.
• Strong working knowledge of letters of credit and proficiency with documentation related to contract execution such as shipping and banking documents.
• Experience gained with a financial institution or a major Commodity Trading company preferably in the oil and gas sector.
• The candidate is expected to understand the issues revolving around; Legal title and risk; Its storage and co-mingling with other commodities; storage and delivery - delivery points etc; Oil refining process; implication of different legal jurisdictions; familiarity with the futures and OTC markets and hedging commodities (NYMEX, ICE etc); Working capital optimisation; Carbon certificate financings would be advantageous.