Merchant II

About the role

The Merchant will contribute to handling a supplier base and fulfill transactions delivering commodities that meet production requirements and specifications in terms of timing, volume, quantity, and cost. In this role, you will be a member of the Soy Processing Commercial team responsible for soybean purchases, game plan development, recommending trading and marketing strategies, and overseeing logistics execution for a soy processing plant and two storage locations in North Carolina.

You will focus mainly on soybean purchases, managing relationships with established customers, and prospecting new business. You will be part of the merchandising team that develops game plans on soybeans, meal, oil, hulls, and total margin generation and P&L for the respective crush plant. The role involves 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 and align functional areas including merchandising, origination, operations, logistics, and finance teams to maximize asset utilization and earnings by establishing game plans, offers, margin structure, and objectives.
• Enter routine data and run specialty reports from contract management databases and systems.
• Evaluate, manage, and communicate risk universe (game-plans, bean/meal position, bean pipeline position, bean and meal quality, P&L, and open contract risk including contract exposure, credit, A/R, past due contracts, and 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 meet their needs, solve routine problems, and address complaints and concerns.
• Independently solve moderately complex issues while referring more complex problems to higher-level staff.
• 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.
• Driver's license in good standing.

Preferred Skills

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