The Head of Fertilizer Desk will establish, independently manage and profitably grow Robust International's physical fertilizer trading business.
The successful candidate must be a hands-on physical commodity trader with a proven profitable track record, established supplier and customer relationships and the ability to generate executable business within a reasonable period after joining.
The candidate will be expected to bring an established and portable commercial book and independently originate, structure, execute and manage fertilizer trades from inception through final collection.
This is a working Desk Head position, not a purely managerial or supervisory role.
Product Scope
The Desk may trade bulk and bagged fertilizer products, including, as commercially relevant:
- Urea and other nitrogen fertilizers
- DAP, MAP and other phosphate fertilizers
- MOP, SOP and other potash products
- NPK fertilizers and
- Other approved bulk or commodity fertilizer products.
The candidate is not required to have equal experience across every product category but must possess a demonstrable and portable book across at least two core fertilizer categories, together with the capability to expand the portfolio responsibly.
P&L Ownership
The Fertilizer Desk will operate as an independent profit centre with dedicated cost-centre coding and a standalone P&L.
The Head of Fertilizer Desk will be accountable for:
- Consolidated profitability of the fertilizer business
- Product-level profitability
- Realized trading margins
- Financing and working-capital costs
- Freight, port handling, storage, bagging, insurance and other execution costs
- Demurrage, quality claims, shortages and inventory losses
- Counterparty defaults and credit losses
- Direct and allocated operating costs and
- Overall risk-adjusted net contribution to the Group.
Key Responsibilities
Business Origination and Development
- Establish and grow Robust's international physical fertilizer trading business.
- Use established supplier and customer relationships to generate near-term business.
- Independently originate both purchase and sales opportunities.
- Develop sustainable trading flows across approved origins and destination markets.
- Maintain direct relationships with producers, exporters, importers, distributors, blenders, institutional buyers and other relevant counterparties.
- Identify commercially viable opportunities in private-sector business, tenders and other approved distribution channels.
- Develop repeat business with financially sound and reputable counterparties.
- Maintain a credible pipeline showing expected products, volumes, margins, counterparties, working-capital requirements and execution timelines.
Trading and Execution
- Personally negotiate and conclude purchase and sales contracts.
- Manage the complete commercial lifecycle of each trade, including origination, pricing, contracting, financing, shipment, documentation, delivery, collection and claims resolution.
- Coordinate closely with Robust's treasury, trade finance, logistics, legal, insurance, quality, accounts, compliance and risk-management functions.
- Manage bulk, break-bulk and containerized transactions, as applicable.
- Ensure that purchase and sales contracts are properly aligned regarding product specifications, quantities, tolerances, shipment periods, payment terms and claims procedures.
- Monitor supplier, customer and service-provider performance.
- Maintain timely and accurate position, exposure, pipeline and profitability reporting.
Fertilizer-Specific Responsibilities
- Understand applicable product specifications, nutrient content, testing requirements, certificates of analysis and quality parameters.
- Manage risks relating to moisture, caking, contamination, deterioration, shortages and improper storage or handling.
- Understand the operational requirements for bulk and bagged cargoes, including port handling, warehousing and third-party bagging arrangements.
- Monitor seasonality, planting cycles, subsidy regimes, tender activity, import requirements and regulatory changes in relevant markets.
- Ensure compliance with applicable product-registration, import, customs, sanctions, export-control, safety and hazardous-material requirements.
- Evaluate the commercial and counterparty risks associated with government or institutional tenders before participation.
- Monitor global production, supply-demand balances, export restrictions, natural-gas-related input costs and freight movements affecting fertilizer prices.
Risk and Working-Capital Management
- Prioritize back-to-back, pre-sold or otherwise appropriately risk-controlled transactions.
- Operate strictly within approved product, country, counterparty, credit, tenor, inventory and open-position limits.
- Obtain the necessary approvals before assuming any material price, freight, foreign-exchange, inventory or counterparty exposure.
- Ensure that no unauthorized speculative positions are taken.
- Clearly distinguish physical trading opportunities from directional or speculative price exposure.
- Manage working capital efficiently and maintain visibility over the complete cash-conversion cycle.
- Actively manage receivables, collections, inventory exposure, demurrage, contractual claims and potential losses.
- Ensure full compliance with Robust's KYC, sanctions, anti-bribery, credit, legal and risk-management requirements.
Desk Development
- Initially operate as a hands-on trader and profit owner using Robust's existing central support functions.
- Personally originate and manage business rather than functioning only as a team supervisor.
- Recommend additional trading or execution resources only where justified by established volumes and profitability.
- Recruit or expand the team only after obtaining management approval.
- Remain accountable for business origination and desk performance following any subsequent expansion.
Strict Trading-Only Mandate
This position is strictly focused on physical fertilizer trading.
The Head of Fertilizer Desk will not have a mandate to:
- Establish fertilizer manufacturing, blending, granulation or processing facilities
- Develop bagging plants, warehouses or other owned infrastructure
- Propose or lead mining, manufacturing or value-addition projects
- Initiate CAPEX-led business plans or
- Treat potential capital projects as a substitute for generating profitable trading business.
Third-party logistics, storage and bagging arrangements maybe used where commercially necessary for individual trades and approved through the normal process.
Any future capital investment proposal would be subject to a separate evaluation and approval process and will not form part of the role's initial mandate or performance assessment.
Candidate Profile
- Preferably at least 10 years of relevant physical fertilizer trading and merchandising experience.
- Demonstrable profitable trading book across at least two core fertilizer categories.
- Established and portable relationships with reputable producers, suppliers, importers, distributors and end-buyers.
- Proven responsibility for an independently managed trading book, desk or business line.
- Proven ability to originate both the purchase and sales sides of a transaction.
- Demonstrable experience generating realized margins and net contribution, not merely sales volume.
- Strong understanding of fertilizer specifications, pricing, seasonality, freight, port operations, trade finance, documentation, insurance, quality claims and regulatory requirements.
- Strong understanding of commodity price, counterparty, credit, foreign-exchange, freight, inventory and execution risks.
- Experience in African or other import-dependent emerging markets is strongly preferred.
- Ability to operate entrepreneurially while complying with formal credit, risk and governance controls.
- Strong commercial reputation and satisfactory market references.
- No contractual restrictions that would materially prevent the candidate from developing the proposed business for Robust.
Candidates whose principal experience is limited to fertilizer manufacturing, plant operations, agronomy, procurement, project development, consultancy or technical sales-without direct ownership of a profitable physical trading book-will not be suitable.
Information Required During Selection
Shortlisted candidates should be prepared to provide:
- Fertilizer products historically traded
- Principal origins and destination markets
- Approximate annual volumes and historical profitability
- Named principal suppliers and customers they believe they could bring or introduce to Robust
- Nature and duration of their relationships with those counterparties
- Approximate historical volumes handled with each principal counterparty
- Business they realistically expect to generate for Robust during the first 12 months
- Typical transaction structures, payment terms and trading cycles
- Working-capital and risk exposure historically managed
- Record of material claims, defaults, credit losses and inventory losses
- Proposed 6-12-month business pipeline and
- References capable of verifying their commercial track record and reputation.
Key Performance Indicators
Performance will be assessed primarily by:
- Realized risk-adjusted net desk contribution
- Return on working capital
- Cash conversion and timely collection of receivables
- Quality and sustainability of counterparties
- Repeat and recurring business generated
- Product-level and consolidated desk profitability
- Claims, defaults, demurrage, aged receivables and inventory losses
- Compliance with approved credit, position and risk limits
- Accuracy of position, exposure and P&L reporting and
- Successful development of sustainable fertilizer trading flows.
Trading volume and revenue will be relevant but will not, by themselves, constitute satisfactory performance.
