Strategic Initiatives

Castleton Commodities International•Houston, TX

21h

About The Position

CCI is hiring a Strategic Initiatives professional to support its commercial business through high-impact business initiatives, onboarding new commercial talent, and ETRM trade lifecycle initiatives. The role partners with Front Office, Merchant Operations, Finance and P&L, Risk, Technology, and other cross-functional teams to deliver system enhancements, onboard trading desks, support onboarding and offboarding US asset businesses, and expand into new markets and products across the global energy commodity platform. The position coordinates strategic projects and commercial onboarding across the global trading footprint, with a focus on US offices and businesses. It manages new business efforts from requirements documentation and cross-functional planning through system setup, testing, and task completion. The role also establishes operational risk and control processes, supports diligence and approvals, and provides onboarding and ongoing support to commercial personnel, including traders. The position oversees ETRM system configuration, integration, and optimization across front-, middle-, and back-office functions. Work includes setting up forward price and volatility curves and settlement quotes, coordinating with developers and data integration teams, and using Python for automation prototypes, process maintenance, and analytics. It facilitates user acceptance testing, deployment, and training; maintains an understanding of enterprise data sources, uses, and controls; and documents new products and efficiency or control initiatives.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Math, Economics, Engineering, Information Technology, Computer Science, or a related field.
At least 5 years of experience in a combination of business analysis, project management, cross-departmental business management, trade support, risk, P&L, physical scheduling, or operations within the energy and commodities industry.
Demonstrated trade lifecycle experience with one or more of Electricity, Oil, Natural Gas, or US Renewable Energy Credits.
Hands-on experience across the commodity transaction lifecycle, including trading, positions, mark-to-market and P&L management (including FX exposure), confirmations, credit and margin management, scheduling, settlements, invoicing, and accounting.
Understanding of forward and settlement pricing, including FX, interest rates, and volatilities, for valuation of US power, gas, and oil liquids futures, swaps, physicals, and options.
Strong technical and analytical skills and prior ETRM system experience.
Ability to communicate effectively with commercial teams and all levels of management, and autonomously lead meetings and initiatives.
Excellent communication skills and ability to engage and influence stakeholders across the organization.
Strong attention to detail and organizational skills.
Track record of ownership, accountability, and delivery on complex cross-functional initiatives, with ability to lead and execute.
Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, dynamic, high-intensity environment, including an open-floor plan, respond in a timely manner, and work beyond normal business hours when required.

Nice To Haves

Past exposure to Physical Power and Natural Gas, Physical Oil Trading, and/or Structured Transactions is strongly preferred.
Python experience preferred.
Familiarity with Agile project management methodologies and product model approaches preferred.

Responsibilities

Assist with onboarding and strategic projects across the global trading footprint, particularly in US offices and businesses, including new trading desks and market or product expansions.
Assist the Principal Investments team with Trade Ops and Finance deliverables related to asset investments or divestitures.
Manage new business efforts, including documenting business and system requirements, facilitating cross-functional work, system setup and testing, project planning, and coordinating tasks across relevant teams.
Establish operational risk and control processes and documentation for new businesses and trading activity.
Support commercial business diligence and approvals for new initiatives.
Onboard and provide ongoing support to new commercial resources, including traders.
Coordinate across support groups to connect new initiatives to existing global processes and work with functional owners to define and implement non-standard workflows where applicable.
Undertake ad-hoc strategic and corporate projects as required.
Collaborate on and sometimes lead firm-wide initiatives to design and implement organizational solutions, including product configuration, trading reference data architecture and setup, and process and data flow analysis.
Oversee configuration, integration, and optimization of ETRM systems supporting front-, middle-, and back-office functions.
Set up new forward price and volatility curves and settlement quotes in the system.
Liaise with developers for IT development and support as needed.
Coordinate with the Data Integration team to organize and streamline reference data and develop reporting and analytics solutions.
Use Python for automation prototypes, maintenance of existing Python-based processes, and advanced analytics initiatives.
Facilitate user acceptance testing, deployment, and training for new system features and enhancements.
Maintain a strong understanding of enterprise data sources, uses, and controls, ensuring accuracy and compliance.
Maintain documentation of newly onboarded products and areas where the team has supported efficiency or enhanced control initiatives.

Benefits

Competitive comprehensive medical, dental, retirement, and life insurance benefits
Employee assistance and wellness programs
Parental and family leave policies
Two annual days allocated for volunteering at selected charities through each office's Charity Committee
Charitable contribution match program
Tuition assistance and reimbursement
Quarterly Innovation & Collaboration Awards
Employee discount program, including access to fitness facilities
Competitive paid time off
Continued learning opportunities