Senior London Trade Finance Manager

Join a high-impact Trade Finance team at the heart of global commodity trading, where you'll help safeguard commercial transactions, optimize banking relationships, and enable business growth across EMEA and the Americas. This role is ideal for someone who enjoys balancing risk management, stakeholder engagement, and complex financial negotiations to support secure and efficient trading activity.

Reporting to the Global Head of Trade Finance, the London Trade Finance Senior Manager is a key role in the team, providing trade finance expertise and core capabilities in the credit risk management of Shell’s Trading & Supply (T&S) businesses in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) regions.

The role has a wide number of interfaces across the Global Trade Finance team, Commercial and Finance stakeholders across the T&S organisation, Treasury, as well as with banks, insurance companies and other external institutions.

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  Act as primary focal point on trade finance risk management and strategy matters to all key senior commercial and financial stakeholders across the T&S EMEA region.

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  Work closely with the global Trade Finance team (London, Singapore and Manila SBO) to provide advice and training as needed to ensure high calibre trade finance advice is available to the global T&S organisation.

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  Lead engagements with banks, insurance companies and other external institutions in order to secure the appropriate trade finance security at the most competitive price, working closely together with the relevant Commercial Credit Manager for that counterparty, as well as with the T&S Treasury Manager to ensure Shell's overall bank relationships are managed consistently.

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  Ensure that relevant policies (e.g. Global Shell Trading Credit Manual and Manual of Authorities) are fit for purpose and that all commercial activities entered into by the EMEA portfolio of T&S entities and remain in compliance.

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  Support the allocation and renewal of open credit lines to banks and attend High Risk Counterparty Committee for banks in respect of Know Your Customer, and where relevant approve all credit mitigation or "trade finance" strategies (e.g. letters of credit, silent cover and other credit insurance) employed with trading counterparties.

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  Ensure Bank Limits for EMEA T&S sales reflect future utilisation for spikes in oil and gas price to ensure transfer of risk to financial institutions to avoid catastrophic losses. Increase Letter of Credit facilites for LC issuance to avoid posting cash with corresponding risk of default by counterparties.

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  Daily control on Bank Exposure report governance, daily overdue report and late payment monitoring.

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  Act as credit interface to KYC and trade controls team for new and existing bank relationships and sanctions queries, including reverse bank KYC requests.

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  Manage import and export Documentary LCs, including complex structures such as advance payment, tripartite agreements and extended payment terms.

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  Demonstrate energy and accountability for the delivery of our transformation agenda focused on the evolution of services to achieve the highest global standard for regular operational and reporting activities, using advanced technologies including AI-drive analytics, workflow automation and digital collaborating platforms.

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  Support the ambitious T&S business growth agenda by identifying global best practice solutions and championing the learning behaviours expected throughout the team. Foster a culture of knowledge and best practice sharing across all levels and locations, to support professional development across the trade finance team.

• Significant years of experience in trade finance within a trading environment or bank.

• Experience in negotiating and drafting trade finance documents and managing and negotiating credit facilities with banks.

• Strong communication, business partnering and influencing skills across all levels of management.

• Demonstrated ability to effectively manage conflicting priorities in a highly time pressured environment.

• Knowledge of ETRM systems (such as Endur, DEX and SAP).

• Evidence of driving continuous improvement.

Shell is a vital contributor to the UK, supporting energy security, jobs and economic value. We provide energy to fuel homes, hospitals, schools, vehicles, machinery and factories. Our history here dates back over 125 years. A UK-headquartered global energy leader, and leading FTSE multinational, we are active across the country’s energy system.

In the years ahead, as the UK looks to strengthen energy security and deliver its 2050 net-zero goal, Shell UK aims to play a crucial role. We aim to be a major investor in the UK energy system by helping our customers decarbonise with a focus on transport and industry.

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