Trade Finance Officer

Main purpose

We are seeking a Trade Finance Officer to join our team in London. You will secure optimal, cost-effective and innovative financing for Trafigura's physical trading, working with commercial traders, operations and banking partners to structure and place transactions in a fast-paced environment with large trading volumes and high-pressure deadlines.

Key responsibilities

- Analyse financing requirements and negotiate with banks to place transactions under borrowing bases, bilateral facilities or repurchase agreements, in close coordination with commercial and operations teams.
- Find and structure the most appropriate, cost-effective banking solutions for physical trading, including complicated transactions outside standard procedures, and challenge traders' financing proposals with improvements.
- Acquire bank lines and establish new banking relationships (entities, products) where necessary; negotiate and document financing facility instruments.
- Review and issue L/Cs and bank guarantees for group commodity purchases; handle all aspects of L/Cs and collections, including preparing and dispatching invoices and original documents under documentary L/Cs received from buyers.
- Ensure timely processing of payments and run cash positions with the banks.
- Monitor facility utilisation and decide on financing optimisation; monitor weekly and mark to market all stock positions.
- Assess physical transactions for risk and compatibility with the relevant financing facility; review and approve spot and term contracts and tenders for finance-related risk; cover sales risk with banks and/or insurance; control and monitor risks on daily purchases and sales.
- Report on credit/performance exposure and finance-related risk; train junior team members.

Required qualifications

- Minimum 5 years' experience in Trade Finance within a trading company or financial institution, including structuring and placing financing with banks
- Working knowledge of Trade Finance instruments, including letters of credit, bank guarantees and collections, and of the pitfalls associated with each
- Fluent English at C2 level (native or equivalent), with excellent oral and written skills
- Understanding of the risks involved in day-to-day trade operations, and good working knowledge of Incoterms

Preferred qualifications

- Working knowledge of AI and automation tools
- Experience in physical commodity trading, preferably metals
- Additional language knowledge

Attributes for success

- Proactive: anticipates financing needs and takes initiative with banks and traders
- Relationship building: establishes positive, lasting relationships with banking partners
- Cost awareness: negotiates rates and selects the most cost-effective option for each deal
- Attention to detail: accurate with detail while able to summarise information and keep sight of the global picture
- Clear communication: communicates concisely with internal and external stakeholders, including reporting to finance senior management
- Analytical thinking: applies logical and analytical skills to financing structures
- Problem solving: challenges traders' financing structure proposals and suggests improvements
- Resilience: stays calm and reactive under pressure
- Networking: keeps a communication network to stay informed on each stage of a trade's life cycle

Department overview

The Trade Finance team finances Trafigura's physical trading activities. The role works closely with traders, Operations, Treasury, Compliance, insurance, counterparties, banks and other finance departments, and reports to finance senior management from time to time.

Equal opportunity employer

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and take pride in a diverse workforce! We do not discriminate in recruitment, hiring, training, promotion or other employment practices for reasons of race, colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, marital or veteran status, medical condition or handicap, disability, or any other legally protected status.