Interim Head of Warehouse Collateral Operations

An operating appointment

This executive assignment owns the operating system through which financed commodities are received, counted, protected and released. The priority is to make the recorded collateral position dependable enough for credit decisions, without stopping legitimate customer movements unnecessarily. The interim head will lead warehouse control staff and coordinate independent inspection providers within an approved operating budget.

Establish the physical position

Initial work should trace a sample of transactions from financing approval to physical release. Differences between warehouse records, lender records and customer instructions must be classified by cause, financial significance and urgency. A temporary reconciliation exercise is insufficient: the role must establish repeatable controls and clear ownership of unresolved differences.

Release is a credit event

The appointee will define who may authorise stock releases, what evidence is required and how instructions are authenticated. Procedures must address partial releases, substitutions, damaged goods, disputed weights and requests received outside normal operating hours. Where documentation or stock evidence is deficient, the head may suspend operational release within delegated policy and escalate the commercial consequences to the authorised credit officer.

Warehouse performance reviews will cover segregation, access, inventory ageing, insurance documentation and the reliability of local records. Inspection frequency should reflect commodity characteristics and exposure, rather than treating every site identically. The role will negotiate operational service improvements, but changes to security rights or financing terms require legal and credit approval.

Evidence that survives handover

The successful candidate will understand the distinction between quantity, quality, title and value. They should be comfortable reading stock reports and collateral agreements while recognising when specialist surveyors, insurers or counsel must decide a technical issue.

Handover will include a verified exception register, usable release procedures, accountable site owners and management information connecting control failures to financing exposure. Operational success means that exceptions become visible early and are resolved through evidence, rather than disappearing inside reconciliations or informal customer arrangements.