Editorial Team Lead - Agriculture

Company Description

Fastmarkets is an industry-leading price-reporting agency (PRA) and information provider for global commodities, providing price data, news, analytics and events for the agriculture, forest products, metals and mining and new-generation energy markets.

Fastmarkets' data is critical for customers seeking to understand and predict dynamic, sometimes opaque markets, enabling trading and risk management. Fastmarkets is a global business with a history dating back to 1865 and is built on trust and deep market knowledge. It has more than 700 employees spread across global locations in the UK, US, China, India, Singapore, Brazil, Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland and beyond. 

Job Description

The Role

This is a hands-on leadership role at the centre of Fastmarkets’ Black Sea grains and oilseeds coverage — one of the most closely watched and commercially significant commodity pricing regions in the world. You will lead a small, dedicated team of price reporters, own the quality and reliability of our benchmark assessments, and work closely with the Regional Managing Editor to shape where the coverage goes next.

The role sits at an exciting point in the development of Fastmarkets’ agriculture business. We are actively expanding our suite of Black Sea and European prices, growing our analytical offer, and deepening engagement with the trading houses, exporters, and end-users who rely on our benchmarks every day. This is a genuine opportunity to influence that agenda, not just execute it.

If you are an experienced grains and oilseeds professional who knows the Black Sea market inside out, has strong price reporting instincts, and is ready to take your first step into people management — or build on early management experience — we want to hear from you. Full support and coaching come with the role.

Pricing & editorial leadership

• Own the daily publication of Fastmarkets’ Black Sea grain and oilseed price assessments, including key benchmarks such as CPT and FOB Ukraine wheat and corn, Russian deep and shallow water wheat, sunflower oil, and barley
• Ensure all assessments are produced to IOSCO-compliant standards and in line with Fastmarkets’ published methodologies and price specifications
• Act as a senior pricing resource for the team — guiding pricing decisions, reviewing assessments, and setting the standard for rigorous, market-grounded methodology
• Drive the production of original, forward-looking market content that adds genuine analytical value for commodity market participants

Team management & development

• Lead day-to-day management of a team of price reporters, setting objectives and conducting appraisals alongside the Regional Managing Editor
• Mentor and coach team members to support their professional development, build market knowledge, and improve the quality and depth of their coverage
• Guide the onboarding of new joiners and ensure smooth coverage continuity during holidays or other absences
• Create and maintain a positive, high-performance team culture that reflects Fastmarkets’ values

Market engagement & growth

• Carry out regular market engagement via calls, meetings, conferences, and trade events to drive price adoption, build relationships, and expand our contact base
• Work with the Regional Managing Editor and strategy teams to identify opportunities for new price launches and the expansion of Black Sea and European grains and oilseeds coverage
• Present at industry events, conferences, and webinars as a representative of Fastmarkets’ agriculture editorial team
• Support the wider EMEA Agriculture & Biofuels team on cross-regional projects and contribute to the global editorial direction

Compliance & standards

• Ensure the team follows all agreed processes for launching, amending, or discontinuing prices, and that any methodology changes are properly documented and communicated
• Liaise with the compliance team as required to address IOSCO-related queries and maintain the integrity of Fastmarkets’ PRA standards

Qualifications

We recruit talented, dynamic people with diverse backgrounds and experiences, all united by a belief in our mission to provide the world’s leading and most trusted price reporting, events, and intelligence service for the markets we serve. We’re proud to be an equal opportunities employer and are committed to creating a fully inclusive workplace, where everyone feels able to participate and contribute meaningfully.

If you are open-minded, curious, resilient, solutions-oriented and committed to promoting equality, then read on.

KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

We are looking for an individual who is highly motivated, driven, and have a passion to be part of a fast-paced, successful team. Being a strong team player is also important as well as someone who is happy to work flexibly.

• Deep, hands-on knowledge of Black Sea and European grains and oilseeds markets — fundamentals, trade flows, key pricing dynamics, and their role in global supply chains
• Experience in price reporting or commodity market journalism, with a proven ability to produce rigorous, market-grounded assessments under daily deadline pressure
• Strong writing skills — clear, concise, and analytically sharp, for both price assessments and market commentary
• Familiarity with IOSCO principles and the standards expected of a credible price reporting agency
• Good organisational skills and the confidence to coordinate and support a small team, even without formal prior management experience
• Comfort engaging externally with traders, exporters, merchandisers, and other market participants at a senior level
• A proactive, problem-solving mindset and a commitment to editorial integrity and accuracy
• Prior team leadership or line management experience in a PRA, media, or commodity trading environment
• Language skills relevant to the Black Sea region — Ukrainian, Russian, Romanian, or Bulgarian — are a meaningful advantage
• Experience presenting at conferences, webinars, or industry events
• Familiarity with financial and physical derivatives relevant to grains and oilseeds

If you're excited about the role but your experience, skills or qualifications don't perfectly align, we encourage you to apply anyway.

Additional Information

Our Values

Fastmarkets people come from all different walks of life. It’s this mix of brilliant personalities, experiences and insights that gives us that warm, open, and friendly culture you can feel as soon as you meet us. But however wonderfully different we all are, there are six things we all have in common – and they form our Fastmarkets values.

Created by our own employees to reflect some of the personal traits that Fastmarkets people have, our values are key to what makes our culture unique. They reflect who each of us are and they're embedded in everything we do. Our values are:

• METRICS DRIVEN. We use insights to improve our customers’ experience and our business performance
   
• ACCOUNTABLE. We are accountable to ourselves and those we work with: we keep our promises and get things done
   
• GROWTH MINDSET. This value enables us to be nimble to the changing realities and operate with a sense of urgency
   
• INCLUSIVE. We are inclusive and respectful, celebrating each of us and giving everyone a deep sense of belonging with the desire to bring their best self to work every day.
   
• CUSTOMER CENTRIC. We are customer-centric in all that we do
   
• COLLABORATIVE. We are collaborative, able to work across teams and capitalise on the diversity of intellect, perspectives, and experiences.

We are committed to ensuring all candidates feel welcomed and supported. Should your application advance and you require accommodations for the interview process, please inform us so we can make the necessary arrangements.

You’ve read a little about us – now it’s over to you!

If you like what you’ve read so far and think you can see yourself as a Fastmarkets person, it’s time to fill in your application form. This form is an important part of the selection process: it’s used to determine whether or not you’ll be chosen to have an interview and acts as a basis for the questions we’ll ask you on the day.

It’s vital that you try to capture all the relevant information we have asked for on the form so we can get a good feel for who you are and why you’re great.