Mortuary-Custody and Capacity Recovery Leader

The mandate

Six mortuaries report occupancy through different definitions: some count an admission until physical release, others remove a case when paperwork begins, and overflow units are recorded separately from the person they contain. Recent transfers arrived with inconsistent identifiers, personal-property seals and collection histories; funeral directors have booked handovers before the authorised release was visible to the receiving team; and families travel between facilities to resolve questions that no single case owner can answer. The network director left after a reconciliation found occupied places omitted from the capacity report. A temporary executive must restore dignified, attributable flow without taking any forensic, legal or identification judgement.

The leader will assume onsite command within eighteen days for a non-extendable fifteen-month term. A 72-hour protective reset will establish actual occupancy, refrigeration exceptions, unresolved transfers, property discrepancies and releases already promised. The next 24 days pair every person in care with admission authority, unique case identity, physical location, condition-monitoring record, property custody, examination and identification status supplied by the authorised professional, legal-release dependencies, family contact route and scheduled receiving party. Thereafter, the executive must carry the network through two seasonal demand peaks, a refrigeration-zone outage, a multi-site transport interruption and a mass-fatality preparedness exercise. Permanent recruitment opens after month six, once the board can describe the role from controlled work rather than inherited assumptions.

Transfer to the permanent chief requires twelve consecutive weeks in which physical occupancy reconciles daily to named case custody, no person is moved without accepted sending and receiving records, every family-facing commitment has a confirmed authority basis, and cold capacity is stated as usable places after isolation, maintenance and contingency deductions. The successor must lead an unannounced facility-capacity loss, the recovery of a deliberately seeded property discrepancy, a cross-district transfer conference and four weekly family-service reviews. The signed handover will identify unresolved examinations, identification work, legal holds, unclaimed cases, infrastructure restrictions, contracted-transport dependencies and the next six months of capacity actions without asserting conclusions that belong to specialists.

The interim may rebalance authorised cases between suitable facilities after receiving acceptance, schedule collection and transfer resources, change admissions and handover windows, quarantine a custody record or personal-property package, activate approved refrigerated surge capacity, suspend a contractor movement that lacks evidence and commit turnaround expenditure up to ZAR 1.8 billion. Forensic pathologists and other authorised practitioners own examination and cause-of-death work; police and investigators control relevant evidence; designated officials authorise identification and release; facilities professionals approve refrigeration safety; families or lawful representatives select funeral providers and exercise cultural choices. Permanent appointments, structural contracts, new-build capital and spending above delegation stay with the council.

Post-mortem practice, cause or manner of death, identification determination, police investigation, death registration, court or coroner decisions, consent, funeral arrangement, religious direction, repatriation approval and long-term estate matters are excluded. The leader may require an authoritative status and a named next action but may never manufacture one to accelerate flow. Empty shelf positions do not prove usable cold capacity, a funeral booking does not prove lawful release, movement does not close sending custody, and respectful service cannot be measured solely by reducing occupied places.

Why this seat is open

The prior executive treated occupancy, professional case progression and family release as separate facility reports until a physical reconciliation exposed people and property outside the declared flow. Local mortuary managers can protect their own sites but cannot allocate transport and capacity across the province or standardise a lawful handover. The oversight council needs temporary network authority through live peaks and controlled exercises while it recruits a permanent leader with both care and operational credibility.

What you will own

• Establish one case-flow record joining authorised admission, unique identity, physical location, condition monitoring, personal property, specialist-supplied status, release dependency, family contact and receiving-party acceptance.
• Reconcile every occupied position, isolation place, transfer vehicle and approved surge unit daily, stating usable cold capacity only after safety, maintenance, staffing and contingency deductions.
• Direct accepted inter-facility movements and collection schedules across case consequence, geographic access, family burden, authorised status, receiving capacity and custody continuity.
• Repair family and funeral-provider handover so appointments follow confirmed legal authority, identity, property, preparation status, receiving credentials and a dignified private transfer window.
• Govern property packaging, seal discrepancy, transfer acceptance, unclaimed-case escalation and contractor performance without investigating evidence, deciding ownership or pressuring specialist conclusions.
• Run refrigeration loss, transport interruption, property discrepancy and mass-fatality exercises that expose decision rights, usable capacity, staff welfare, family communication and recovery time.
• Install the permanent leader through live capacity decisions, cross-district case conferences, family-service reviews and written acceptance of open legal, professional, infrastructure and contractor constraints.

Candidate qualifications

• Held executive authority in a multi-site mortuary, forensic service, anatomical donation, bereavement, disaster-fatality or closely comparable high-dignity custody network.
• Has recovered case flow where physical location, professional status, lawful release, personal property and receiving-party commitments stopped reconciling.
• Understands mortuary admissions, cold-capacity limitations, condition monitoring, transfer acceptance, property seals, family liaison, funeral-provider handover and surge operations.
• Can direct logistics and service capacity while protecting forensic, identification, investigative, legal, registration, facilities-safety and family decision rights.
• Has led an ethically controlled mass-fatality or facility-loss exercise, including staff welfare, cultural accommodation, information discipline and receiving-capacity validation.
• Completed a permanent handover proven through live family service, physical occupancy reconciliation, contractor control and successor-led exception decisions.

Non-negotiables

• Can be onsite in Durban within eighteen days and sustain approximately sixty percent mortuary, hospital, collection, provider and exercise travel.
• Brings direct decedent-care or comparable high-dignity custody leadership; hospital administration, facilities or fleet management alone is insufficient.
• Will disclose funeral-provider, repatriation, refrigerated-facility, transport, insurer, healthcare, public-authority and relevant investment relationships before appointment.
• Accepts no post-mortem, identification, investigative, release, registration, property-ownership, funeral, religious, repatriation or facilities-certification authority.

1. 49 words maximum. Describe an occupancy report you rejected because physical custody, lawful status or usable cold capacity did not support it.
2. 49 words maximum. How did you improve family handover speed without pressuring identification, examination or release decisions?
3. 49 words maximum. What funeral, transport, repatriation, facility, insurer or public-service relationship could constrain your independence?