Commercial LNG Freight Operator West
The Role
LNG Commercial Operations is responsible for execution of all deals and trades for Shell LNG Marketing & Trading (SLMT) which encompasses the global LNG businesses acting as a talent pool for the business.
Commercial LNG Freight Operator provides commercial, logistical and administrative support to Shell Trading and is as such responsible on a day-to-day basis for the timely implementation and execution of freight and commercial transactions to ensure that all obligations arising from the LNG contract and time charter party (TCP) are met and carried out professionally. Trading Operations work closely with Freight Traders and Optimisation Traders to maximize the value-add through the application of economics and optimization skills for profitable operations and minimize the profit leakage from the flexibility and optionality embedded in the LNG contracts and Supply programs. Trading operations are also involved in the development of projects and new contracts.
Where You Fit In
Shell LNG Marketing & Trading (SLMT) is the Global LNG Trading organization and the Commercial Freight Operator sits within the Operations arm of Shell Trading. Shell is global leader in LNG business with supply projects in both Atlantic and Asia Pacific basins and customers spread across Asia, Europe, Middle East and South America. The nature this high value trade is evolving fast with a mix of long- and short-term contractual agreements changing fast.
Commercial LNG Operations provides end-to-end commercial, logistical and administrative support to Shell Trading and is as such responsible on a day-to-day basis for the timely implementation and execution of freight and commercial transactions to ensure that all obligations arising from the LNG contract and time charter party agreements are met and carried out professionally. They work closely with Traders to maximize the value-add through the application of economics and optimization skills for profitable operations and minimize the profit leakage from the flexibility and optionality embedded in the LNG contracts and supply programs.
In addition to freight operations the incumbent may also be expected to gain necessary experience within the cargo operations space to implement and execute commercial deals. Due to the nature of the physical trading operations, out of office hours working and availability on weekend will be required.
Key Areas of Responsibility
Ensure that LNG Operations fully complies with Shell’s internal standards including compliance and HSSE, paying special attention to HSSE hazards and risks that may have impact on vessels voyage or port operation and Shell’s license to operate. Display visible leadership and commitment to HSSE within the team.
Ensure that all contractual obligations arising from time charter parties are carried out effectively and that all necessary requirements are complied with.
Manage relationships and collaborate with internal stakeholders, such as Traders, finance, shipping, safety and global cargo operation teams and external stakeholders, such as vessel owners, masters, service providers, regulatory bodies, agents and terminals.
Continuously monitor and improve vessel’s operational efficiency over and above contractual obligations.
Efficiently manage voyage operations, including bunker consumption, boil-off, speed and heel management as well as arrange bunkers and OPL activities.
Manage and accurately execute charter parties accounting, claims and reconciliations for external and internal deals.
Ensure that all operational data is timely entered into trading systems with a first-time right approach.
Manage operational related disputes, including Condition of Use issues.
Deliver against relevant KPI's.
Multi-task on priorities and think on own feet to deal with contractual issues ensuring that all are managed professionally and optimally for the trading business.
Actively engage with the global freight and cargo operations team members across regions to ensure operations process alignment, business continuity and commercial added value opportunities and business needs are met.
Manage a vessel owners account if required.
Specifically seek to add value by exercising embedded commercial and logistical deal options and pro-active approach to problem solving.
Support less experienced team members and share learnings as required.
Participate and contribute to Continuous Improvement/Operational Excellence projects.
Whilst key accountability lies with the regional team, the operator is expected to understand contractual constraints globally and collaborate with the Freight and Cargo operations team in other regions to resolve the issues.
The operator will handle global 24/7 trading activities and whilst colleagues are available in other time zones, the operator is expected to respond flexibly to requests outside of normal office hours.
Skills and Requirements
Act with personal integrity, be guided by personal values and beliefs.
Resilient under pressure and ability to manage own well-being with consideration for others.
Strong sense of initiative to independently seek out information.
Ability to apply analytical competencies and critically analyse scenarios to best determine actions and decision making.
Digitalization driven with ambition to leverage on suitable technologies to unlock new capabilities for commercial operations.
Flexibility to adapt wholeheartedly and accommodate team requirements as and when required.
Ambassador of continuous improvement and be able to identify and implement solutions to ruthlessly eliminate complexity and waste in terms of processes.
Embrace and adapt to change with full commitment and a holistic perspective.
Effective verbal and written communication skills, adapting to varying audiences to clearly articulate key messages for influence.
Deploy a commercial mindset in parallel with critical HSSE elements to achieve a balance of objectives.
Deal with conflicting priorities where managing difficult stakeholders must be conducted professionally.
Display learner mindset and challenge commercial decisions where applicable.
Make decisions under time pressure based on available information.
Ability to engage, listen and understand perspectives whilst providing effective feedback to peers and management.
Take personal accountability and pride to ensure timely delivery of commitments.
Impeccable work ethic with exceptional work standards and the desire to learn and grow through experiences.
Ability to identify risk and opportunity in complex operational circumstances.
Ability to leverage on functional support and provide high quality options and opinions to commercial stakeholders.
Can identify areas of operational and commercial risk in new and existing contracts, with a track record of successfully implementing changes to limit risk or increase optionality.
Proven track record of building trust with peers, internal and external counterparties.
Ability to understand diversity of thought and incorporate different views in decision making.
Confident and able to adapt communication style across groups in various layers of the organization.
Can foster a positive work environment even in challenging circumstances. Shows care for colleagues.
Can benefit from functional support within the business and provide good quality opinions and options to commercial stakeholders.
Can identify commercial and operational risk in existing TCPs, ability to pick flag them and implement changes with support from Freight Team Lead and commercial teams.
Global LNG Operations business vision is to grow a strong pool of commercially savvy teams and therefore an integral part of the role requires strong commercial, analytical skills and digital acumen. Candidates who can demonstrate skill in this department will be preferred. This will be assessed as part of interview process. Experience in commercial operations (preferably LNG) will be a strong advantage.
A key criterion is to be able to operate within a non-standard environment where the counterparty requires and expects considerable support and at the same time be able to gently introduce standardization and efficiency.
A high level of fluency in the English language, both written and spoken is required.
This role is Dubai based with workdays Monday to Friday.