Trading Risk Analyst

Who we are

Boba Commodities are a successful, rapidly growing commodities trading firm with the wider purpose of investing into a better future for us all.

We believe

Social value and long-term profit are inextricably linked. We carry this philosophy through to the role we play in the commodities markets.

Where we are

From being founded in 2013, we have grown significantly over the past 10 years. We are now looking to build on the success from creating our Trading Risk Analyst team in 2022. To add to the team, we are looking for a self-managing, self-motivated Trading Risk Analyst with strong attention to detail, numerical skills, logical reasoning, and communication to help support us and make our vision a reality.

Our vision

To invest trading profits into community enhancing businesses across the globe that share our values.

Our mission

Through our trading strategies, maximise the opportunity in the commodities markets to help us realise our vision.

Our team

• We believe in 80/20, the pursuit of non-perfectionism: We ensure we are always focused on the most impactful drivers and results. We move fast and get things done
• Adapt & Evolve: We are agile and growth oriented. We won’t get everything right first time, but we are open-minded to learning from mistakes and failures. We adapt and evolve
• Best Ideas Rise To The Top: We champion the best ideas, not our own ideas. We ensure we listen to other ideas, regardless of the source and embrace cognitive diversity
• Care Personally: We care about each other at a personal level as well as ourselves. The more we understand each other, the more effective we will be

These core values are intrinsic in our culture and in everything we do.

What are you going to do?

As part of the Trading team, you will report directly into the Senior Trading Risk Analyst with the mission to optimise the profits of the team’s trading strategies through effective trade execution and risk management. Specific examples of specific responsibilities are:

• Work closely with the Traders to execute on senior trader and portfolio manager trade strategies
• Monitor markets to develop and execute on a variety of team trading strategies, taking responsibility for these
• Monitor live P&L and trading alerts throughout the day for the trading team
• Use Bloomberg to build charts and other instruments for the trading team
• Conduct research and analysis to inform trading strategies and/or support trading execution

You could be a good fit if you have…

• 0-1 years of professional work experience
• Flexible approach to working hours to respond to evolving needs of primarily UK and US markets and Trading team requirements, but typically around an 8hr day
• Strong self-management such as self-regulation, stress-reduction, self-awareness, adaptability, positivity
• Positive reaction to failure, calm and comfortable in chaos and under pressure while retaining importantly strong ethical standards
• Personal commitment to excellence; to self-development, personal growth, expanding your comfort zone; strong attention to detail, ability and hunger to learn quickly; all of which is balanced with a strong sense of pragmatism
• Strong logical and numerical reasoning with an ability to make decisions, take a methodical approach, identify patterns to form conclusions and solve problems and ability to hold conflicting views in parallel
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with an ability to liaise with co-workers at all levels of the business. Specifically skilled at presenting complex information in concise and clear ways, applying the appropriate sense of urgency when required
• Strong team player, works collaboratively with high levels of self-motivation and cares personally for their co-workers. Dependable and accountable to their team
• Effective active listener. Holds space for other’s ideas, avoids listening purely to respond
• Excellent organisational and time keeping skills, skilled at prioritisation and note taking
• Excellent working knowledge of Microsoft Excel
• Evidence of being able to clearly establish priorities but remain adaptable in a constantly changing environment
• Evidence of high risk appetite, and effective decision making, especially with decisions which have a financial impact

It would be even better, but not essential, if you have one or more of…

• A proven strength in a financial, mathematical, or similarly technical or scientific subject area
• An understanding of futures or commodities markets
• Experience of using Bloomberg/Reuters
• Experience of working in a role focused on trade execution or trading risk management
• Understanding of agile/scrum/Kanban methodologies of working

Personal Fit

Our values run deep. You can come from any background, but championing our culture is critical. We’re looking for a team member who:

• Shares our vision and embodies the Boba culture
• Is looking for an organisation that puts its purpose at the heart of what it does
• Is hungry to build the company - a proactive and enthusiastic force to improve our capabilities
• Thrives in the day to day nature of the role, with high levels of personal drive and care in their work
• Works without ego and need for status and recognition
• Puts the team ahead of themselves, embodies a servant leader mindset

Why diversity and inclusion is highly important to us

An inclusive and diverse workplace means we highly value differences in race, gender, nationality, culture, sexual orientation, physical ability, cognition, age and background as these differences bring new or different ways of thinking about our work. Therefore, creating a workplace culture that advances belonging and psychological safety brings a mutual respect and acceptance of others and fuels our values of caring personally, adapting and evolving and the best ideas rising to the top.

Application and Interview Process

We are small but growing fast and we need the right people who can help us grow and retain and embed our culture and values. Our selection process is both rigorous and compassionate, but we highly encourage you to approach the journey as your authentic self. You are deciding about whether this role is for you as much as we are, so if we are a natural fit for you then you will likely thrive working at Boba. Below is an outline of what you can expect from the process, but this may change or evolve.

How To Apply

Include your CV and a cover letter. Whilst your CV can cover what you have experienced, achieved, and accomplished, we really encourage you to take the opportunity to describe your personal 'why' and 'how' in your cover letter to tell us more about you as a person. e.g., Why you are interested in the role with us, and how you work with people or projects or problems, what do our purpose and values mean to you. We want to know who you are as a person and not just what you have done. Successful applicants will be invited to Round 1 which will be done in two parts:

Round 1 – Part 1 of 2: Online Assessment

We will ask you to complete a competency & personality assessment exercise. We have a threshold that has been calibrated by our own Trading team taking this assessment to ensure it represents the strengths that a person will need to have to thrive in the role. It allows us to understand your strengths and most importantly removes a large part of the subjectivity that can enter the first stage of candidate selection and provides a consistent and level starting point for all applicants. It also significantly reduces the risk of unconscious bias at the application stage, so we can ensure each applicant has the same starting point and we can find the best talent.

Round 1 - Part 2 of 2: Video

Our next stage allows us to see and hear how you communicate and allows you the opportunity to tell us a bit more about yourself than a CV or cover letter can do. Just relax and be yourself. We may throw a curveball question to you which is just to give us an idea of how you might approach a situation or scenario.

Round 2: Getting to know each other

Approx. 2 hrs 15mins with breaks. We would love to host you at our office and meet you in person, and we will pay any associated travel costs. Typical format will be:

• Meet with our Associate Chief of Staff (Catherine) for 45mins

Break. If we both want to continue the interview process, then:

• Meet with one of our Trading Risk Analysts will assign you a technical assessment exercise for about 20mins followed by a short debrief and then break

During this break, one of your potential future colleagues (Trading Risk Analysts) will take you for a coffee/tea/beverage for an informal chat with you for up to 20mins for you to ask any questions about the role, Boba or anything else!

• Meet with Associate Portfolio Manager (Jack) for up to 45 mins
• Wrap up with Catherine

Round 3: Final Round

Approx. 2.5 hours with breaks. This will be in-person in our office again, and we will pay any associated travel costs. We tollgate this stage, meaning we will make a decision on the day to proceed with the next interviewer. The structure will likely be:

• Step 1: Meet with our Chief of Staff/Chief People and Culture Officer (Iain) for up to 45mins inc. any questions you may have.

If Iain and you both wish to continue, then:

• Step 2: Meet with our COO (Marc) for up to 30mins inc. any questions you may have.

If Marc and you both wish to continue, then:

• Step 3: Meet with our CEO (Samir) for up to 30mins inc. any questions you may have.
• Wrap up with Iain

What we can offer you

We are growing and adding to how we want to make Boba the best place to work on the planet and are always listening to what our team think we can do to achieve that. On top of a culture of personal growth, caring personally, inclusivity where your ideas are heard and often implemented, we can offer:

• £40,000 annual salary plus annual discretionary performance bonus
• Support from a professionally qualified Coach to help you achieve your personal and professional goals
• Work/life balance. We mainly trade in US markets, and as a result need to ensure we support the Trading team, so whilst a flexible approach to working hours is needed we work hard to keep to this to an average of 8hrs a day. Outside of having coverage in place, we do not like presenteeism. We value output and engagement and know that everyone has a life outside of work
• Comprehensive health care cover, including mental health, dental and optical cover, with zero excess for the employee (and tax is paid by us!)
• Life Assurance (4x basic salary)
• Physical health allowance where we provide an allowance to each employee to use towards a physical activity of their choice (e.g., gym membership, Brazilian ju-jitsu, personal trainer, running club; pretty much anything as long as it gets you moving!)
• 39 days holiday, to be taken whenever you want subject to ensuring we have operational and trading coverage. We do not mandate you work public holidays nor do we mandate you must take them off, instead we recognise that UK bank holidays do not always align to important dates for everyone so give our employees the choice
• Up to £1K a year to support one personal amazing growth goal. Our only guidelines are that it cannot be incongruent to our purpose or values, and it must push you out of your comfort zone
• Pension contribution
• A book a month for personal development
• A personalised gift on your birthday
• Support to pursue professional certifications/qualifications

Other examples of situational/ad-hoc schemes we have run for our employees:

• Surprise and delight – we sent our people gifts from us during mandatory WFH periods, just to show we are thinking about them
• Social events & celebratory gifts for achieving team goals
• Fridge full of snacks and drinks (healthy and less-healthy options are available!)
• Boba Day – an optional annual away day for socialising and training together
• ‘Bobaversary’ recognition for reaching significant milestones in your career with us

If you have any questions about the process along the way, just ask us at [email protected]

Good luck and we look forward to meeting you!