Head of Middle Office
LyondellBasell · Houston
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- Head of Middle Office
- Location:
Houston, TX, US, 77056
- Req ID: 88531
- Facility: Williams Tower -130
- Department: GF&E Strategy and Planning
- Division: Olefins and Polyolefins, and Trading
LyondellBasell is a leader in the global chemical industry creating solutions for everyday sustainable living. With a nearly 70-year legacy that includes a Nobel Prize in Chemistry and our proprietary MoReTec recycling technology, LYB is enabling a more sustainable future for generations to come. LYB develops high-quality and innovative products for applications ranging from sustainable transportation and food safety to clean water and quality healthcare. LYB places high priority on diversity, equity and inclusion and is Advancing Good with an emphasis on our planet, the communities where we operate and our future workforce. We're addressing the global challenges of ending plastic waste, taking climate action, and supporting a thriving society, while generating value for our customers, investors, and society.
Basic Function
The Head of Middle Office will lead daily close, exposure, risk, P&L, and inventory reporting for an asset-backed commodity trading organization. Near term, the role will focus on CTRM implementation and moving the team from weekly to reliable daily reporting in a spreadsheet-heavy environment. Longer term, the successful candidate will drive AI-enabled analytics and automation to improve insight, controls, and efficiency.
The ideal candidate will have demonstrated capability with asset-backed CTRM, physical and financial commodity trading, inventory valuation reconciliation, team leadership and career development of their staff, and a disciplined control mindset. They must be able to reconcile trading performance to existing management information and operate as a hands-on player/coach as the organization grows.
Roles & Responsibilities
Key Responsibilities
- Lead the Middle Office function responsible for trade capture validation, daily exposure, risk, performance, and working capital reporting, inventory controls, risk analytics, and exception management across asset-backed physical and financial commodity trading activity.
- Own valuation governance, including deal-entry standards in CTRM and independent curve validation to ensure valuation is fair, consistent, and controlled.
- Partner with Commercial Trading, Scheduling, and Transaction Services teams to evaluate transaction implications and support asset-network optimization through transparent reporting on flows, balances, logistics, constraints, and margin drivers.
- Maintain and enhance control frameworks across the trade lifecycle, including inventory, valuation, hedge, limit, reconciliation, and escalation controls.
- Drive the short-term CTRM implementation agenda, including finalization of requirements, process design, and user testing.
- Lead the transition from weekly to disciplined daily reporting, strengthening spreadsheet controls, ownership, reconciliations, and exception management until scalable system capabilities are delivered.
- Define and execute a longer-term roadmap for AI-enabled analytics and automation that reduce manual effort and improve insight, controls, and efficiency.
- Lead investigations and analytical bridges that reconcile P&L variances, inventory movements, standard-cost valuation, accounting results, and existing management information, ensuring root causes are addressed and stakeholders understand key timing, valuation, and cost-allocation impacts.
- Develop, mentor, and manage a high-performing Middle Office team as a hands-on player/coach, establishing clear priorities, accountability, training, and practical problem-solving routines.
- Role Qualifications
Required Experience and Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Mathematics, Engineering, Supply Chain, Business, or a related field; advanced degree or professional certification is preferred.
- Significant experience in a commodity trading middle office, risk control, product control, commercial operations, supply chain finance, trading operations, or related control function within an asset-backed trading or industrial manufacturing environment.
- Strong knowledge of physical commodity trade lifecycle processes, commodity market data, valuation principles, P&L attribution, exposure reporting, inventory accounting, standard cost inventory valuation, logistics economics, and risk metrics.
- Hands-on CTRM implementation experience, including requirements definition, process design, testing, data migration support, reporting outputs, controls, user adoption, and post-go-live stabilization.
- Demonstrated ability to reconcile trading performance, daily P&L, inventory movements, and asset economics to existing management information where standard-cost inventory valuation can obscure commercial margin, timing differences, and market-driven performance.
- Experience supporting chemicals, petrochemicals, refined products, NGLs, natural gas, crude oil, feedstocks, intermediates, polymers, or related asset-backed commodity markets.
- Practical understanding of manufacturing economics, plant constraints, production planning, storage, transportation, contract optionality, and asset optimization.
- Demonstrated ability to lead teams, manage priorities, influence commercial and functional stakeholders, and operate effectively under tight daily reporting deadlines.
- Proficiency with reporting, data analysis, spreadsheet modeling, and process automation tools; Power BI, SQL, Python, or AI-enabled analytics capability is strongly preferred.
- Strong understanding of internal controls, segregation of duties, audit expectations, hedge governance, inventory controls, operational risk management, independent challenge, and clear escalation standards.
Leadership and Be