At a commodities exchange, brokerage, or trading firm, you handle the clerical and processing work that supports commodities trading — trade entry, position reconciliation, customer paperwork, and the back-office work that supports commodities operations.
The trade-and-position systems anchor the work — entering trades, reconciling positions, processing customer paperwork, supporting the back-office settlement of commodities transactions. You're often the operational layer beneath floor traders or electronic-trading desks whose trading activity drives the work. Settlement-cycle deadlines structure daily urgency.
What surprises people new to commodities clerical work is the speed-and-accuracy demand — commodities markets move fast, and trade-entry errors carry real cost. Variance across employers is wide: at major commodities exchanges and FCMs the work runs structured with deep specialization; at smaller commodity-trading operations the role blends with broader trading support.
Clerks who do well tend to carry detail-orientation, settlement-deadline calm, and commodities-systems fluency. NFA Series 3 and commodities-specific credentials anchor advancement. The trade-off is the market-hours cadence and the back-office invisibility that defines commodities clerical work.
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Roles like this one sit within a broader occupational category. The numbers below reflect that full landscape — helpful for context, but your specific experience will depend on level, specialty, and where you work.
Roles with similar work and overlapping career paths
View all Admin & Office roles →At a commodities exchange, brokerage, or trading firm, you handle the clerical and processing work that supports commodities trading — trade entry, position reconciliation, customer paperwork, and the back-office work that supports commodities operations.
Median pay for a Commodities Clerk is about $63K nationally, with the field ranging roughly from $48K to $92K depending on experience, employer, and metro (BLS).
Core skills for this role include Active Listening, Speaking, Reading Comprehension, Time Management, and Critical Thinking.
Most people in this role hold a bachelor's degree.
Employment in this field is projected to decline about 9.5% through 2034, with roughly 40,090 people working in it today (BLS).
Closely related roles include Commodities Broker, Commodities Trader, and Sales Assistant.
Still figuring out what you want to become
when you grow up?