Senior Manager Risk/Manager Risk (Japanese Power)

Senior Manager Risk/Manager Risk (Japanese Power)

The JERA Global Markets Group is a leading utility-backed energy trader. It operates one of the most exciting portfolios in the world and has a global talent pool of about 400 people across offices located in five strategic locations: Singapore, the UK (London), Japan (Tokyo), the US (Houston) and Australia (Brisbane).

Job Description
Position Description

We are seeking an experienced Senior Manager to join the Risk function of a leading commodity trading organization focused on power, gas and environmental products. The role is responsible for overseeing market risk management activities across a complex and dynamic trading portfolio with significant exposure to asset-backed trading strategies, including thermal power generation assets, tolling arrangements, and structured optimization activities.

The successful candidate will play a key leadership role in ensuring robust risk governance, exposure measurement, and strategic challenge to front-office trading activities. The position requires deep expertise in energy markets, quantitative risk methodologies, portfolio optimization concepts, and the interaction between physical generation assets and financial hedging strategies.

This role operates at the intersection of commercial strategy, quantitative analytics, and enterprise risk management, partnering closely with Trading, Structuring, Origination, Quantitative Analytics, Product Control, Finance, and Operations teams.

 

Key Responsibilities
Market Risk Oversight

• Lead daily market risk oversight across power, gas, and emissions portfolios.
• Independently assess and monitor exposures arising from physical and financial trading activities, including asset-backed optimization strategies.
• Oversee risk metrics including Value-at-Risk (VaR), stress testing, scenario analysis, position limits, drawdown monitoring, and liquidity risk indicators.
• Review and challenge trading strategies, hedging activities, and complex structured transactions.
• Evaluate optionality and embedded risks associated with generation assets, storage facilities, renewable portfolios, and tolling structures.
• Monitor portfolio exposures to fuel spreads, spark spreads, locational basis risk, congestion, renewable intermittency, and weather-driven volatility.

Asset-Backed Trading Risk Management

• Develop and enhance risk frameworks for portfolios linked to thermal generation, batteries, renewable assets, and flexibility products.
• Assess operational constraints and commercial optimization strategies related to generation dispatch and plant economics.
• Partner with asset optimization and trading teams to ensure risk-adjusted decision-making.
• Analyze interactions between physical asset operations and derivative hedging programs.

Risk Governance & Controls

• Ensure adherence to approved risk limits, mandates, and governance frameworks.
• Escalate material risk issues, emerging market dislocations, and breaches in a timely and transparent manner.
• Support risk committee governance, including preparation of management reporting and board-level materials.
• Contribute to the ongoing enhancement of risk policies, valuation controls, and limit frameworks.

Analytics & Reporting

• Lead development of advanced risk analytics and portfolio reporting capabilities.
• Interpret and communicate complex risk exposures to senior management and non-technical stakeholders.
• Conduct deep-dive analysis into stress events, P&L attribution, and portfolio performance drivers.
• Support model validation and enhancement initiatives for energy risk measurement and asset valuation methodologies.

Leadership & Stakeholder Management

• Manage and mentor a team of risk professionals.
• Foster a strong risk culture emphasizing independent challenge, transparency, and commercial understanding.
• Build effective relationships across Front Office, Quantitative Analytics, Finance, Operations, Compliance, and IT functions.
• Act as a trusted advisor to senior trading and executive leadership teams.

Qualifications
Required Experience and Qualifications

Experience

• 7+ years of experience in commodity market risk, trading risk management or quantitative risk roles within energy trading, utilities, or commodity merchant organizations.
• Strong experience in power and gas trading environments with exposure to asset-backed trading and generation optimization.
• Deep understanding of wholesale electricity markets, gas markets, ancillary services, and renewable energy products.
• Experience managing risk associated with thermal generation assets, renewable portfolios, battery storage, or structured energy transactions.
• Demonstrated leadership experience managing teams and engaging with senior stakeholders.

Technical Skills

• Strong understanding of:
• VaR methodologies
• Stress testing and scenario analysis
• Energy derivatives and structured products
• Forward curve dynamics
• Asset valuation and dispatch economics
• Greeks and optionality in energy markets

• Familiarity with quantitative modeling and optimization concepts.
• Advanced analytical and data interpretation skills.
• Experience with ETRM systems and risk platforms such as Endur, Allegro, Murex, or similar.
• Strong Excel, SQL, Python, or data analytics capabilities preferred.

Language Skills

• Business-level proficiency in English and Japanese (written and spoken).

Education

• Bachelor's degree in finance, Economics, Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, or related quantitative discipline.
• Advanced degree (MBA, MSc, PhD) and/or professional certifications (FRM, CFA) preferred.

Other Information
Personal Attributes

• Strong commercial acumen with the ability to balance risk control and business enablement.
• Highly analytical with strong attention to detail.
• Effective communicator capable of influencing senior stakeholders.
• Calm and decisive under fast-moving market conditions.
• Collaborative leadership style with strong mentoring capabilities.
• High integrity and commitment to independent risk oversight.

Preferred Industry Background
Candidates from the following environments are particularly encouraged to apply:

• Integrated energy trading companies
• Utilities with proprietary trading operations
• LNG and gas trading firms
• Commodity merchant firms
• Renewable energy trading and optimization businesses
• Investment banks with energy trading exposure