Chief Financial Officer (CFO) – Commodity Trading - Base in Singapore
Key Responsibilities
1. Strategic Financial Leadership & Growth
- Formulate and execute financial strategies aligned with short- and long-term commodity trading expansion goals.
- Partner with the Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) and Heads of Trading desks to structure complex commodity transactions, trade structuring, and off-take agreements.
- Oversee M&A opportunities, joint ventures, and strategic investments within the regional supply chain and logistics ecosystem.
- Direct capital allocation strategies to optimize working capital efficiency and liquidity across various commodity desks.
2. Trade Finance & Treasury Operations
- Build, maintain, and expand relationships with international banks, trade finance institutions, and non-bank financial lenders.
- Oversee multi-currency treasury operations, liquidity forecasting, cash flow management, and foreign exchange (FX) hedging strategies.
- Negotiate and secure structured trade finance facilities, including Letters of Credit (LCs), Borrowing Base Facilities, Invoice Discounting, Revolving Credit Facilities (RCFs), and Repo structures.
- Direct working capital management to optimize cash conversion cycles and collateral requirements.
3. Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) & Trading Governance
- Establish, enhance, and monitor comprehensive Financial Risk Management policies tailored to commodity trading (Market Risk, Credit Risk, Counterparty Risk, Liquidity Risk, and Operational Risk).
- Oversee Value at Risk (VaR) limits, mark-to-market (MTM) evaluations, counterparty credit exposure, and price risk hedging strategies in collaboration with Risk Officers.
- Ensure strict risk governance surrounding trade executions, derivative products, and hedging instruments (futures, options, swaps).
4. Financial Accounting, Controlling & Reporting
- Ensure total compliance with Singapore Financial Reporting Standards (SFRS / IFRS), local tax laws, and international transfer pricing regulations.
- Lead month-end, quarter-end, and year-end financial closing processes, preparing high-integrity consolidated financial statements.
- Implement robust commodity mark-to-market (MTM) accounting and revenue recognition standards specific to physical and paper trading setups.
- Direct management reporting, FP&A, budgeting, and performance tracking across trading desks, regions, and legal entities.
5. Tax, Governance & Regulatory Compliance
- Design and execute international tax planning, transfer pricing frameworks, and cross-border structuring for global commodity flows.
- Leverage local tax incentive programs (e.g., Enterprise Singapore’s Global Trader Programme - GTP) and maintain full compliance with regulatory authorities (MAS, IRAS, ACRA).
- Oversee corporate governance, legal compliance, internal controls, and anti-money laundering (AML/CFT) frameworks within financial operations.
6. Team Leadership & Stakeholder Management
- Lead, mentor, and scale high-performing Finance, Accounting, Treasury, and Risk teams in Singapore and regional subsidiaries.
- Primary executive interface for external auditors, legal counsel, credit rating agencies, tax consultants, and financial institutions.
Requirements & Qualifications
- Education: Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or related fields. CPA, CA, CFA, or MBA qualification is highly preferred.
- Experience:
- Minimum 12–15+ years of progressive financial leadership experience, with at least 5+ years in a CFO, Finance Director, or Head of Finance role within the commodity trading industry (Petrochemicals, Energy, Metals, or Agribusiness).
- Extensive track record in Singapore’s financial ecosystem with proven success securing large-scale bilateral and syndicated trade finance facilities.
- Technical Expertise:
- Deep expertise in Trade Finance instruments (LCs, SBLCs, Bank Guarantees, Structured Trade & Commodity Finance).
- Thorough understanding of Commodity Derivatives, Hedging, MTM Accounting, and Risk Management Frameworks (VaR, Credit Limits).
- Expert knowledge of SFRS/IFRS, Singapore tax laws, Transfer Pricing, and global shipping/incoterms.
- Systems: Hands-on familiarity with CTRM/ETRM systems (e.g., Brady, RightAngle, OpenLink, or custom CTRMs) integrated with ERP systems (SAP, Oracle, or Microsoft Dynamics).
- Soft Skills: Exceptional leadership, strategic negotiating skills, commercial acumen, high integrity, and the ability to thrive in a fast-paced, high-volume commodity trading environment.
- Languages: Business fluency in English is required; command of Vietnamese or Mandarin is a strong plus for stakeholder alignment across regional offices.
