Associate Editor, Oil Markets

We are seeking an Associate Editor, Oil Markets on a contract basis to support our Customer’s ongoing business needs. This role is a market reporter and analyst who takes responsibility for day-to-day reporting on oil markets in the Americas. The candidate in this role This role will make outbound calls (all day/every day) to people in the industry and talk with them about what’s happening in the industry. Our client, in turn, will make oil pricing assessments based on the info gathered from these conversations. This role is a hybrid setup with 3 days remote and 2 days onsite in Houston, TX.

What You’ll Do

Assess markets
Assess the value of oil markets, accurately and fully in line with the rigorous and well-known methodology
Survey market participants throughout the day
Publish price updates throughout the day, especially all information that might be used in assessing value
Run an intensive one-hour or so window period from the end of the assessment day
Demonstrate a thorough understanding of the company methodology
Be rigorous when using mathematics and Excel spreadsheets
Demonstrate ability to do a full set of assessments without the aid of a spreadsheet
Ensure that the methodology for the market is up to date
Write high-quality market commentaries
Write commentaries associated with his or her assessments; the commentaries are intended to help the readers better understand what is happening in the market and to better understand how the company has arrived at the assessments
File commentaries as news stories before midday if markets are volatile or unusually interesting
Avoid repetitive and formulaic commentaries, where the same structures and phrases are used every day
Closely monitor relevant inter-product and inter-region spreads
Ensure commentaries meet the editorial standards for writing and reporting
Report news about the markets
Report news and analysis relating to his or her market; the news should help the readers understand issues in the marketplace, whether they are traders, analysts, government regulators, working in the supply chain, or in another walk of life
Relevant stories include news about supply and demand developments, government data, new developments in regulations, trader movement news, general analysis of price trends, and other relevant topics
Provide a good blend of standard news reporting—the news that needs to be done—with creative "enterprise" reporting that generates original reporting for the company
File a reasonable quantity of stories relevant to their markets – and the company prizes the quality and originality of news reports over sheer quantity alone
Regularly file stories before lunchtime
Work closely with the news desk, the Managing Editor, and others to identify and write good news stories about issues the markets
Demonstrate a strong sense of what news the readers want to see, and be a vocal contributor to regular news meetings with the team
Engage with the industry
Engage with market sources around the region, including those who are not regularly in the Market-on-Close assessment process; excellent engagement helps ensure that the company is close to market developments, methodology development is strong, story writing is creative, and that channels of communication are established and open with market sources
Find and nurture new market sources
Maintain a good relationship with existing sources
Ensure source lists are up to date and stored on the network in line with the Editorial Standard for source maintenance
Send summaries of meetings to the manager and immediate colleagues
Avoid an over-reliance on Instant Messaging, try to talk to each source at least once a week, and meet with different sources for lunch about once a week
Handle complaints in line with Editorial Standards for complaints management

Must Haves:

Experience of relevant reporting or analytical experience (new graduates will be considered with appropriate skills training)
Strong mathematical skills
Strong writing skills
Ability to perform well with tight deadlines
Comfortability/willingness to make outbound calls