HEAD OF CRUDE OIL MARKETING AND TRADING
The Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) Limited was established under the Petroleum (Exploration, Development and Production) Act and the Petroleum (Refining, Conversion, Transmission and Midstream storage) Act, both of 2013 and incorporated under the Companies’ Act, 2012. It is a limited liability company wholly owned by the Government of Uganda. The overall mandate of UNOCis to handle the State’s commercial interests in the Oil and Gas industry and ensure that the resource is exploited in a sustainable manner.
The Crude Oil Marketing and Trading Business Unit was established to market Uganda’s crude oil entitlements and other available volumes, coordinate trading operations that include cargo scheduling, nominations, and strategic partnerships, and optimizing crude oil sales to maximize national revenue and improve PSA market pricing. First Oil production and lifting of the first cargo are both expected by July 2026.
In preparation, UNOC seeks to strengthen its capacity to manage the sale of the Government of Uganda’s crude oil entitlements-covering royalties, profit oil, and other allocations under the Production Sharing Agreements (PSAs) as well as any additional crude oil acquired through international market transactions.
| DEPARTMENT : | COMMERCIAL |
| JOB TITLE: | HEAD OF CRUDE OIL MARKETING AND TRADING (1) |
| REPORTS TO: | CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER |
| JOB PURPOSE: | TO PROVIDE STRATEGIC AND OPERATIONAL LEADERSHIP OF UNOC’S CRUDE OIL MARKETING, SALES, PRICE RISK MANAGEMENT AND TRADING FUNCTIONS. THIS INCLUDES THE OPTIMAL PLACEMENT OF UGANDA’S CRUDE OIL ENTITLEMENTS, DEVELOPMENT OF COMMERCIAL MARKETS, EXECUTION OF RISK-MANAGED TRADING ACTIVITIES, AND OVERSIGHT OF LIFTING OPERATIONS TO ENSURE VALUE MAXIMIZATION FROM CRUDE SALES, ALIGNMENT WITH NATIONAL AND CORPORATE POLICIES, AND ROBUST EXECUTION OF COMMERCIAL AND OPERATIONAL |
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Oil Marketing & Business Development
Uganda job market
- Execute and develop global marketing and sales strategies and processes for Uganda’s crude oil entitlements, aligned with national production and refining capabilities.
- Make proposals for term sales or marketing arrangements where appropriate.
- Identify and grow customer relationships, especially across Asia, Europe, and Africa.
- Foster excellent and effective working relationships with customers, ensuring open communication, KYC compliance, and understanding of customer business drivers.
- Support bilateral and government-to-government trade initiatives.
- Lead the sales team in customer presentations and roadshows, acting as a key custodian of business relationships with counterparties.
Sales & Trading Strategy Execution
- Oversee term and spot crude oil sales, including pricing strategy, contract negotiation, and performance management.
- Manage trading activities as may be authorised to exploit arbitrage opportunities and optimize crude grades across geographies.
- Recommend and execute crude oil sales and trading transactions that address key risks such as payment, performance, compliance, and contract terms.
- Develop and implement pricing strategies, contract structures, and liaise with the Risk team on performance monitoring frameworks.
- Coordinate with Operations, Logistics, Finance, and Risk teams to ensure smooth and accurate cargo delivery.
- Contribute to the design, implementation and optimization of ETRM (Energy Trading & Risk Management) systems and digital trading decision support tools.
- Leverage market intelligence and decision support tools to inform trading strategies and operational decisions.
- Build and maintain effective business relationships with UNOC’s chosen providers of financial derivatives for use in price risk management.
- Ensure prudent use of financial instruments for hedging and price risk mitigation, in collaboration with Finance and Treasury.
Lifting Operations Oversight
- Oversee lifting operations, ensuring entitlements are communicated and executed per contract terms and lifting schedules.
- Ensure timely liaison with terminal operators, JV partners, and customers to coordinate liftings.
- Oversee the handling of post-lifting claims from third parties (e.g., demurrage, quantity, quality) and ensure timely resolution in collaboration with terminal operators.
Risk Management & Governance
- Design and implement financial risk management strategies using derivatives (futures, options, swaps) / ccordance with authorised hedging policies and initiative
- Ensure transactions comply with controls to manage credit, and counterparty risk.
- Ensure compliance with internal policies, international regulations (eg, sanctions, anti-bribery), and trade controls.
Market Intelligence, Research & Analysis
- Lead the development of proprietary insights on crude pricing, macroeconomic trends, and regulatory developments.
- Monitor competitor activity, refinery demand, shipping patterns, and carbon regulations.
- Write and publish (for internal and UNOC stakeholder access) research pieces describing analysis and forward views of the market.
Product Development & Innovation
- Act as the architect of new product development across the crude oil space.
- Collaborate with data science teams to extract meaningful insights and guide the development of user-friendly analytic tools.
Stakeholder & External Relations
- Liaise with internal upstream, midstream, and local refining entities to align production flows with marketing activities.
- Represent UNOC in government and international forums, industry conferences, and with global
- Foster effective working relationships with terminal offtake coordinators and IY partner liting
Leadership & Team Development
- Build and lead a high performing commercial team with expertise in trading analytics, contract management,
- Drive performance management, training, and succession planning, especially with regard to succession Ugandans into senior role
- Develop local talent and support national capacity-building priorities
- Promote a strong culture of compliance, ethics, and transparency.
QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE
- At least a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering, Economics, Finance, Energy, Petroleum Geosciences, or any other relevant degree obtained from a recognized University.
- Possession of a relevant Master’s Degree would be an advantage
- Relevant specialised training in Crude Oil Marketing or trading shall be an added advantage.
- Minimum of 15 years of experience in crude oil marketing and /or trading, with at least 5 years in a senior leadership role.
SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES
- In-depth knowledge of global crude oil markets, pricing benchmarks (Brent, WTI, Dubai), and trading instruments.
- Detailed working knowledge and experience of crude oil cargo markets, sale and purchase contracts, lifting agreements, marine tankers, and lifting operations
- Experience with ETRM systems, digital trading tools, and marine logistics.
- Understanding of the E&P business lifecycle, especially in development and production phases.
- Strong commercial acumen with sound negotiation skills and initiative and ability to make decisions quickly.
- Excellent communication skills, and a high level of discretion and personal integrity.
- Ability to work in a team and establish effective working relationships.
- Able to use MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint effectively to perform the role.
In view of the above, UNOC now invites applicants with suitable skills and competencies from across the world, to express interest for this position.
The company welcomes both expatriates and non-expatriates to express interest by submitting their Application letters,
Curriculum Vitae and Academic Documents to recruitment.unoc@unoc.com
not later than Friday 23rd January 2026 by 11:59pmEAT. Applicants are strongly advised to ATTACH documents not exceeding 20 mbs.
For more details visit https://www.unoc.co.ug/career-opportunities/
NOTE: UNOC is an equal opportunity employer and does not charge any monies at any stage of the recruitment process.
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
UGANDA NATIONAL OIL COMPANY.