Commercial Traineeship - French (Commodity Trading)

About the role

Holcim Trading & Shipping (HT&S), the trading arm of Holcim Group, is offering a 12-month Commercial Traineeship in its Zurich headquarters. The programme follows a structured rotational path across Business Intelligence, Trade Operations, Supply Chain, Shipping and Commodity Trading, giving hands-on exposure to how physical trades are analysed, contracted, shipped and executed across international markets. It is a full-time, Monday to Friday office programme, and fluency in both English and French is mandatory.

Key responsibilities

• Analyse global market trends, commodity flows and supply-demand fundamentals.
• Support container desk operations and develop multimodal transportation logistics solutions.
• Execute physical seaborne trade transactions, managing Letters of Credit, shipping documents and trade logistics.
• Calculate laytime and demurrage, coordinating with vessel operators, port agents and surveyors.
• Learn dry bulk chartering, vessel nomination strategies and ocean freight logistics.
• Support Commercial Managers in negotiating sales and purchase contracts, client account management and deal risk evaluations.

Required profile

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Business Administration, Economics, International Trade, Engineering, Maritime Studies or a related field; recent graduates with up to 2-3 years of professional experience.
• Fluent English and French (Spanish or German is a plus).
• Interest in geopolitics, maritime transport, global supply chains and international commodity trading.

Required skills

• Strong analytical ability with high attention to detail.
• Proactive, curious and resilient in fast-paced environments.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, team-oriented.

What we offer

• A 12-month development programme with direct mentorship from industry experts.
• Competitive compensation and fringe benefits: monthly lunch allowance, SBB half-fare travel voucher support, birthday gift.
• Professional development platforms (GoFluent, Percipio, Holcim Academy) and wellbeing assistance programmes.