Trade Finance Officer

Job description / Role

Job Purpose Summary:

The Trade Finance Officers primary responsibility is to manage financing arrangements for day to day activities of the activities in the Middle East and serve as an authorized point of contact for Business Development and Trading requirement.

The Trade finance officer will be responsible to attract new source of financing for the company and the Group, as well as develop support from a pool of local and regional banks. It should provide strong support and expertise to the business and be able to deploy conventional financing structures adapted to the suppliers or customers needs.

Primary Accountabilities.

1) Trade Finance Management:

- Identify and onboard new regional TF banks in the Middle East in accordance with the Group policy
- Originate silent risk participation on single name or country risk when need arise, from conventional (such as bank or insurance) and unconventional sources.
- Handle KYC process and negotiate attractive financing conditions
- Develop strong support from a pool of bank in the Middle East, capable to support business requirement of the company
- Set up relevant financial structures for all transactions in order to minimize risk, optimize working capital and reduce financing cost;
- Review tenders and business projects in order to identify finance related requirements and meet the requirements in optimal manner;
- Review facility and security documentation for existing and new financing facilities;
- Be the main point of contact for all banking related matters for Headquarters and the rest of the group;
- Involve in ad hoc projects and assist with review and development of internal finance related policies;
- Coordinate projects in the ME and ensure efficient communication among all other functions, including credit, tax, cash operations, etc.
- Involve in preparing information packages, letters and RFI to the banks;
- Maintain and develop the banking and counterparties network in ME;
- Minimize costs for financing services through negotiations and adding new banks to the pool.

2) Relations with banks:

- Maintain regular communication with the banks in ME;
- Provide frequent overview and update of the TF banking environment in ME, comment on important evolution and deals made in the region;
- Keep the banks informed about the different steps of the operations financed by them;

3) Communication:

- Assist and interact with other departments within the Company (Trading, Legal, Contract Desk, Finance, Accounting, Letter of Credit Desk, Cash Control, and others) and support them with trade finance related matters;
- Involve in development of procedures/synergies concerning cooperation with other departments in order to optimize existing processes.

4) Administration:

- Ensure some reporting and administrative work.

Requirements

1) Experience:

3 5 years experience minimum in Trade Finance within a trading company or a bank in the Middle East or East Africa. Experience with contracts and bank facility documentation is an asset. Experience with project management is an asset.

2) Knowledge:

Knowledge of main trade finance products, market players, specifics of oil trading deals including operational, documentation and credit risks in general, but with a particular understanding of the bank capacities in the Middle East. Knowledge of documentation and legal risks is an asset. Knowledge of structured trade finance tools in an asset. Knowledge of Excel and PowerPoint is required; knowledge of SAP is an asset.

3) Key Behaviors & Skills:

Willing to travel in the region ;
Good communication and interpersonal skills (to interact efficiently with other Departments and to build relationships with bankers/customers and be able to negotiate when required) ;
Manage tasks and priorities independently ;
Analytical thinking: approach problem solving systematically, anticipation of obstacles, make logical conclusions and see implications/consequences of solutions ;
The ability to work under pressure and to deadlines ;
Ability to exercise good business judgment.

4) Human Relations Skills:

Understand and influence through rational line of argument

5) Education:

Master Degree in Finance & Economics

6) Languages:

Fluent in English;
Russian or Arabic or French is a plus

About the Company

LITASCO was founded in 2000 in Switzerland and it is the exclusive international marketing and trading company of LUKOIL Oil Company.

With head office in Geneva, LITASCO Group has established additional trading and business development offices worldwide, extending its reach around the world from the United States to Europe, the Middle East and Asia, managing LUKOIL's global crude oil and petroleum products supply, marketing and trading needs.

LITASCO has affiliates in Germany, Kazakhstan, Singapore, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, the United States of America, the Netherlands as well as representative offices in China in Russia, in India and in Iraq.

LITASCO Group is one of the world's major traders of crude oil and refined petroleum products and deals with a vast range of suppliers and customers, including all of the world's major oil corporations.