We have an exciting opportunity to join ED&F Man Commodities’ growing cotton trading business as a Cotton Trader. The role offers the chance to manage and develop a physical cotton trading book, drive commercial growth and build strong relationships across global supply chains. Working closely with trading, operations, finance and origination teams, the Cotton Trader will identify and execute trading opportunities, deliver value to customers and contribute to the continued expansion and success of the cotton business through market insight, commercial acumen and effective risk management. This position reports to our Head of Physical Trading.
Position Title: Cotton Trader
Business area: Cotton
Location: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Position Type: Full-time
Schedule: Office based
ED&F Man Cotton driven by an ambition to become a leading trader of raw cotton, serving customers around the world. The breadth of ED&F Man Commodities existing operations provides ED&F Man Cotton with offices in major cotton producing regions and expertise in operating sustainable containerised supply chains, underpinned by robust risk management procedures.
ED&F Man is owned by Hartree Partners, LP a leading global merchant commodities firm facilitating the flow of energy, metals, agriculture, and environmental products across the full commodity supply chain, connecting producers and consumers. Hartree was founded in 1997, is jointly owned by senior management and funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, LP, and employs around 5,000 individuals worldwide.
- Manage and grow a physical cotton trading book, with accountability for margin, volume and trade execution performance.
- Execute trading strategies in line with business objectives and guidance from trading leadership.
- Demonstrate commercial acumen to directly negotiate purchase and sale contracts within the parameters of trading gameplans.
- Analyze market fundamentals, supply and demand dynamics, pricing trends and customer requirements to identify and capitalize on trading opportunities.
- Support client retention and business growth through regular engagement, high-quality service and commercially relevant offerings.
- Identify, develop, and secure new trading and business opportunities with both existing and prospective customers.
- Collaborate closely with operations, finance, logistics and risk teams to ensure efficient trade execution and excellent customer experience.
- Support the effective alignment of physical trading positions with logistics capabilities, financial objectives and risk parameters.
- Working closely with IT and head of trading to automate manual aspects of physical trading.
- Monitor and report on market developments, industry trends, pricing movements and competitive activity to support informed trading decisions.
- Develop and maintain a strong external network across the cotton and wider commodity markets to enhance market intelligence and commercial opportunities.
- Represent the business at industry events, conferences and customer meetings to strengthen market presence and relationships.
- Physical commodity trading experience is highly preferred.
- Strong commercial acumen and understanding of risk management principles.
- Demonstrable experience of consistently seeking and growing trading opportunities.
- Excellent numeracy, communication and negotiation skills.
- Willingness to travel as needed to client sites or origin locations.Demonstrable technological focus. We are looking for a candidate who embraces technology-based solutions to drive results and efficiency gains for their core accountabilities.
- Proactive, eager-to-learn, and problem-solving mindset with the ability to manage multiple tasks.
We recognise that talent comes in many forms, and we value potential just as much as experience. If this role excites you but you don’t meet every requirement, we still encourage you to apply.
We provide a fast-paced, stimulating and truly global environment, which will stretch your abilities and channel your talents. We also offer competitive salary and benefits combined with outstanding career development opportunities in one of the global leaders in soft commodity trading.
Our values define who we are. They are the fundamental beliefs that determine our actions and guide our behaviour. They influence the way we communicate and collaborate, and define the way we engage with our clients, partners, and communities. Our values are underpinned by a set of essential behaviours, which form part of our performance management approach. Delivering on our objectives is very much about ‘what’ we do, but these essential behaviours also provide a guide and measure for ‘how’ we do things. Our performance essentials are Take Initiative, Self‐Management, Deliver Results and Collaboration.
We are committed to creating and sustaining an inclusive and diverse work environment where all employees are treated with dignity and respect. We are committed to promoting equal opportunities in employment and are focussed on actively building and developing diverse teams. All qualified applicants will receive equal treatment without regard to race, colour, sex, gender, age, religion or belief, ethnic or national origin, marital or civil partner status, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, sexual orientation, gender reassignment (identity, gender expression), genetic information or any characteristic protected by local law.
We are not accepting unsolicited CV/resume’s from recruitment or search agencies for this vacancy. Any CVs/resume’s submitted without a prior agreement in place with our talent acquisition team, will be considered the property of ED&F Man Cotton, and no fees will be paid.
