Trafigura - Analyst - Derivatives Operations

Main purpose :

The Derivatives Operations Analyst will support the end-to-end lifecycle management of derivative positions across all asset classes and global markets. This is a hands-on operational role suited to a detail-oriented individual who is eager to develop deep expertise in derivatives processing within a fast-paced, high-volume trading environment.

Key responsibilities :

Trade Lifecycle & Processing :

- Process and manage a high volume of swaps, futures, options, and forward transactions across multiple exchanges, clearing houses, and OTC markets daily.

- Perform trade capture and validation of derivative transactions in internal systems, ensuring all trade details are accurately reflected and any discrepancies are resolved promptly.

- Manage trade amendments, cancellations, and Novations in a timely manner, ensuring all changes are accurately reflected across internal systems and communicated to relevant stakeholders following trader approval.

- Ensure timely and accurate trade confirmation and matching with counterparties via industry platforms, minimizing confirmation backlogs and reducing operational risk.

Reconciliation :

- Perform daily position and cash reconciliations between internal systems and external counterparties, exchanges, and clearing brokers, investigating and resolving all breaks promptly.

- Perform Month End reconciliations to ensure all derivative positions, collateral balances, and cash accounts are accurately reflected and signed off within agreed deadlines.

- Ensure all trade breaks are identified, escalated, and resolved on a timely basis with 100% accuracy, maintaining a clear and comprehensive audit trail.

Margining and Settlement :

- Support daily margin call processing across cleared and bilateral derivative positions, ensuring timely agreement and settlement of variation margin and initial margin with counterparties, clearing brokers, and exchanges.

- Manage the settlement of derivative transactions across multiple currencies and asset classes, ensuring accurate and timely processing of all cash flows and physical deliveries.

Position Limit Monitoring :

- Monitor open positions daily to ensure compliance with exchange thresholds and position limits, preventing any exchange limit breaches and escalating potential issues proactively.

Controls & Stakeholder Engagement :

- Maintain comprehensive audit trails and documentation across all operational activities to ensure full transparency and readiness for internal and external audits.

- Ensure adherence to internal controls and operational risk frameworks, escalating any potential risk events or control breaches to senior management promptly.

- Act as the primary point of contact for all derivative-related queries, coordinating efficiently with multiple internal teams including trading, deals desk, finance, and ops legal.

- Support the onboarding of new asset classes, products, and counterparties, contributing operational expertise to ensure seamless integration into existing workflows and systems.

- Contribute to ad hoc projects and strategic initiatives within the department, including system upgrades, process re-engineering, and regulatory change implementation.

Required qualifications :

Prior Experience :

- Minimum 1- 3 years of experience in a derivatives operation, trade support, or financial markets operations role.

- Hands-on experience processing or supporting the lifecycle of exchange-traded or OTC derivative instruments (e.g. futures, swaps, options, forwards).

- Exposure to margin processing, trade confirmation, or reconciliation workflows in a financial services or commodities environment.

- Experience working with internal trading or operations systems; familiarity with CTRM platforms (e.g. Murex, Allegro, Aspect) is an advantage.

- Prior experience in a high-volume, deadline-driven operations environment.

Technical Skills :

- Advanced Microsoft Excel skills including complex formulas, pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, and conditional logic.

- Proficiency in either VBA, Macros, Python or Power BI for automating repetitive workflows, data extraction, and reconciliation processes.

- Experience with SQL or similar query languages for extracting and manipulating data from internal systems.

Product & Market Knowledge :

- Working knowledge of derivative instruments including swaps, futures, options, and forwards across commodity and financial markets.

- Basic understanding of cleared margin methodologies such as SPAN and VaR.

- Familiarity with exchange and clearing platforms such as CME, ICE, LME.

Attributes for success :

- Meticulous attention to detail with a commitment to 100% accuracy across all tasks.

- Self-motivated and able to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.

- Fast learner who is comfortable operating in a dynamic and constantly evolving business environment.

- Effective communicator with the ability to engage with global stakeholders.

- Strong analytical and problem-solving mindset with the ability to identify issues and drive resolution independently.

Department Overview :

Trafigura's Derivatives Operations department is an integral part of the firm's global trading infrastructure. Every derivatives position across Trafigura's worldwide book flows through this team spanning the full breadth of global derivatives contracts across asset classes giving team members unparalleled exposure to the depth and complexity of international commodity and financial markets. Derivatives Operations form the structural backbone of Trafigura's trading activity, and this department owns majority of the activities in trade lifecycle for all derivative positions: from confirmation through to settlement, reconciliation, Margining, close-out and Month End. We are the authoritative point of contact for all derivative-related queries across front office and middle office, and our remit extends beyond internal stakeholders to direct engagement with external counterparties ensuring that the firm's commercial requirements are met with precision and speed.

The pace of Trafigura's business demands constant adaptability. As new asset classes are continuously onboarded, team members develop broad, cross-commodity expertise and are expected to evolve alongside the business. While many functions are process-driven, critical thinking is actively encouraged: team members are empowered to challenge existing workflows, identify inefficiencies, and drive operational improvements that have a tangible impact on the business. This department is also a proven launchpad for career progression. Cross-training opportunities are embedded in how the team operates, and a strong track record of team members moving into more senior and complex roles across the organization reflects the depth of experience and visibility this position provides.