Physical Gold trader

PALICAO; Dubai; On-site; AED 900,000 - 1,700,000; Full time

Job summary

PALICAO is seeking a senior Physical Gold Trader based in Dubai to lead the desk, originate doré and semi-refined gold, and manage the book with discipline across hedging and risk controls.

You will originate volume, price and hedge it, oversee assay and settlement, and build a team as volumes scale. Fluency in English is required; experience in DMCC, Deira gold souk, or refinery setting is essential.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of core experience in physical precious metals, with recent hands-on gold trading in Dubai (DMCC, Deira gold souk or refinery).
• Proven track record originating doré and semi-refined material from Africa with a transferable network.
• Proven ownership of a hedged physical book with clear instruments, hedge ratios, limits and post-drawdown changes.
• Experience with loco Dubai settlement, unfixed pricing mechanics, EFPs and refinery terms.
• Experience following LBMA Responsible Gold Guidance, OECD DDG and DMCC due diligence rules.
• Degree in finance, economics, engineering, metallurgy or related field; or equivalent trading-floor track record.
• Fluent English; French/Arabic/Mandarin advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Originate and execute purchases of doré and semi-refined gold from African producers, aggregators and exporters; negotiate terms.
• Price spot and forward business in XAU/USD, managing loco Dubai and loco London differentials.
• Build and maintain the sell-side relationships with UAE and Asian refineries and bullion banks.
• Own the desk's P&L, budget and volume targets; produce daily and monthly commentary on margins.
• Hedge all priced and pending exposure using appropriate instruments and maintain hedge discipline.
• Quantify and manage unpriced-metal risk across the pipeline (in transit, in refinery).
• Lead desk build-out: headcount, systems, reporting, and risk framework.

Skills

Gold trading

Risk management

Origination

Hedging

Loco Dubai

LBMA/OECD/DMCC rules

Network/building

Education

Finance/Economics/Engineering/Metallurgy degree

Job description

We are hiring for one of our clients, a trading company, a Physical Gold Trader to own the African doré and semi-refined gold flow into UAE and Asian refineries and offtakers.

This is a P&L-carrying seat from day one: you will originate volume, price and hedge it, manage the metal through assay and settlement, and defend the book's exposure with discipline. The mandate is deliberately broader than a single trading seat — the successful candidate will build out and then lead the gold desk autonomously, hiring and mentoring traders, ops and analysts as volumes scale.

We are looking for someone who has already run risk on physical gold in Dubai and can tell us, precisely, how they made money and where they lost it.

2. Key responsibilities

• Trading and origination
• Originate and execute purchases of doré and semi-refined gold from African producers, aggregators and licensed exporters; negotiate payable terms, refining charges, deductions and financing structures.
• Price spot and forward business in XAU/USD, quoting on both a fixed and unfixed basis, and managing loco Dubai and loco London differentials across the flow.
• Build and maintain the sell-side: UAE and Asian refineries, offtakers and bullion banks, including consignment, outright and tolling arrangements.
• Own the desk's P&L, budget and volume targets; produce clear daily and monthly commentary on realised versus expected margin.
• Hedge all priced and pending exposure using COMEX futures, EFPs, OTC forwards and LBMA-cleared instruments; always maintain the agreed hedge ratio and document any deviation.
• Manage basis, premium/discount and location spreads as a distinct source of return rather than an afterthought.
• Enforce mark-to-market discipline daily, reconcile against risk and finance, and operate strictly within assigned position, credit, counterparty and country limits.
• Quantify and manage unpriced-metal risk across the pipeline: in-transit, in-refinery and awaiting final assay.

2.3 Compliance and responsible sourcing

• Apply OECD Due Diligence Guidance, LBMA Responsible Gold Guidance and DMCC Rules for Risk Based Due Diligence to every counterparty and every parcel, without exception.
• Lead KYC/AML onboarding and periodic review in partnership with Compliance; escalat red flags rather than trade around them.
• Verify export permits, country-of-origin documentation and chain-of-custody records before commitment of funds.

2.4 Logistics and counterparty management

• Oversee weighing, sampling, assay and purity verification; negotiate assay tolerance and umpire provisions and resolve assay disputes with refiners.
• Coordinate secure transport, vault storage, insurance cover and customs and free-zone import formalities with ops and freight partners.
• Manage counterparty relationships end to end — pricing, documentation, payment terms and dispute resolution — as the desk's senior commercial face.

2.5 Leadership as the desk grows

• Design the desk build-out: headcount plan, systems and reporting, ops and middle-office workflow, and the risk framework you will be held to.
• Recruit, train and manage traders and support staff; set the standard for risk conduct and sourcing integrity by example.

3. Required experience and qualifications

• Minimum 10 years core experience in physical precious metals, with a substantial and recent portion in hands‑on physical gold trading in Dubai — DMCC, Deira gold souk or refinery-side.
• Demonstrable track record originating doré and semi‑refined material from African production, with an existing, transferable network of producers, exporters and aggregators.
• Proven ownership of a hedged physical book: you can walk us through your instruments, hedge ratios, limits and worst drawdown, and what you changed afterwards.
• Working command of loco Dubai settlement, unfixed pricing mechanics, EFPs and refinery commercial terms.
• Direct experience operating under LBMA Responsible Gold Guidance, OECD DDG and DMCC due diligence rules.
• Degree in finance, economics, engineering, metallurgy or a related field, or equivalent trading‑floor track record.
• Fluent English; French, Arabic or Mandarin is a material advantage given the corridors.
• Eligible to be based in Dubai full-time; comfortable with travel to African origin markets.

4. Preferred / nice-to-have

• Trading experience in PGMs (platinum, palladium, rhodium) and/or base metals — copper, cobalt, concentrates.
• Exposure to structured and prepayment financing, offtake agreements and streaming or prepay structures.
• Prior experience starting up a new desk or trading entity, including systems selection and ops design.
• Relationships with trade finance banks and credit insurers active in the precious metals’ corridor.
• Working knowledge of refinery economics on the production side, not just the buy side.

5. Core competencies and behaviors

• Risk discipline is nonnegotiable. We are not interested in traders who run unhedged length and call it conviction. Limits are limits.
• Clean sourcing is nonnegotiable. A parcel that cannot be documented is a parcel that my client does not buy, regardless of margin.
• Commercial judgement under pressure — pricing decisions on live parcels with incomplete information.
• Transparency with management: early—bad news, positions marked honestly, no surprises in the month-end.
• Ownership mentality. This seat is designed for someone who wants to build something and be measured on it.
• Ability to lead without institutional scaffoldi