Job Summary

The Manager Trading provides day-to-day leadership and supervision for a trading team supporting CITGO’s asset-backed trading business. The position establishes priorities, assigns work, monitors execution, and develops employees while remaining accountable for disciplined trading, system optimization, risk management, and commercial performance. 

The Manager Trading develops and oversees physical and financial trading strategies involving crude oils, feedstocks, refined products, and related logistics. The role applies market expertise, refinery economics, and risk-management principles to identify opportunities, optimize CITGO assets, and support reliable supply and product disposition. The position also leads critical commercial negotiations, provides market guidance to management, and coordinates closely with Supply Chain, Economics & Planning, Refining, Logistics, Risk Control, Legal, and Compliance. 

The individual is regarded as an expert in physical trading and in managing risk exposure, with a strong command of derivatives markets and products—including futures and OTC instruments—used to identify opportunities to optimize profit around CITGO’s system.

This position leads critical negotiations on spot, tender, and term contracts, and applies expert negotiating skills to resolve commercial disputes. The role works closely with Compliance to ensure that both CITGO and its counterparties abide by all current trade restrictions and operate in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, and partners with the Risk Control group to ensure trading remains within established risk and trading authorities.

The position is a key provider of advice to Management on critical commercial negotiations, contractual arrangements, and medium-term positions. The individual constantly hones market perspective, tests the rationale of desk traders on current positions, and communicates broadly with Refining and the commercial organization on market trends. The role also advises on the implementation of major commercial deals across the company and on technical solutions within the commercial organization.

Minimum Qualifications

•    Bachelor’s degree and 10 years of job-related experience or Master’s degree and 8 years of job-related experience.
•    Degree in Chemical Engineering, Economics, Business, Finance, or a related field preferred. 
•    Extensive experience in physical hydrocarbon marketing, supply, or trading, including inventory management, hedging, position taking, and logistics. 
•    Demonstrated understanding of regional and global markets, arbitrage economics, refinery operations, derivatives, market exposure, and risk management. 
•    Demonstrated ability to lead employees, establish accountability, coach performance, develop talent, and manage competing priorities. 
•    Strong commercial negotiation, analytical, problem-solving, decision-making, and communication skills. 
•    Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced, high-pressure, and highly regulated trading environment. 
•    Periodic travel and availability outside normal business hours may be required. 
•    Must be able to respond to time-sensitive market and operational matters outside normal business hours, as required. 
•    Must comply with all applicable safety, information-security, records-management, Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, trading, risk, and compliance requirements. 

Job Duties

Trading Strategy, Execution, & Performance
•    Leads the development and execution of physical and financial trading strategies that support system optimization, supply reliability, risk objectives, and profitability targets. 
•    Trades physical and financial commodities in pursuit of system optimization and trading for profit. 
•    Oversees commodity positions, exposure, hedging activity, and execution discipline across assigned books or markets. 
•    Uses futures, swaps, options, and other approved instruments to manage market risk and support commercial strategies. 
•    Monitors market fundamentals, arbitrage economics, logistics constraints, refinery economics, and competitive activity to identify and act on opportunities. 
•    Ensures trading activity is accurately captured and managed within approved systems, authorities, and controls. 

People Leadership and Supervision 
•    Directly supervises assigned employees, including setting expectations, assigning work, monitoring results, and providing timely coaching and feedback. 
•    Participates in recruiting, onboarding, training, development planning, performance management, recognition, and corrective action, as appropriate. 
•    Builds bench strength by mentoring employees, expanding market and commercial capabilities, and supporting succession and cross-training plans. 
•    Promotes collaboration, accountability, sound judgment, ethical conduct, and continuous improvement across the trading team. 
•    Plans staffing and work coverage to support business continuity and market responsiveness. 
 

Commercial Development and Negotiations 
•    Identifies and develops new markets, counterparties, structures, and commercial opportunities that increase deal flow or improve asset value. 
•    Leads or supports negotiations for spot, tender, and term agreements and resolves commercial disputes within delegated authority. 
•    Provides recommendations to management regarding contract structures, market positions, trading strategies, and material commercial decisions. 

Job Duties II

Cross-Functional Optimization & Logistics
•    Coordinates with refinery planning, supply, logistics, marine, pipeline, terminal, and marketing groups to align trading decisions with operational needs and constraints. 
•    Oversees logistical arrangements for timely and cost-effective delivery, receipt, storage, blending, and movement of hydrocarbons. 
•    Provides market intelligence and commercial direction that supports refinery optimization and downstream asset utilization. 

Risk, Compliance, & Controls
•    Ensures team compliance with approved trading authorities, risk limits, internal controls, contracts, policies, laws, regulations, sanctions, and trade restrictions. 
•    Partners with Risk Control and Compliance to monitor exposures, address exceptions, support reviews, and maintain appropriate documentation. 
•    Promotes operational discipline, accurate position reporting, and timely escalation of material risks, control issues, or market events.