Merchant II

About the role

As a Merchant on the Soy Processing Commercial team, you will handle a supplier base and fulfill transactions delivering commodities that meet production requirements and specifications in timing, volume, quantity, and cost. You will focus on soybean purchases, manage relationships with established customers, and prospect new business. The role involves developing game plans, recommending trading and marketing strategies, and overseeing logistics execution for a soy processing plant and two storage locations in North Carolina. You will collaborate with merchandising, origination, operations, logistics, and finance teams to maximize asset utilization and earnings while growing into a leadership position among peers.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain relationships with farmer customers, suppliers, and business partners to increase origination of soybeans into three facilities in North Carolina.
• Collaborate with functional areas including merchandising, origination, operations, logistics, and finance teams to maximize asset utilization and earnings by establishing game plans, offers, margin structures, and objectives.
• Enter routine data and run specialty reports from contract management databases and systems.
• Evaluate, manage, and communicate the risk universe, including game-plans, bean/meal position, bean pipeline position, bean and meal quality, P&L, and open contract risk (e.g., contract exposure, credit, A/R, past due contracts, contract confirmations).
• Plan purchases and transportation to maximize profitable use of stock and storage facilities.
• Research and analyze freight opportunities in the marketplace to maximize margin.
• Work directly with customers, suppliers, and business counterparts to address routine problems, complaints, and concerns.
• Independently solve moderately complex issues while escalating more complex problems to higher-level staff.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a related field or equivalent experience.
• Minimum of two years of related work experience.
• Ability to travel overnight less than 10% to visit plants and customers.
• Valid driver's license in good standing.

Preferred Skills

• Understanding of grain margins, futures, and basis relationships.
• Basic knowledge of production agriculture and/or livestock feeding.
• Experience identifying customer needs and building customer relationships.