Executive: Global Trading & Export Strategy

KwaZulu-Natal | Permanent | Executive Level

A leading organisation in the agricultural commodities sector is searching for a senior executive to take full ownership of its global commodity export strategy, pricing, freight management and customer relationships. This is a rare opportunity to step into a role that directly influences industry-wide revenues, market positioning, and multimillion-dollar trading decisions.

This role sits within the division responsible for marketing, selling and shipping South Africa's entire bulk commodity export through two strategic terminals. The successful candidate will lead commercial strategy, pricing, freight contracting, stakeholder management and quality optimisation across the full export value chain.

This is not a traditional logistics job. It's a high-impact commercial leadership role combining:

• Global commodity trading,
• Price-risk strategy and derivative portfolio management,
• Senior relationship management with international refiners, brokers and trade houses,
• Export quality optimisation,
• Financial forecasting & reporting that impacts national payout structures, and
• Leadership of a highly specialised export and marketing division.

If you love big-picture strategy, thrive under complex global market dynamics, and enjoy being the centre point between traders, refiners, brokers, shipping, treasury, and industry leaders - this is your role.

Key Focus Areas

1. Global Price & Market Strategy

• Lead the full export pricing programme: market analysis, derivative strategies, timing and levels of pricing.
• Manage the derivative portfolio, ensuring margin financing is aligned with market movements.
• Recommend pricing actions to the industry's pricing committee and execute mandates efficiently.

2. International Customer & Market Relationships

• Develop a sustainable long-term marketing strategy for export.
• Build strong, credible relationships with international and domestic refiners, trade houses, regional producers, and brokers.
• Integrate supply chain efficiencies with customers to improve returns.

3. Export Sales, Shipping & Freight Management

• Determine the timing and quantity of export availability.
• Negotiate global export contracts with a focus on maximising FOB returns.
• Create annual export marketing plans that balance demand, freight exposure, contract commitments, operational constraints and terminal capacity.
• Oversee shipping operations, freight contracting, and ensure all documentation is flawlessly delivered.

4. Quality Strategy 

• Monitor global competitors' quality standards and refine local quality specifications.
• Manage terminal segregation and quality incentive schemes.

5. Financial Risk, Reporting & Budgeting

• Forecast export proceeds, including sensitivities, for industry-level decision-making.
• Prepare monthly reports that directly influence grower payments.
• Oversee operational budgets for exports and both terminals.
• Manage credit risk insurance, USD flows, and support treasury with financing requirements.

6. Strategic Influence & Stakeholder Reporting

• Guide industry-wide strategy through insights, analysis and proposals.
• Prepare high-quality reports, recommendations, and presentations for multiple stakeholder committees.

7. Leadership

• Lead and develop a specialist team across international marketing, quality, freight, and terminal operations.
• Ensure adherence to governance, ethics, HR policies and organisational values.

Required Skills

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Economics, or a relevant field (post-grad advantageous).
• Commercially sharp, strategically minded, analytically strong and thrive when navigating global markets.
• Understand commodities, trading dynamics, international freight, risk, and the sensitivities of a regulated or industry-wide environment.
• Diplomatic, influential, calm under pressure and comfortable making decisions that impact large financial outcomes
• 5+ years' senior/general management experience in international trade, commodity trading, freight, logistics or supply chain.
• Exposure to agricultural commodity trading.

Only candidates that meet the required skills will be considered for this role. Should you meet the required skills please respond to this advert