Electronics Trade-In Custody Recovery Leader

The mandate

An internal investigation found phones credited at retail that never reached the grading centre, devices whose IMEI changed between handoffs and refurbished stock offered for resale without complete data-erasure evidence. Franchise agents use inconsistent customer-title declarations, and swollen or damaged batteries travel inside ordinary mixed bags. Finance has paused expansion and privacy leaders have quarantined several cohorts. The trade-in operations vice president was removed. The interim takes immediate custody and network-recovery authority while authorised privacy, fraud, dangerous-goods and refurbishment specialists make their formal determinations.

Ten months are contracted, with an onsite start inside ten days. The first seventy-two hours secure held cohorts, reconcile high-value devices, stop unsafe transport and protect customers whose credits or property are disputed. By day twenty-one, every accepted device has customer declaration, IMEI or explained exception, tamper evidence, location and accountable next action. The middle five months reset store and agent acceptance, sealed consolidation, grading, data-erasure handoff and destination controls. The final quarter includes a promotional surge, suspected substitution case and downstream partner rejection led by the permanent successor under observation.

The handover standard requires the incoming leader to chair eight network-integrity reviews, at least 98% of sampled trade-ins to reconcile customer acceptance through financially and physically final disposition, and no released resale cohort to lack the required erasure and grading evidence for twelve weeks. The successor receives disputed titles, missing and substituted devices, unsafe batteries, grading disagreements, erasure failures, repair yields, resale returns, export and recycler constraints, franchise remedies, financial leakage and a ninety-day channel decision plan. Search and background checks begin in month two.

The interim may suspend a collection point, cap agent credits, require secure bags and device-level manifests, quarantine cohorts, reserve compliant battery transport, reallocate grading capacity, hold resale release pending authorised evidence, redirect approved devices among repair or recycling partners and settle customer custody cases inside defined policy and a KES780 million recovery envelope. Privacy acceptance, fraud finding, data-erasure approval, dangerous-goods release, customer-title adjudication, export permission, permanent appointment, strategic partner termination and spend beyond delegation require the designated specialist or committee.

Outside the mandate are device repair engineering, resale price policy, criminal investigation, privacy certification, customs rulings and design of recycling processes. The interim cannot perform or attest data erasure, alter an IMEI to close a record, transport swollen batteries through a standard parcel route, deprive a customer of remedy to improve margin, or classify exported devices as reused before buyer acceptance. Recovery ends with each device and customer credit reaching an evidenced outcome, including loss, rejection and residue, and a permanent organisation able to protect trust at higher volume.

Why this seat is open

Fast retail growth separated the customer credit from physical and data custody, making revenue and collected-device counts unreliable indicators of circular value. The company needs decisive operating intervention before reopening expansion, yet privacy and fraud independence cannot be compromised. The interim’s purpose is to rebuild a secure channel and develop a successor, not to normalise exceptional holds as permanent bureaucracy.

What you will own

• Reconcile trade-ins from customer identity and ownership declaration through store acceptance, credit, IMEI, tamper seal, transport, grading, erasure evidence, disposition and settlement.
• Reset store, franchise and agent controls for condition capture, activation locks, accessories, unsafe batteries, disputed title, customer remedy and daily secure handoff.
• Establish device states for customer-held dispute, received, in transit, missing, substituted suspected, privacy-held, grading, repair, resale-ready, parts harvest and recycling.
• Align secure carriers, graders, erasure providers, refurbishers, resellers and recyclers on manifests, exceptions, custody, rejected cohorts, evidence and financial reconciliation.
• Recover economics by device cohort while retaining promotional credit, fraud loss, repair input, resale return, data failure, battery handling and recycler residue.
• Run unannounced channel traces and exercises covering surge intake, suspected substitution and partner rejection without taking investigation or privacy authority.
• Recruit and coach the permanent vice president, transferring agent actions, held cohorts, partner performance, control thresholds and expansion decisions.

Candidate qualifications

• Has held executive reverse-logistics or trade-in authority for smartphones, consumer electronics or another high-value data-bearing device network.
• Can evidence recovery after missing assets, serial substitution or incomplete data-erasure records forced a resale hold.
• Understands retail acceptance, customer title, IMEI custody, secure consolidation, lithium-battery handling, grading, erasure interfaces, refurbishment and downstream outlets.
• Has restored commercial flow while preserving privacy, fraud, dangerous-goods, customer-remedy and customs authority.
• Can distinguish credited device, physically received IMEI, graded unit, erasure-cleared asset, buyer-accepted reuse and processor-accepted material.
• Has handed a recovered multi-country device loop to permanent leadership after live surge and integrity challenges.

Non-negotiables

• Can start onsite in Nairobi within ten days and rotate weekly through stores, agents, secure transport and downstream facilities.
• Will not attest data erasure, decide fraud, alter serial evidence, bypass battery controls, adjudicate title or certify reuse and recycling claims.
• Brings direct high-value device trade-in or reverse-logistics command; electronics sales or refurbishment engineering alone is insufficient.
• Will keep missing, substituted, privacy-held, unsafe, rejected, exported and residual devices visible beside customer-credit and margin reporting.

1. 49 words maximum. Which device-custody break most seriously undermined both customer credit and downstream reuse evidence?
2. 49 words maximum. How did you recover trade-ins while preserving independent privacy and fraud decisions?
3. 49 words maximum. Confirm your Nairobi start date and largest high-value device-return perimeter.