DIRECTOR PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT – Strategic Reserve

Export Finance Australia (EFA) is the government’s export credit agency. For almost 70 years, EFA has helped Australian businesses grow and succeed internationally with finance to secure opportunities, expand into new markets and diversify their presence. We support critical minerals and defence sectors, finance projects that strengthen economic resilience and advance net zero, and back Australian investment in sustainable infrastructure. Working with banks, other Government agencies and international partners, we back Australia’s exporters, supply chain businesses and industries, contributing to a more stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific while advancing Australia’s trade, investment and economic security objectives.

Our mandates enable us to support domestic exporters and their supply chains, directly support Australian businesses expanding overseas, finance overseas infrastructure in the Indo-Pacific region and provide finance on behalf of the Australian Government on the National Interest Account (NIA). The NIA includes the $5.0 billion Critical Minerals Facility, the $3.8 billion Defence Export Facility, the $4.0 billion Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific and the Government’s $2.0 billion Southeast Asia Investment Financing Facility. We maintain flexibility in delivering our mandate with the ability to support projects and companies via debt and/or equity.

Due to recent growth supporting the Strategic Reserve work we are now seeking to add a Director, Portfolio Management to the team with a focus on supporting critical minerals and other strategic commodity transactions including the Strategic Reserve (SR)

The Portfolio Management team manages a complex, high risk portfolio of loans and guarantees supporting large corporate, project finance and sovereign counterparties. Within this context, the Director, Strategic Reserve is focused on the management of transactions under the Strategic Reserve (SR) and related government initiatives from financial close through to completion.

The role has a strong transactional and commercial orientation, requiring deep experience in commodity financing, structured trade finance and physical commodity markets. While the role is focused on critical minerals and other strategic commodities, relevant experience may be drawn from general commodity and structured financing transactions, provided the individual can apply that experience to critical minerals supply chains and policy driven transactions.

The role works closely with origination, policy and government stakeholders, as well as external market participants. 

Your new role

Location: Sydney
Role Type: Full-time, Permanent

About you

• Assume primary accountability for the management of SR and critical minerals transactions from financial close through to completion, repayment or exit, ensuring outcomes align with EFA’s commercial and policy objectives.
• Provide commercial, market and risk input to origination teams during transaction structuring and approval phases to support robust, executable deal structures.
• Manage and oversee a portfolio of executed commodity linked financing structures supporting critical minerals and other strategic commodities. May take on responsibility for managing other transactions in the broader portfolio subject to changing transaction volumes and business needs.
• Apply deep understanding of physical commodity markets to monitor price risk, liquidity, supply chain resilience, counterparty performance and market dynamics relevant to critical minerals and other strategic commodities.
• Safeguard EFA’s interests through proactive financial and non financial risk management across the life of each transaction, including covenant monitoring, collateral performance and operational risks.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with producers, processors, traders, end users, lenders, government agencies and other strategic stakeholders throughout the transaction lifecycle.
• Work closely with origination teams to ensure a seamless handover at financial close and continuity of knowledge, assumptions and risk mitigants.
• Deliver high quality analysis, monitoring and reporting on portfolio performance, exposures, market developments and emerging risks to senior management and government stakeholders.
• Manage amendments, waivers, restructures and other transaction variations, including escalation and intensive management of higher risk or stressed exposures.
• Coordinate with internal credit, legal, compliance, operations and government relations teams to ensure adherence to internal policies, delegations and governance requirements.
• Contribute to the development and continuous improvement of frameworks, processes and capability financing within Portfolio Management.
• Role model EFA’s cultural leadership behaviours to foster a collaborative, disciplined and outcomes focused work environment.

Experience, Skills & Qualifications

• 10+ years’ experience in commodity financing, structured trade finance, commodity trading or investment banking, with a strong focus on physical commodities.
• Demonstrated experience managing executed transactions post financial close, including lifecycle risk management, variations, restructures and completion outcomes.
• Experience providing structuring and commercial input alongside origination teams, particularly for offtake based and inventory linked financing structures.
• Experience across commodities supply chains (e.g. metals, minerals, energy or agriculture), with the ability to transfer this experience to critical minerals transactions. Direct critical minerals experience is desirable but not essential.
• Experience working with complex counterparties across multiple jurisdictions, including cross border transactions and sovereign or government linked stakeholders.
• Deep understanding of physical commodity markets, pricing mechanisms, hedging, logistics, inventory management and supply chain risks.
• Strong credit and financial analysis capability, including cash flow modelling, stress testing, and assessment of collateral, inventory and offtake arrangements.
• Ability to assess and manage market risks including commodity price volatility, liquidity risk and counterparty performance across the transaction lifecycle.
• High quality written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present complex commercial and risk issues clearly to senior stakeholders.
• Strong understanding of facility documentation, security structures and operational aspects of commodity and trade finance transactions.
• Well developed non financial risk awareness, including KYC, sanctions, ESG and financial crime risks relevant to commodity markets.
• Degree in Finance, Economics, Commerce, Accounting, Business, or a related discipline. Post graduate or professional qualifications in finance or commodities are desirable.

Even if you haven’t ticked every box but this role resonates with you, don't rule yourself out just yet, we'd love to hear from you!

Our benefits and culture

We are small enough to have an impact, BIG enough to make a world of difference and it starts with our people.

We support flexible working and pride ourselves in fostering a culture that is inclusive, diverse and collaborative. We are proud to be certified as a 2025 Great Place to Work for a fifth consecutive year, recognised on the 2023 AFR BOSS Best Places to Work list and listed as one of Australia’s Best Workplaces for Women in 2025. 

In line with our commitment to our people, we have a comprehensive array of benefits available to our employees:

• Generous leave provisions (e.g. Annual Wellbeing day) and leave purchase opportunities
• 18 weeks of paid parental leave for primary caregivers
• Thorough induction onboarding program
• Fitness Passport along with other Health & Wellbeing initiatives
• Gender affirmation leave
• Income Protection Insurance
• Community volunteering
• and many more!

Our headquarters is based in Sydney CBD, and we have a national presence across Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.

Eligibility

Australian Citizenship - To be eligible to apply for this position, applicants must hold Australian Citizenship at the time of application.

Security Clearance - To be eligible to apply for this position, applicants must be able to obtain and maintain a Baseline security clearance.

How to apply

Applications close: 22 April 2026.  

Interviews will occur in parallel, so please apply ASAP.
Enquiries: Careers@exportfinance.gov.au      
  
To apply, please email your CV to Careers@exportfinance.gov.au      

By choosing to apply, you agree to the recruitment privacy policy.

We invite and welcome applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people from diverse cultural backgrounds, people with disability and members of the LGBTQIA+ community. 

If you are a candidate with a disability, let us know how we can provide you with additional support.

About us

The reason our people join us, stay with us and grow with us is because they wholeheartedly believe in our purpose. They can see the impact we create for our customers.

We are a highly purpose-driven organisation. We seek to create an inclusive culture that values our customers and employees. Our people are expected to champion this and play a key role in achieving those outcomes. In working towards our strategy, our people display our IMPACT leadership behaviours of Frank & Fearless, Dexterous & Agile and Careful & Diligent

For more information about us, please refer to our website. 

Applications from recruitment agencies will not be considered on this occasion.