Senior Distillate Trader

About The Role

Key Responsibilities

• Actively manage a distillates trading book across the Mediterranean, covering gasoil (10ppm/50ppm/500ppm), jet fuel A1, kerosene and heating oil, to maximise P&L and ensure disciplined risk management.
• Execute physical and paper transactions: spot cargoes, term supply/offtake agreements, OTC swaps, ICE Gasoil futures, CFDs, crack spreads and inter-regional spreads across key MED hubs (Augusta, Lavera, Sines, Thessaloniki, Izmir, Alexandria, Rades).
• Develop and maintain strategic commercial relationships with regional refiners (ENI, Saras, Tupras, Cepsa, Motor Oil, SONATRACH, Astomos, ENOC), distributors, utilities and industrial end-users.
• Monitor and analyse market fundamentals: regional supply/demand balances, refinery margins (crack spreads), NWE–MED arbitrage windows, imports/exports toward North Africa and the Middle East.
• Identify and capture cross-basin arbitrage opportunities: NWE ↔ MED, MED ↔ Middle East, MED ↔ West Africa.
• Track regulatory and specification developments (Euro norms, IMO 2020 legacy impacts, ETS) and assess their impact on product flows and price differentials.
• Oversee end-to-end trade execution: logistics coordination, vessel nominations, Bills of Lading, letters of credit, and liaison with operations and back-office teams.
• Manage exposure within defined risk parameters (VaR, credit lines, stop-loss); contribute to daily P&L reporting and risk committee reviews.
• Support origination of structured supply agreements and contribute to the commercial strategy of the refined products desk.

Candidate Profile

• 10 to 15 years of distillates trading experience (gasoil, jet fuel, kerosene), with proven and significant exposure to the Mediterranean basin.
• Deep understanding of MED market dynamics: storage and distribution hubs, port infrastructure, regional refinery margins and arbitrage flows.
• Strong command of hedging and speculative instruments: ICE Gasoil futures, OTC swaps, CFDs, crack spreads and geographical spreads.
• Well-established network of contacts among MED refiners, distributors, brokers and trading counterparties, including North Africa.
• Demonstrated ability to manage independently a book with material positions in a high-pressure, rapidly evolving market environment.
• Solid understanding of product tanker logistics (MR/LR1, coastal barges), oil terminal operations and specification/blending constraints.
• Fluent English is mandatory;
• Proficiency with market tools: Bloomberg, Platts, Argus, Reuters Eikon; comfortable with quantitative analysis and spreadsheet modelling.

Education

• Master's degree (or equivalent Bac+5) in Finance, Economics, Engineering or International Business from a leading university or Grande École.
• Additional training or certification in energy risk management or commodity trading is an advantage.