How to Apply to Raizen

8 min read Last updated April 20, 2026 438 open positions
Blake Crosley
Blake Crosley Researched using publicly available information, hiring data, and ATS analysis.

Key Takeaways

  • Raizen is a Cosan-Shell joint venture; the dual ownership shapes governance, compensation, and how interviews are run.
  • Apply through vagas.raizen.com.br on Gupy; profile completeness and screening question quality matter as much as the resume itself.
  • Mill roles are seasonal and geographic; willingness to work in interior cities during crush season (April to October) is often the gating factor.
  • The E2G second-generation ethanol bet is the company's strategic differentiator; learn the basics before interviewing for any technical or commercial role.
  • Be honest about the macro picture in interviews: stock underperformance since 2021, sugar cyclicality, and Argentine instability are real and discussed openly.
  • Sustainability is a substantive competitive moat here, not a marketing layer; engage with it credibly using Bonsucro, RenovaBio, and SBTi vocabulary.
  • Portuguese is the operating language for almost all Brazil-based roles; English and Spanish are additive for specific tracks.
  • Cross-functional fluency wins: the best-positioned candidates can speak credibly across agronomy, industrial operations, commercial, and corporate domains.

About Raizen

Raizen S.A. (B3: RAIZ4) is one of the largest integrated energy companies in Brazil and the world's biggest sugarcane processor and sugarcane-based ethanol producer. Headquartered in Sao Paulo, the company was created in 2011 as a 50/50 joint venture between Cosan S.A. (B3: CSAN) and Shell plc (LSE/NYSE: SHEL), combining Cosan's sugar and ethanol operations with Shell's downstream fuel distribution business in Brazil. Raizen completed its IPO on the B3 exchange in August 2021, though the free float remains small with Cosan and Shell retaining majority control. The company employs roughly 40,000 people across Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay. The business spans four major segments. Renewables produces sugar, first-generation (1G) ethanol, and second-generation (2G) cellulosic ethanol from sugarcane bagasse, the fibrous waste left after juice extraction. Bioenergy generates electricity by burning that same bagasse in cogeneration units, feeding power to the Brazilian national grid. Marketing & Services operates more than 7,300 Shell-branded gas stations across Brazil along with Shell Select convenience stores and a B2B fuels arm. The Argentina business covers Shell-branded retail and downstream operations acquired from Shell in 2018. Raizen operates 24+ sugarcane mills (usinas) concentrated in Sao Paulo, Goias, Mato Grosso do Sul, and Minas Gerais, processing over 70 million tonnes of sugarcane in a typical harvest year. The operating cycle is intensely seasonal: the crush season runs roughly April through October, and mill jobs surge during that window. The company's flagship sustainability bet is E2G, second-generation cellulosic ethanol made from agricultural residues. The Costa Pinto E2G plant is operational and additional 2G facilities are under construction, positioning Raizen for export demand under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act and EU sustainable aviation fuel mandates. Be direct about the picture: the stock has materially underperformed since the 2021 IPO, sugar prices have weakened on global oversupply, the Argentine peso and Milei-era policy uncertainty have pressured Argentine results, and the dual-parent governance with Cosan and Shell adds complexity. The differentiator is genuine: Raizen has one of the strongest sustainability stories in global energy, with Bonsucro certification, SBTi targets, and a real path to scaled biofuels. Working here means joining a company that is both an old-economy commodity processor and a serious bet on the energy transition.

Application Process

  1. 1
    Apply through vagas

    Apply through vagas.raizen.com.br, which runs on Gupy, the Brazilian ATS used by most large Brazilian employers.

  2. 2
    Create a complete Gupy profile with CPF, full address, education, languages, and

    Create a complete Gupy profile with CPF, full address, education, languages, and a parseable PDF resume in Portuguese for Brazil-based roles.

  3. 3
    Submit answers to the Gupy screening questions honestly; many Raizen postings as

    Submit answers to the Gupy screening questions honestly; many Raizen postings ask about location flexibility, willingness to work in mill cities, and shift availability.

  4. 4
    Expect a culture-fit assessment from Gupy's algorithmic matching tool early in t

    Expect a culture-fit assessment from Gupy's algorithmic matching tool early in the process; complete it carefully because recruiters use the score to prioritize review.

  5. 5
    Prepare for an HR phone or video screen typically conducted in Portuguese, with

    Prepare for an HR phone or video screen typically conducted in Portuguese, with English screening added for commercial, trading, corporate, and Shell-interface roles.

  6. 6
    Move into technical interviews with the hiring manager and one or two peers; for

    Move into technical interviews with the hiring manager and one or two peers; for engineering and agronomy roles expect site-specific technical questions tied to the destination mill or station network.

  7. 7
    For mill-based roles, plan for a site visit or virtual plant walkthrough and que

    For mill-based roles, plan for a site visit or virtual plant walkthrough and questions about willingness to relocate to interior cities far from Sao Paulo.

  8. 8
    Complete background checks, document collection, and an occupational health exam

    Complete background checks, document collection, and an occupational health exam (ASO) before the start date; mill roles also require safety training (NR-10, NR-33, NR-35 depending on function).

  9. 9
    From application to offer, expect three to eight weeks for corporate roles and t

    From application to offer, expect three to eight weeks for corporate roles and two to five weeks for operational roles during pre-harvest hiring waves.

  10. 10
    Treat Gupy timestamps and recruiter follow-ups as gating signals: profiles updat

    Treat Gupy timestamps and recruiter follow-ups as gating signals: profiles updated within the last 30 days and complete answers consistently outrank stale or partial applications.

Resume Tips for Raizen

recommended

Submit a Portuguese resume for Brazil-based roles even if you also have an Engli

Submit a Portuguese resume for Brazil-based roles even if you also have an English version; recruiters and most hiring managers operate primarily in Portuguese.

recommended

Use Gupy-friendly formatting: a single-column PDF, standard headers, no graphics

Use Gupy-friendly formatting: a single-column PDF, standard headers, no graphics or text in images, and explicit section labels (Formacao, Experiencia, Idiomas, Certificacoes).

recommended

For mill, agronomy, and industrial roles, list your specific technical certifica

For mill, agronomy, and industrial roles, list your specific technical certifications by NR number (NR-10, NR-12, NR-13, NR-33, NR-35) since recruiters search on these terms.

recommended

For commercial, trading, finance, and corporate roles, name international experi

For commercial, trading, finance, and corporate roles, name international experience, English/Spanish proficiency, and exposure to Shell or other multinational governance.

recommended

Quantify outputs in the units the business uses: tonnes of cane crushed, liters

Quantify outputs in the units the business uses: tonnes of cane crushed, liters of ethanol produced, MW of cogeneration capacity, gas station count, B2B fuel volumes, capex managed.

recommended

Highlight ESG and sustainability work explicitly when relevant; Bonsucro, Renova

Highlight ESG and sustainability work explicitly when relevant; Bonsucro, RenovaBio CBIO credits, GHG accounting, water stewardship, and SBTi alignment are high-signal terms here.

recommended

If you have experience in any competitor (Sao Martinho, Atvos, Tereos, BP Bunge

If you have experience in any competitor (Sao Martinho, Atvos, Tereos, BP Bunge Bioenergia, Adecoagro, Vibra Energia, Ipiranga, Petrobras Distribuidora, ADM, Bunge, Cargill), name it directly; cross-pollination is welcomed.

recommended

Mention specific ATS-relevant systems where you have direct experience: SAP S/4H

Mention specific ATS-relevant systems where you have direct experience: SAP S/4HANA, Salesforce, Power BI, Anaplan, AVEVA PI, OSIsoft, Aspen, or scada/MES platforms used in mills.

recommended

For the Marketing & Services side, retail operations metrics matter: stations un

For the Marketing & Services side, retail operations metrics matter: stations under management, fuel volume per site, convenience store revenue, lubricant sell-through.

recommended

Keep total length to two pages for individual contributors and three pages maxim

Keep total length to two pages for individual contributors and three pages maximum for senior leaders; avoid the all-too-common 'lattes' academic CV format unless the job posting explicitly asks for it.

ATS System: Gupy

Gupy is the dominant Brazilian applicant tracking system used by Raizen at vagas.raizen.com.br. It combines a structured profile parser with an internal recommendation algorithm that scores candidates against the job posting before a recruiter sees the application. The platform emphasizes profile completeness, screening question alignment, and culture-fit assessments alongside the resume itself.

  • Build the Gupy profile fields out completely; the algorithm penalizes partial profiles and many recruiters filter for 'perfil completo' first.
  • Answer screening questions deliberately rather than skipping; honest filters about salary range, location, and notice period are used to gate the review queue.
  • Upload your resume as a parseable PDF (text-selectable, not a scanned image) and confirm Gupy parsed each section correctly after upload.
  • Match the job posting's keyword set in your profile and resume: technical certifications, software, languages, industry segment, and geography.
  • Take any embedded culture-fit or behavioral assessment seriously; it influences ranking and is hard to redo without HR intervention.
  • Keep your Gupy profile updated even when not actively applying; recruiters proactively search the talent pool for hard-to-fill roles, especially during pre-harvest hiring.

Interview Culture

Raizen interviews are structured, professional, and Brazilian-pragmatic.

The HR screen is typically warm but probing, focused on motivation, location flexibility, salary expectations, and language ability. Recruiters move quickly when there is alignment and tend to be transparent when there is not, which is a refreshing change from companies that ghost candidates after long processes. For mill, agronomy, and industrial roles, you can expect a technical conversation grounded in the specific operating reality of the destination plant: harvest planning, equipment uptime, NR safety standards, environmental licensing, agronomic productivity per hectare, and labor relations with rural and industrial unions. For commercial and trading roles, expect questions about RenovaBio CBIO mechanics, sugar and ethanol price dynamics, futures hedging on ICE and B3, the interplay between Brazilian domestic ethanol prices and global commodity markets, and the Brazilian gasoline-ethanol parity ratio that drives consumer fuel choice at the pump. For Marketing & Services and corporate roles, expect a mix of behavioral and case-style questions reflecting Shell's structured interview heritage alongside Cosan's more entrepreneurial Brazilian operating culture. Senior roles often include a panel with both Cosan-side and Shell-side stakeholders; the dual ownership shows up in how decisions are made, governance is structured, capital is allocated, and incentives are calibrated. Compensation conversations are direct: there is a base salary, a short-term variable tied to plant or function KPIs, and for senior roles a long-term incentive linked to RAIZ4 performance, which has been a sore subject given the post-IPO trajectory. Be honest about what you do not know rather than overselling; Raizen interviewers value technical humility and operational realism, especially given how unforgiving mill operations and fuel logistics can be when assumptions are wrong. A candidate who admits a knowledge gap and explains how they would close it tends to outperform a candidate who bluffs.

What Raizen Looks For

  • Demonstrated willingness to work in interior Brazilian cities for mill, agronomy, and industrial roles, not just Sao Paulo headquarters.
  • Genuine interest in the energy transition and biofuels rather than treating Raizen as a generic commodities employer.
  • Operational discipline: experience with safety culture, environmental compliance, and the rhythms of a 24/7 process industry during crush season.
  • Commercial sophistication for trading, sales, and M&S roles, including comfort with commodity volatility, hedging, and B2B contract negotiation.
  • Bilingual or trilingual fluency where the role requires it: Portuguese always, English for Shell-interface and global commercial work, Spanish for Argentina and Paraguay.
  • Comfort operating across two parent-company cultures: Cosan's Brazilian entrepreneurial style and Shell's global compliance-heavy governance.
  • Quantitative literacy with the units that matter here: tonnes of cane, liters of ethanol, MW of cogeneration, station throughput, CBIO credits, GHG intensity.
  • Authentic ESG and sustainability fluency, since Raizen genuinely competes on its sustainability profile and expects employees to engage with it substantively.
  • Resilience around stock and macro volatility: candidates who only ask about RAIZ4 share price or push back hard on the IPO underperformance read as poor culture fits.
  • Track record of cross-functional delivery, since most Raizen roles sit at intersections (agronomy + industrial, commercial + logistics, corporate + plant).

Frequently Asked Questions

What ATS does Raizen use?
Raizen uses Gupy, the dominant Brazilian applicant tracking system, hosted at vagas.raizen.com.br. Gupy combines structured profile parsing, screening questions, and an internal recommendation algorithm that pre-scores candidates before recruiters review them.
Is Raizen a public company?
Yes. Raizen completed its IPO on the B3 exchange in Sao Paulo in August 2021 under the ticker RAIZ4. However, the free float is relatively small because Cosan S.A. (B3: CSAN) and Shell plc (LSE/NYSE: SHEL) each retain roughly 50 percent ownership through their joint venture structure.
Who owns Raizen?
Raizen is a 50/50 joint venture between Cosan S.A. and Shell plc, formed in 2011. The IPO sold a minority stake on B3 but did not change the underlying parent ownership structure.
What does Raizen actually do?
Four main businesses: (1) sugar and ethanol production from sugarcane, including second-generation cellulosic ethanol (E2G) from bagasse; (2) bioenergy via cogeneration from bagasse fed to the Brazilian grid; (3) Marketing & Services, operating more than 7,300 Shell-branded gas stations and Shell Select convenience stores in Brazil; and (4) downstream fuel operations in Argentina acquired from Shell in 2018.
Where is Raizen headquartered and where does it operate?
Headquarters are in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Operations span Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay, with 24+ sugarcane mills concentrated in Sao Paulo, Goias, Mato Grosso do Sul, and Minas Gerais, plus thousands of retail stations across Brazil and Shell-branded operations in Argentina.
Who is the CEO of Raizen?
Nelson Gomes has served as CEO since April 2024, succeeding Ricardo Mussa. The leadership change came amid a period of weak commodity prices and stock underperformance.
How many people work at Raizen?
Approximately 40,000 employees across Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay, with significant seasonal increases during the sugarcane crush season from roughly April through October.
Is Portuguese required for Raizen jobs?
For nearly all Brazil-based roles, yes. Portuguese is the working language for mill operations, agronomy, retail, most corporate functions, and labor relations. English is required for Shell-interface, global commercial, trading, and senior corporate roles. Spanish is required for Argentina-based positions.
How seasonal are Raizen mill jobs?
Very seasonal. The sugarcane crush runs roughly April to October in the Center-South region. Mills hire heavily ahead of harvest for industrial operators, agricultural staff, logistics, and quality control. Off-season focuses on maintenance, planning, and capital projects. If you are open to seasonal contracts, target your application from January through March for the strongest hiring window.
What is E2G and why does it matter?
E2G is second-generation ethanol made from sugarcane bagasse, the fibrous residue left after juice extraction. Unlike first-generation (1G) ethanol from sugarcane juice, E2G uses agricultural waste, which dramatically improves the sustainability profile and unlocks export demand under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act and EU sustainable aviation fuel mandates. Raizen's Costa Pinto E2G plant is operational and additional facilities are under construction; this is the company's flagship strategic bet.
Has the stock performed well since the IPO?
No. RAIZ4 has materially underperformed since the August 2021 IPO. Weak global sugar prices, Argentine macroeconomic volatility, slower-than-hoped E2G ramp, and sector-wide commodity pressure have all contributed. Be prepared for honest discussion of this in senior interviews; do not pretend the chart looks good.
Who are Raizen's main competitors?
In Brazilian sugar and ethanol: Sao Martinho (B3: SMTO3), Atvos, Tereos Brasil, BP Bunge Bioenergia, USJ, and Adecoagro (NYSE: AGRO). In Brazilian fuel distribution: Vibra Energia (B3: VBBR3, formerly BR Distribuidora), Ipiranga (Ultrapar B3: UGPA3), and Atem. Globally in sugar and biofuels: ADM (NYSE: ADM), Bunge Global (NYSE: BG), Cargill, Tereos, Wilmar International, and Suedzucker.
Does Raizen hire interns and recent graduates?
Yes. Raizen runs structured trainee, internship (estagio), and apprentice (Jovem Aprendiz) programs that recruit annually, primarily for engineering, agronomy, business, finance, and IT tracks. These programs are heavily oversubscribed, run on Gupy, and follow a multi-stage selection process including online assessments, group dynamics, and final-round interviews.
Is Raizen unionized?
Yes. Rural workers fall under CONTAG-affiliated unions, industrial mill workers under CUT and Forca Sindical structures, and commercial sector workers under sector-specific unions. Labor relations are an active and material part of operating the business; expect this to come up in any operations or HR interview.

Open Positions

Raizen currently has 438 open positions.

Check Your Resume Before Applying → View 438 open positions at Raizen

Related Resources

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Sources

  1. Raizen S.A. - Investor Relations —
  2. Raizen Careers Portal (Vagas Raizen on Gupy) —
  3. Raizen Corporate Website —
  4. Cosan S.A. - About Raizen Joint Venture —
  5. Shell plc - Brazil and Raizen Joint Venture —
  6. B3 - RAIZ4 Listing Information —
  7. Gupy ATS - Candidate Help Center —
  8. RenovaBio - Brazil National Biofuels Policy —
  9. Bonsucro Certification Standard —
  10. Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) —
  11. Raizen Sustainability Report —
  12. U.S. Inflation Reduction Act - Sustainable Aviation Fuel and Biofuels Provisions —