Description
Job description / Role
Job Type
Full Time
Job Location
Dubai, UAE
Nationality
Any Nationality
Salary
Not Specified
Gender
Not Specified
Arabic Fluency
Not Specified
Job Function
HR, Recruitment & Training
Company Industry
Oil & Gas / Energy
About the Company
We are an emerging leader in the trade of base oils and petrochemical products, distributing them to markets in Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas. We specialize in physical trading and distribution of refined base oil and petrochemicals, providing tailored business solutions to our customers. Our expertise includes sourcing, processing, trading activities, financing services, and optimizing logistics operations and storage facilities.
Job Summary
We are looking for a highly specialized HR and Corporate Manager to build our trading desks in Dubai essentially from scratch. This is not a support role sitting behind an established organization — it is a hands-on, individual-contributor mandate for someone who can independently source, assess, and close senior physical trading talent in the oil & gas and petrochemical space, then stand up the corporate and contractual framework around them. You will operate without a team beneath you: recruitment, contracting, and HR administration will run through you directly until the desks you build are self-sufficient. This role is suited to an HR/talent professional who has genuinely operated inside a trading company, understands how a physical trading book, a desk, and a P&L actually work, and can speak credibly with traders, brokers, and industry counterparties as a peer rather than an outsider.
Key Responsibilities
• Building Trading Desks from Scratch
• Independently plan and build new trading and commercial desks (physical trading, brokerage-facing, and supporting commercial functions) within aggressive timelines, without relying on an internal recruitment team.
• Define desk structure, seniority mix, and reporting lines in partnership with senior management and Heads of Trading, based on trading strategy and target markets.
• Own the full lifecycle from headhunting through offer, contracting, and onboarding — accountable for time-to-hire and quality of hire on every desk built.
• Act as the first point of contact for new hires during the desk's early life, effectively functioning as their HR business partner until the desk matures.
Specialized Sourcing & Headhunting — Oil & Gas / Commodities
• Directly headhunt physical traders, cross-traders, brokers, and desk heads across middle distillates, base oils, petrochemicals, and related products, using direct market knowledge rather than generic sourcing channels.
• Maintain a live map of the oil & gas and commodities trading talent market: who is where, who is in-market, who is passively open, and who is unreachable — and keep this current.
• Assess candidates for genuine trading and commercial competence — book management, risk appetite, market fluency, counterparty relationships — not only for HR/cultural fit.
• Build and manage relationships with specialist commodities recruitment firms and brokers as a secondary channel, while keeping direct headhunting as the primary route for senior hires.
Contracts, Documentation & Rate Negotiation
• Draft and negotiate employment contracts, consultancy/cooperation agreements, and freelance arrangements tailored to trading roles, including PnL-linked and performance-based compensation structures.
• Lead rate and package negotiations directly with candidates, balancing market benchmarks, desk economics, and retention risk.
• Prepare and manage all supporting HR and corporate documentation: offer letters, employment terms, NDAs, non-compete/non-solicit clauses, and onboarding packs suited to a trading environment.
• Ensure contractual structures are aligned with UAE labour law and free zone requirements (e.g. DMCC, DIFC), coordinating with legal counsel where needed.
Corporate & Compliance Structure Management
• Oversee the corporate governance framework of the UAE entity and coordinate with group entities across other jurisdictions.
• Manage compliance with UAE labour law and free zone regulations, including visa, work permit, and Emiratisation requirements where applicable.
• Support internal compliance processes, including KYC/onboarding documentation and coordination with Risk and Legal on regulatory matters relevant to new hires and desks.
• Maintain corporate records and personnel documentation, and act as the primary point of contact for corporate administration matters tied to team build-out.
HR Procedures Management
• Develop and maintain HR policies, employee handbook, and standard operating procedures fit for a fast-scaling trading environment.
• Oversee payroll coordination, benefits administration, and WPS compliance for newly built desks.
• Handle employee relations matters and performance management as desks transition from build-out to steady state.
• Report directly to senior management on hiring progress, desk build-out status, and workforce metrics.
Requirements:
Must Have
• Demonstrated track record of building trading and commercial teams from zero to high-performing within a short timeframe — you have done this before, ideally more than once, and can speak to specific desks or teams you personally built.
• Deep, current knowledge of the oil & gas / petrochemical commodities trading industry, its roles, seniority structures, and compensation norms — this is non-negotiable; generalist HR/recruitment backgrounds without direct sector exposure will not be considered.
• An active, personal network of oil & gas and commodities trading candidates across trader, broker, operations, and structuring functions, with the ability to map who is available on the market and who is realistically reachable.
• Proven ability to work solo, without recruitment or HR support staff, and to own the entire hiring and contracting cycle end-to-end.
Qualifications
• Minimum of 8 years of professional experience within a trading company; oil & gas or commodities trading background is mandatory, not preferred.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in a managerial or senior individual-contributor role, with direct, hands-on ownership of hiring outcomes (not oversight of a recruitment team).
• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Law, or a related field.
• Proven, referenceable examples of building a trading or commercial team from zero to fully operational and high-performing within a short timeframe.
• Strong, current knowledge of the UAE and Dubai local labour market, employment law, and free zone regulatory frameworks.
• Open-minded, resilient, and pragmatic, with the ability to operate independently and under pressure in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial trading environment.
Skills
• Expert-level knowledge of the oil & gas / petrochemical commodities trading industry, its products, desks, and talent landscape.
• Direct headhunting and market-mapping skills specific to trading, brokerage, and commercial functions — not generalist corporate recruitment.
• Strong contract drafting and negotiation skills: employment contracts, cooperation/consultancy agreements, and rate negotiation.
• Solid understanding of UAE labour law, DMCC/free zone compliance, visa and work permit processes.
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills with traders, brokers, and senior executives, credible as an industry peer.
• High level of autonomy — comfortable owning results without a support team.
• Fluent in English; Arabic or other languages are an advantage.
• High level of discretion and integrity when handling confidential corporate, contractual, and personnel matters.
Perks
• A rare mandate to build trading desks from the ground up and directly shape the company's commercial capability in the UAE.
• Full autonomy and direct visibility with senior leadership, with influence over which desks get built and who leads them.
• Exposure to a dynamic, global trading business with significant growth potential.
• Performance-driven compensation structure reflecting the impact of the role.
• Fast career growth within an expanding, entrepreneurial organization.
About the Company
Greenex Energy is an emerging leader in base oils and petrochemical products trade, distributing them to serve the markets in Africa, Europe, Asia and the Americas. The company stands for high-quality commodities. As an independent service company, we specialize in physical Base Oil and Petrochemicals Trading and Distribution worldwide and strive to always provide our customers with the best tailored business solutions. This includes our team’s profound expertise in refined base oil and petrochemicals, proven track record in sourcing, processing, trading activities, mastering of financing services, optimization of logistics operations and storage facilities.
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