Head of Commodities Operations in London

The Head of Commodities Operations, London is responsible for management oversight of the day-to-day functioning and performance of London Commodities Operations teams:

• Physical Commodity Operations: The Physical Energy & Base Operations team supports the Physical Energy, Physical Base, LME post-trade support (house and client), other OTC base post-trade support and base metal confirmations. The team is responsible for stock reconciliations, contract issuance and management, settlements, invoicing, confirmation, inventory controls, payment processing, insurance reporting, and management information. The Physical Precious Operations team provides operational support to the Bank’s precious metals trading, clearing, and vaulting activities, including settlement and reconciliation of precious metals transactions booked on the London balance sheet, inventory management, vaulting and custody arrangements, cash and margin movements, and bar-level inventory reconciliations. The team also supports overseas trading locations and provides data and reporting to relevant industry bodies.
• Documentary Credits: Support relevant Trade Finance processing within the London timezone and work closely with the Asia-based team as part of a follow-the-sun operating model.
• Financial Commodity Operations: The Commodity Settlements & Clearing team is responsible for the accurate and timely settlement of financially-settled commodity transactions, including margin management, cash movements, interest claims, and interaction with clearing houses, exchanges, and custodians. The team ensures correct settlement across products, currencies, and counterparties, and manages related funding and liquidity considerations. This team supports the Bank’s LPMCL and loco Zurich precious metal clearing processes including the end-to-end client service requirements. The Reconciliations and Balance Sheet team is responsible for the balance sheet substantiation operating model within Operations, execution of trade reconciliations including cleared derivative reconciliations (trade, cash, inventory, and cash), other cash reconciliations (nostro, contra, suspense). The team ensures timely resolution of breaks, supports month-end and quarter-end close, provides control reporting and MI, and works closely with Finance, Risk, and Operations Control to maintain balance sheet integrity.
• Trade Support: The Trade Support team is a multi-asset class team supporting base metals, precious metals, energy as well as FIC products. The primary purpose of the trade support team is to ensure trades are correctly captured in the Bank’s risk management systems post execution.

Key Responsibilities:

• Leadership and management: Leading and managing London Commodities Operations; delivering the strategy for London Commodities Operations.
• Client service: Ensuring that the service provided by London Commodities Operations to external clients is delivered to an excellent standard; proactively and promptly remediating any instances of substandard service delivered by the Operations department to any external clients.
• Stakeholder management: Leading London Commodities Operations in working collaboratively and effectively with other Operations teams in all global locations to enable excellent service to be delivered by the Operations department to internal and external clients.
• Processes and procedures: Ensuring the effective and efficient operation of processes within London Commodities Operations and New York Operations; working closely and collaboratively with Technology colleagues to ensure that systems relied on by London Commodities Operations are fit for purpose.
• Risk management: Identifying and managing risks within London Commodities Operations including operational risks, regulatory risks, conduct risks, cyber security risks and financial crime risks (including, but not limited to, risks associated with money laundering, terrorist financing, bribery and corruption, sanctions breaches and fraud); working collaboratively with Operations Control on risk management and control enhancements; escalating new risks to the Head of Operations as required; proactively and promptly managing any risk incidents that relate to or impact London Commodities Operations.
• Clients Assets: Creation and ongoing maintenance of adequate policies and procedures; execution of controls in line with policies and procedures; producing and reviewing regular and complete MI on CASS adherence and control effectiveness; ensuring the London Commodities Operations teams are sufficiently trained in order to ensure CASS adherence.
• Staff management: Providing line management support to London Commodities Operations; monitoring London Commodities Operations staff performance and taking remedial action as required.
• Reporting and MI: Providing regular performance MI; reporting promptly any significant performance, service or risk incidents.

Skills and knowledge: Demonstrate continuous development in knowledge and skills relevant to this role; staying abreast of industry matters affecting, or potentially affecting, the work performed by London Commodities Operations including evolving standards or new working practices.

Required Skills, Knowledge, Experience and Values:

• A degree.
• Experience of working in a regulated environment, ideally Financial Services.
• Proven Operations leadership experience at a senior level (10+ years).
• Commodities business knowledge including precious, base and energy products (financial and physical).
• Understanding of the PRA/FCA rules and regulations or equivalent.
• Understanding of risk and control.
• IT skills including experience in business system ownership (prioritisation, requirement sign-off).