Trade Accountant (CIMA)

Introduction

The Trade Accountant will play a key role in driving financial discipline and transparency across the wheat and sunflower trading business. This role is accountable for accurate, timely, and insightful trade P&L reporting, effective risk and position management controls, and alignment of financial results with operational performance. As part of the Business Control division, the Trade Accountant will partner closely with traders, operations, and management to support sound decision-making, safeguard financial integrity, and embed best practices in commercial finance and accounting processes.

Duties & Responsibilities

1. P&L Control, Trade Reporting, and Working Capital Management

· Ensure daily P&L reporting is accurate and submitted within agreed timelines.

· Maintain integrity of trade data and alignment with market exposures.

· Monitor and reconcile working capital efficiency.

· Identify and resolve P&L discrepancies and stock valuation variances proactively.

2. Month-End Close, Management Reporting & Commercial Business Partnering:

· Month-end close completed within Group deadlines with minimal adjustments

· Accuracy and completeness of management reporting (variance analysis, commentary, dashboards)

· Timely delivery of insights to support trading, operational, and strategic decisions

· Quality of business partnering: responsiveness, stakeholder feedback, and solution-orientation

· Proactive identification and communication of risks, opportunities, and financial trends

· Alignment of reporting outputs with commercial priorities and business plans

3. Internal Controls, Audit Readiness & Compliance Governance

· Timely resolution of internal and external audit findings

· Zero repeat audit findings across audit cycles

· Control self-assessments and risk registers updated and monitored regularly

· Compliance with group policies, accounting standards, and regulatory frameworks

· Documentation completeness and availability (SOPs, reconciliations, signoffs)

· Control breaches identified and escalated

4. Digital Systems Optimization, Process Improvement & Automation

· Number of manual processes automated or streamlined

· Time saved and error reduction through automation initiatives

· Cross-functional collaboration in redesigning inefficient workflows

· Reduction in spreadsheet dependency and reconciliation gaps

· Training and change management effectiveness for new tools or processes

5. Cross-Functional Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement

· Effectiveness and frequency of communication with key departments (e.g., trading, ops, logistics, finance)

· Timely resolution of interdepartmental queries and bottlenecks

· Joint initiatives delivered on time and to expectation (e.g., process changes, reporting improvements)

· Stakeholder feedback on collaboration quality and responsiveness

· Participation in cross-functional projects and taskforces

· Alignment of deliverables with broader commercial and operational goals

6. Risk & Exposure Management

· Daily/weekly monitoring and reporting of market and operational exposures

· Timely escalation and resolution of risk incidents or breaches

· Risk registers maintained and reviewed periodically

· Compliance with group policies

Desired Experience & Qualification

Experience in accounting and a deep understanding of trade position management and trade PnL

· Relevant tertiary qualification – BCom degree (Finance)

· At least 2-4 years’ experience in a commercial environment (Commodity Trading)

· Computer Literacy (MS Excel – intermediate)

· CIMA advantageous

Grain and Agri industry and commodities trading background advantageous

· Excellent presentation and communication skills

· Numerical reasoning and problem-solving skills

· Excellent time management skills

· Critical thinker with emotional resilience

· Previous experience working for a multinational company advantageous

· SAP S4 Hana, SAP BPC advantageous or related financial system experience