Director, Distribution

About Olea

Olea is a digital infrastructure platform that connects global liquidity with trade and supply chain opportunities, fueling growth and unlocking potential worldwide. Olea has diverse liquidity pools with varying appetite and focuses. Olea’s vision is to connect capital to opportunity. It has a strong conviction in the role of trade to support sustainable economic development across countries, particularly emerging markets, particularly Asia where many smaller suppliers are based.

Olea supports suppliers and buyers in over 70 corridors.

Role Summary

We are looking for an experienced individual to join Olea’s Commercial – Distribution team at Director level. The role will take ownership of institutional funder relationships and lead the end-to-end execution of trade finance transactions, while supporting the continued growth and diversification of Olea’s funding network.

The role works across Open Account Trade Finance, with particular focus on Receivables Finance, Payables Finance and Supply Chain Finance. The successful candidate will combine strong technical trade finance expertise with commercial judgement, relationship management, negotiation and transaction execution capabilities.

Candidates with 6–8 years of relevant experience across distribution, transaction banking, trade finance, structured finance or deal origination will be considered.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop funder relationships
• Own and develop relationships with existing and prospective institutional funders.
• Identify opportunities to broaden and diversify Olea’s funding network.
• Lead discussions with funders on financing opportunities, structures, risk considerations and commercial terms.
• Drive the establishment, negotiation and closing of financing facilities that provide committed liquidity to the Olea platform.
• Prepare and review high-quality materials for senior-level funder discussions.
• Represent funder requirements and feedback effectively across internal stakeholders.
• Lead end-to-end transaction execution
• Lead transactions from initial assessment through due diligence, transactional risk assessment, commercial negotiation, legal documentation, onboarding and operational setup.
• Manage funder due diligence processes, questionnaires, credit/investment materials and approval requirements.
• Work closely with Commercial – Origination, Structuring & Solutioning, Legal, Risk and operational teams to resolve issues and drive transactions through to completion.
• Identify transaction risks, dependencies and execution challenges and ensure they are addressed appropriately.
• Support the structuring of commercially viable financing solutions that meet funder and transaction requirements.
• Manage funders post-transaction
• Act as a senior point of contact for funders following transaction execution.
• Manage ongoing portfolio discussions, facility amendments, performance updates and issue resolution.
• Maintain strong engagement with funders to support long-term relationships and identify additional financing opportunities.
• Support business and platform growth
• Contribute to the development and execution of Olea’s distribution strategy.
• Provide market insights on funder appetite, liquidity, pricing and emerging trade finance trends.
• Support improvements to distribution processes, transaction execution and funder engagement.
• Collaborate across Commercial teams to support new opportunities and expansion of the platform.
• Role-Specific Technical Competencies
• Strong technical knowledge of Open Account Trade Finance, particularly Receivables Finance, Payables Finance and Supply Chain Finance.
• Strong understanding of transactional and credit risk assessment.
• Good understanding of treasury, liquidity and operational risk flows.
• Proven experience managing relationships with banks, financial institutions or institutional funders.
• Strong commercial negotiation and transaction execution capabilities.
• Ability to independently manage complex transactions involving multiple stakeholders.
• Advanced Excel skills and strong analytical capabilities.
• Knowledge of AI applications, including Claude Cowork, is a definite plus.
• Strong client-facing communication, stakeholder management and presentation skills.
• Concise and effective written and verbal communication.
• Ability to influence and coordinate multiple internal teams without losing execution momentum.
• Comfortable operating independently in a fast-paced and evolving environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in Business, Finance, Economics or an equivalent discipline.
• 6–8 years of relevant experience in trade finance, transaction banking, distribution, structured finance, deal origination or a related financing role.
• Experience within a bank, financial institution, trade finance platform or other relevant financing environment is preferred.
• Demonstrated experience managing institutional relationships and executing financing transactions.
• Experience working across multiple functions including Commercial, Risk, Legal and Operations would be advantageous.
• Note

Olea is committed to diversity and inclusion. By providing equal opportunities, we foster a work environment that embraces diversity and brings together a broad spectrum of people, experiences and perspectives. We aim to build an inclusive culture where every employee feels a sense of belonging and has the opportunity to maximize their potential.