Trader, US Rail Freight

Responsibilities

• Develops and executes rail freight trading strategies focused on maximizing the return to the Company.
• Develops a trade book and functional P&L for various rail freight activities.
• Collaborates with grain desks to ensure timely execution of physical grain movements.
• Optimizes rail positions across all desks.
• Manages the BNSF, UPRR, and CPKCS freight position for the Grains & Oilseeds platform.
• Guides regions freight positioning suit export flows & freight hedge positions.
• Ensures secondary freight positions are accurately reflected and distributed to regional traders.
• Stays abreast of market developments, ensuring timely group updates & interpretation of market data.
• Keeps key members of the Grains and Oilseeds origination team informed and engaged.
• Coordinates information flow between departments to meet internal and external customer requirements.
• Affirms transportation strategies for NAM G&O team.
• Coordinates with third parties to match trains to the freight needs of the internal team.
• Responsible for timely billing of trains, or assigning coverage, including nights and weekends.
• Marksets secondary UP, CPKCS & BNSF freight to country elevators to grow grain origination base.
• Maintains a live rail freight balance sheet forecasting rail freight S&D basis G&O export forecasts.
• Analyzes pricing trends and projects forward market pricing outlook.
• Provides consultation to accounting personnel regarding settlements of rail freight pricing.
• Collaborates with the Transportation desk in collecting refunds on contracts; assists with managing and analyzing payments for freight bills and demurrage.
• Coordinates with transportation desk for accurate rail rate database management for all applicable BN, UP, KCS and CP origins to target destinations.
• Provides rail rate quotations for grain shipments and other commodities to regional traders.
• Distributes monthly updates with rail fuel surcharges along with company’s exposure.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree
• Five to seven years of experience in an agribusiness firm, railroad or related transportation field
• Three or more years of direct ownership of rail grain or freight trading & position management
• Demonstrated strong negotiating skills and commercial understanding combined with the right commercial attitude and results orientation
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to select relevant information from a flow of information (distinction between main and side issues)
• Demonstrated ability to manage trading risks
• Extensive knowledge of the U.S. transportation systems, relationships with all the major transportation providers and a good working knowledge of grain trading and transportation
• Knowledge of rules and regulations for shippers and receivers (e.g., Surface Transportation Board, Federal Railroad Authority, HazMat, Department of Transportation, Food and Drug Administration), including awareness of nonperformance issues and penalties
• Knowledge of railroad logistics specifically and vessel logistics preferably
• Familiarity with current commodity transportation issues
• Proficiency with MS Excel, database administration and online systems/websites
• Knowledge of fundamentals of grain accounting, basis/flat price trading and futures markets
• Knowledge/Ability to set up accruals for freight, costs, demurrage, etc.
• Advanced proficiency with spreadsheet and word-processing software (e.g., Excel and MS Word, Power Bi, AI Copilot)
• Strong organizational skills, and the ability to prioritize multiple tasks, prioritize workload, and meet tight deadlines
• Strong communication and documentation skills

Qualifications

• Basic qualifications: Demonstrated strong negotiating skills and commercial understanding combined with the right commercial attitude and results orientation
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to select relevant information from a flow of information (distinction between main and side issues)
• Demonstrated ability to manage trading risks
• Extensive knowledge of the U.S. transportation systems, relationships with all the major transportation providers and a good working knowledge of grain trading and transportation
• Knowledge of rules and regulations for shippers and receivers (e.g., Surface Transportation Board, Federal Railroad Authority, HazMat, Department of Transportation, Food and Drug Administration), including awareness of nonperformance issues and penalties
• Knowledge of railroad logistics specifically and vessel logistics preferably
• Familiarity with current commodity transportation issues
• Proficiency with MS Excel, database administration and online systems/websites
• Knowledge of fundamentals of grain accounting, basis/flat price trading and futures markets
• Knowledge/Ability to set up accruals for freight, costs, demurrage, etc.
• Advanced proficiency with spreadsheet and word-processing software (e.g., Excel and MS Word, Power Bi, AI Copilot)
• Strong organizational skills, and the ability to prioritize multiple tasks, prioritize workload, and meet tight deadlines
• Strong communication and documentation skills

Benefits

We offer a comprehensive benefits program including medical, dental and vision care coverage, flexible spending account plans, employee assistance program, life insurance and disability coverage, 401k with Company Match, and family friendly benefits such as childbirth and parental leave, fertility and family building benefits, paid time off (PTO) and paid holidays, and flexible work options (not applicable to all roles).

About the Role

This position is responsible for developing and executing rail freight trading strategies focused on maximizing the return to the Company. Responsibilities include developing a trade book and functional P&L for various rail freight activities, collaborating with grain desks to ensure timely execution of physical grain movements, and optimizing rail positions across all desks.