Manager — Agriculture & Agro-Commodities Trading

Hiring for: Soul and Quantam 18 Pvt. Ltd.

Role: Manager — Agriculture & Agro-Commodities Trading

Salary: Up to INR 30 LPA (Fixed) + Performance Bonus

Role Overview:

The Manager — Agriculture & Agro-Commodities Trading is responsible for end-to-end management of SQ18's agro-commodities vertical, including sourcing agricultural produce and processed commodities from farmers, aggregators and mandis, executing domestic and export trading transactions, managing warehousing and quality control, and providing market intelligence to support profitable trading decisions.

This role demands hands-on experience of APMC/mandi operations, deep understanding of commodity price cycles, basis risk, and hedge mechanisms, and the ability to build and maintain strong relationships with farmers, commission agents, warehouse operators, transporters, and buyers. The Manager will work closely with the Group CFO on trade finance structuring, margin optimization, and working capital management for the vertical.

Key Responsibilities

Commodity Sourcing & Procurement

• Identify and establish sourcing relationships with farmers, farmer producer organizations (FPOs), commission agents (arhtiyas), and aggregators across key agro-producing regions
• Execute procurement transactions at APMC mandis and regulated markets, ensuring compliance with mandi regulations, payment norms, and documentation requirements (cash memos, transport receipts, quality certificates).
• Negotiate procurement prices based on prevailing market rates, quality parameters (moisture content, impurities, grain size, oil content for oilseeds), and volume discounts.
• Manage procurement budgets and cash-flow cycles for seasonal buying (harvest season, lean season), coordinating with Group Finance for working-capital deployment and advance payments to suppliers.

Trading Execution & Market Operations

• Execute spot and forward sales to domestic buyers (processors, millers, industrial consumers), export buyers, and government agencies (FCI, SDF, NAFED) based on price arbitrage opportunities.
• Monitor and analyze commodity futures prices on NCDEX, MCX and international exchanges (CBOT, ICE) to identify trading opportunities and manage basis risk.
• Structure and execute export transactions including FSSAI/APEDA certification, phytosanitary certificates, fumigation, containerization, and coordination with freight forwarders and CHAs.
• Manage trade documentation including sale contracts, delivery orders, inspection certificates, warehouse receipts (WR/NWR), and invoice/LR reconciliation.

Warehousing, Logistics & Inventory Management

• Oversee operations at owned/leased/third-party warehouses including receipt, storage, fumigation, stack management, and dispatch of commodities.
• Ensure compliance with Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA) norms, maintain accurate stock records, and generate negotiable warehouse receipts (NWR) or electronic negotiable warehouse receipts (eNWR) for inventory financing.
• Manage quality control and grading operations — moisture testing, impurity analysis, aflatoxin testing for oilseeds/pulses, and coordination with external inspection agencies (SGS, Intertek, Bureau Veritas) for export consignments.
• Optimize logistics and transportation — negotiate freight rates with transporters, manage multi-modal transport (road/rail/coastal), track in-transit inventory and resolve transit losses/damages.
• Implement inventory reconciliation and shrinkage control measures — physical stock verification, stack fumigation and pest control, moisture ingress monitoring, and insurance claims for damage/shortage.

Market Intelligence, Price Risk & Hedging

• Track daily commodity price movements across mandis, spot markets, futures exchanges, and international benchmarks; prepare market intelligence reports for senior management
• Monitor supply-demand fundamentals — crop sowing/harvesting data, monsoon forecasts, government MSP announcements, import/export policies, and buffer stock releases.
• Evaluate and implement price-risk hedging strategies using NCDEX/MCX futures contracts, options, and basis trading to protect gross margins on inventory and forward commitments.
• Work with Group Finance to structure warehouse receipt financing (WRF), pledge financing, and inventory-backed working capital limits from banks and NBFCs.

Regulatory Compliance & Statutory Obligations

• Ensure compliance with APMC regulations, commission agent norms, and market fee/cess payments across all procurement locations.
• Coordinate with Group Finance on GST compliance for agro-commodity transactions (exempt vs. taxable, TCS under Section 206C where applicable, e-way bill generation).
• Maintain FSSAI licensing for food-grade commodities, APEDA registration for export activities, and ensure product traceability and food safety compliance.
• Ensure warehousing licenses are current, fire safety NOCs are valid, and pest control/fumigation is documented per Warehousing (Development and Regulation) Act, 2007.

Team Leadership & Vendor Management

• Lead, train and supervise the agro-commodities team including procurement executives, warehouse supervisors, logistics coordinators, and quality inspectors.
• Develop and maintain relationships with commission agents, farmer cooperatives, warehouse operators, transporters, fumigation service providers, and inspection agencies.
• Negotiate vendor contracts, service-level agreements (SLAs), and annual rate contracts (ARCs) for warehousing, transportation, and allied services.

Preferred Skills & Certifications

• NCDEX/MCX trading certification or completion of commodity markets training programs
• Familiarity with agri-tech platforms, eNAM (National Agriculture Market), mandi price apps, and commodity trading ERP systems
• Proficiency in regional languages (Hindi, Marathi, Telugu, Kannada, Punjabi, or Gujarati) for mandi and farmer interactions
• Understanding of export documentation (APEDA, phyto-sanitary, BL/AWB, inspection certificates) and FSSAI/BIS quality norms

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Gross Trading Margin: Achieve targeted gross margin percentage on commodity trades (procurement cost + logistics vs. sale realization)
• Procurement Volume & Cost: Meet annual procurement targets (metric tons/quintals) within budgeted procurement cost benchmarks
• Inventory Turnover: Maintain optimal inventory turnover ratio (6–10x annually depending on commodity and season), minimizing dead stock and carrying costs
• Quality Rejection Rate: Keep quality rejections/claims from buyers below agreed threshold (<2% of volumes)
• Working Capital Efficiency: Days inventory outstanding (DIO) and days payables outstanding (DPO) managed within Group Finance targets
• Warehouse Shrinkage: Physical vs. book stock variance kept below 0.5% through proper fumigation, moisture control, and stack management
• Compliance & Documentation: 100% compliance with APMC, FSSAI, WDRA, and GST norms; zero statutory penalties or notice defaults