Head of Derivative Operations

Ensure accurate trade capture, confirmations, allocations, life-cycle event processing, and timely settlement with minimal operational breaks.

Manage daily operational cadence, including trade blotters, exception handling, escalation management, and incident resolution.

2) Physical Pricing & Hedging Operations (Iron Ore & Base Metals)

• Support physical trading economics through a strong operational understanding of:

• Index-linked pricing structures

• Premiums/discounts, quality and freight adjustments

• Payment and settlement terms

Ensure effective alignment between physical exposures and paper hedges, including hedge tracking, reporting and control validation.

3) Broker, Bank & Counterparty Operations

• Maintain a controlled counterparty master covering:

• Brokers, banks, FCMs, prime brokers and OTC counterparties

• Approved and utilised limits, available headroom

• KYC, onboarding documentation and service level standards

Act as the primary operational interface with brokers and clearing counterparties on:

Margin calls and collateral movements

Trade breaks, settlement issues and disputes

Account structures, static data, commissions and fees

Monitor counterparty performance and implement process improvements where required.

4) Margin, Collateral & Liquidity Operations

• Oversee daily initial and variation margin management across all derivatives accounts.

• Ensure timely funding and collateral movements, with clear escalation of liquidity or funding risks.

• Track financing costs and operational frictions impacting desk profitability, including margin efficiency and capital usage.

5) MTM, P&L & Control Reporting

• Own daily MTM and P&L support processes in partnership with Trading, Risk and Finance, including:

• Valuation controls and price source validation

• P&L explains and variance analysis

• Identification and resolution of pricing or booking anomalies

Produce high-quality reporting covering:

Positions, exposures, limits and margin utilisation

Trade status, settlement progress and exceptions

Ensure auditability, data integrity and robust sign-off processes.

6) Process Design, Systems & Automation

• Design and implement scalable SOPs and operational controls across the trade lifecycle.

• Drive automation and system enhancements covering trade capture, reconciliations, reporting and controls.

• Partner with technology teams and vendors to improve speed, transparency and operational resilience.

7) Team Leadership & Stakeholder Management

• Build, lead and mentor a high-performing operations team supporting the proprietary trading desk.

• Define clear KPIs and quality metrics (break rates, settlement fails, timeliness, accuracy).

• Communicate effectively with senior stakeholders, translating operational issues into clear decisions and actions.

Key Skills & Competencies

• Deep knowledge of paper commodities and equities operations, including execution, clearing, margining and settlement.

• Strong understanding of physical commodity pricing and its interaction with derivatives hedging.

• Robust controls mindset with experience in reconciliations, exception management and operational risk governance.

• Ability to operate calmly and precisely in a high-velocity prop trading environment.

• Strong counterparty management experience across FCMs, prime brokers, banks and OTC counterparties.

• High ownership, attention to detail and ability to build structure without slowing trading performance.