Interim Head of Commodity Credit Underwriting

Rebuild consistency at the approval desk

The head will review how proposals establish repayment capacity, collateral availability and transaction purpose. A strong stock position cannot compensate indefinitely for a borrower without a viable cash-generating business. Equally, a sound borrower may require controls that differ materially across commodities, storage arrangements and sale structures.

What must change in the credit paper

Analysts should explain the primary repayment source, downside case and practical recovery route in direct language. The head will require transparent treatment of related parties, customer concentration, contingent obligations and other financing claims. Where management accounts or stock records are weak, the paper must show the implications rather than bury the uncertainty in appendices.

The role will set standards for site information, valuation inputs, security documentation and monitoring conditions. Working with operations, it will ensure that conditions imposed by credit can actually be observed after disbursement. Unworkable conditions should be redesigned before approval, rather than routinely waived later.

Case turnaround will be improved through earlier identification of missing information and clear escalation, not through reduced scrutiny. The head will coach analysts in making a recommendation and recording why a risk is acceptable. They will also establish feedback from arrears, collateral exceptions and recoveries into future underwriting.

Who can lead the function

Candidates need substantial underwriting responsibility in commodity finance, secured working-capital lending or comparable trade credit. Evidence should include difficult decisions where commercial momentum favoured approval but the facts required a different structure or refusal. Strong financial analysis and familiarity with physical collateral are both necessary.

Leadership experience must include developing judgement in others, handling disagreements with relationship teams and maintaining decision records under time pressure. The appointee should understand local market practices while applying consistent standards to documentation and conflicts of interest.

The assignment should conclude with a capable team, clearer delegated authorities and credit papers that allow approvers to understand the essential risks quickly. Performance will balance decision quality and service responsiveness, with no incentive to achieve faster approvals by moving unresolved questions into post-disbursement monitoring.