Trader - EnergyJob description (draft) | Westrock Coffee | October 27, 2026
Role summaryWestrock Coffee is hiring a discretionary Trader to run its Energy trading platform. The role trades listed futures and options within firm-set loss limits, and its profits offset inflation in WEST's non-coffee input costs.
ItemDetailTitle
Trader - Energy (Discretionary Portfolio Manager)
Reports to
VP Commodity Risk; risk oversight by the Chief Risk Management Officer (CRMO)
Location
Little Rock, AR - on site, with a trading-hours presence
Type
Full time, exempt
Key responsibilitiesTrading and returns- Build and run a discretionary book of outright futures and options in the platform's markets, targeting 10-15% a year on allocated capital.
- Generate ideas from supply and demand analysis, weather, positioning (CFTC Commitments of Traders), seasonality and price action, etc.
- Size every position to the risk budget and place stops at entry.
Risk discipline- Operate within the risk-per-trade, daily loss, drawdown and notional limits in the mandate below, with no exceptions without written approval.
- Hold reduced size through major relevant organizations releases and exit or roll positions before first notice day. The platform never makes or takes delivery.
- Stay within CFTC and exchange position limits and accountability levels.
Reporting and governance- Reconcile positions and P&L daily with Commodity Risk, and present a monthly review of performance, process and lessons learned.
- Write a short thesis for each significant position (entry, stop, target, catalyst).
- Follow WEST's risk policy, trading compliance rules and information barriers. The platform does not use WEST's customer or commercial hedging order flow.
Building the platform- Help select the trading, data and analytics tools, and shape the risk reporting.
- Share market intelligence with WEST procurement and risk teams within the information-barrier rules.
Required qualifications- 10+ years trading agricultural or soft commodity futures and options, with direct responsibility for a P&L.
- A verifiable record of at least five years of trading results, with monthly returns, capital or risk allocated, and maximum drawdown, confirmable by a prior employer, fund administrator or clearing statements.
- Average annual return of 10--15% on allocated capital, a Sharpe ratio of 1.0 or higher, and no year with a loss beyond the stop-loss limits in place at the time.
- Experience trading under a hard stop-loss and drawdown framework at a multi-manager fund, trading house, bank or commercial merchant.
- Deep knowledge of global energy markets fundamentals.
- Working knowledge of CFTC and exchange rules, position limits and trading compliance.
- Bachelor's degree in finance, economics, agricultural economics or a related field.
Preferred qualifications- Experience on an energy desk at a multi-manager fund, global trading house or commercial merchant.
- Options trading experience, including volatility and skew.
- Proficiency with Bloomberg, a futures execution platform (e.g., CQG or Trading Technologies), and Excel or Python for supply and demand modeling.
- CFA, MBA or a graduate degree in a quantitative field.
- Experience helping build a new desk: systems, reporting and risk processes.
How performance is measuredPerformance is judged on risk-adjusted returns over rolling three-year periods, not on a single year.
- Return: compound annual return on allocated capital (time-weighted, monthly).
- Risk-adjusted return: Sharpe ratio, maximum drawdown and the share of months with a loss.
- Discipline: adherence to stops and limits; number of approved exceptions.
- Process: win rate, average win compared with average loss, quality of trade theses and reporting.
What WEST provides- Trading capital and margin funding, cleared through WEST's futures clearing broker.
- Bloomberg, market data and an execution platform.
- Independent risk management, daily P&L, operations and compliance support.
- A seat on a new platform, with room to shape its tools and processes and to grow the allocation with results.
How to applySend the following:
- Track record: monthly returns for at least five years, capital or risk allocated, maximum drawdown and the stop-loss limits you traded under, with a contact who can verify them.
- A one-page description of your trading process: idea sources, sizing, stops and how you handle losing streaks.
- Two closely related professional references.
Shortlisted candidates present two recent trades (one winner, one loser) to the hiring panel.
Internal notes (remove before posting): confirm the location, title and pay range with the People team; Legal and Compliance to confirm registration needs, information barriers and the trading policy; Finance to confirm accounting treatment of platform P&L.
