Crude Oil Commodity Owner

Sparta•Houston, TX

About The Position

Sparta is building the data platform that crude traders, analysts, and commercial teams rely on to make faster, better decisions. We cover forward curves, price assessments, market intelligence, and trade flows across the global energy complex — and crude is at the centre of it. We're looking for someone to own it. Reporting to our Head of Commodities, this role is an opportunity to own a vertical, build your profile, and be genuinely central to the direction of the business. This isn't an analyst position. It's not a support role. It's the chance to become Sparta's primary crude voice- internally and externally- and to build something from a strong foundation. You'll sit at the intersection of commercial, product, and market expertise. You'll be the internal and external authority on crude oil: responsible for the health, growth, and strategic development of the vertical, while acting as a key face to clients on complex and technical engagements. You'll need to be equally comfortable deep in the market microstructure of crude- cash differentials, arbitrage dynamics, price relationships- as you are presenting to senior client stakeholders or shaping the product roadmap.

Requirements

Deep crude oil market expertise — strong working knowledge of crude benchmarks, differentials, arbitrage mechanics, refinery economics, and global crude flows
Proven experience in a commodity-facing role within energy trading, data/analytics, financial services, or a closely related field
Track record of owning or significantly contributing to a product or vertical within a commercial organisation
Confident and credible in client-facing settings, including technical discovery calls and C-suite presentations
Ability to translate market complexity into clear product requirements and client value propositions
Strong communication skills — written and verbal — with experience producing or overseeing market commentary
Comfortable working cross-functionally with sales, product, technology, and research teams

Nice To Haves

Experience with pricing, data, or analytics platforms in the energy space
Familiarity with crude data operations: cash diffs, price curve maintenance
Existing network within the crude trading or energy markets community
Experience and confidence in using Python and of adopting and using AI tooling

Responsibilities

Own the crude vertical end-to-end: its commercial performance, product integrity, and strategic direction
Serve as the internal advocate for crude across product, sales, and research teams
Lead the development and build-out of the next generation of crude-related offerings and data products
Define and prioritise the crude product roadmap in close collaboration with product and technology teams
Act as the primary subject matter expert for all crude-related decisions across the business
Lead complex, discovery-focused, and technical client conversations and demos
Support sales and account management teams on senior or strategically important crude opportunities
Represent the firm at industry events, conferences, and client visits as a crude subject matter expert
Take editorial ownership of crude-related market commentaries and content output
Define the voice and analytical framework for crude commentary across client-facing and marketing channels
Work closely with analysts and content contributors to ensure quality, accuracy, and commercial relevance
Oversee operational processes underpinning the crude vertical: cash differential uploads, onboarding of new arbitrage routes and price points, ongoing data quality and coverage
Establish scalable processes and, where appropriate, delegate or automate routine tasks