The Role
COO/ Head of ETD Commodity Operations & Risk Management Oversight - Boutique Hedge Fund (Operations & Risk hybrid - standalone role initially)
Martis Search are exclusively partnering with a boutique Mayfair based Hedge Fund to hire a permanent “COO/ Head of ETD Commodity Operations & Risk Management.”
The role is initially a stand-alone role based supporting various mainly ETD Commodity Futures & Options Traders. The chosen incumbent will be the sole person responsible for the full trade-life cycle of all trades, liaising directly with Prime Brokers and external Administrators.
There is also % element of the role to be responsible for all “Market Risk and Investment Risk Management Oversight” (70 % Operations – 30 % Risk Management Oversight). This means, alongside working with the Front Office, CEO and other C Suite level from an Operational perspective, you will also be responsible for and also own the “Market Risk and Investment Risk Management Oversight.”
Our client is happy to look at someone who has both hands and senior ETD Commodity Operations & Risk Management Oversight experience, ideally gained within a Hedge Fund, Asset Manager, but also will look at a Commodity Trading house, or Brokerage background too. There is also a chance to hire maybe x 1 other Operations Analyst in the future as the business continues to grow.
Our client are in the office more days than working-from-home, however, there is flexibility and hybrid working. For the first few months though, our client would expect the chosen incumbent to be in the office for x 5 days per week until they to grips with the inner workings of the role (and to then have more flexibility to work-from-home).
The role combines daily Operational ownership with the seniority to act as the firm’s senior Operations SME and Risk Management lead. Compliance and MLRO responsibilities sit elsewhere within the firm; this role liaises from time to time with the firm’s external compliance consultants on regulatory reporting but does not own the Compliance function.
Our client expects the successful candidate to be a strong advocate for technology and automation. Technical skills (Excel/VBA, SQL, Python) are not required, but a clear instinct for automating manual work, designing scalable processes, and pushing the firm’s tooling forward is essential.
Key Responsibilities
This is a hands-on role. The successful candidate will personally own the work below — not delegate it, or supervise it from a distance.
* Owning the full trade lifecycle across listed derivatives (ETD’s/ Futures & Options), Cleared OTC, and Physical Copper — Confirmations, Allocations, Give-Ups, Settlements, Expiries, Margins, and the resolution of any Reconciliations breaks.
* Owning daily Reconciliations — trade, position, cash, brokerage, PB/FCM statements — and the integrity of positions, P&L and reference data in the CTRM (Loqsea).
* Owning Treasury and Payments — instructing Payments from Manco accounts, approving payments from fund accounts as authorised signatory, executing cash movements between trading accounts, and managing borrowing-base and financing rolls.
* Owning the day-to-day relationships with Prime Brokers, FCMs, Clearing Banks, Fund Administrator and Depositary; signing off the monthly NAV.
* Owning the Operational running of the Physical Copper book — warehouse receipts, LME Warrants, financing rolls, insurance, assays, freight, demurrage.
* Owning the Risk function: setting and monitoring credit and exposure limits at PBs/FCMs; daily measurement and review of VaR, exposure, market, credit and liquidity risk on the derivatives book; assessing the impact of market events and scenarios on the books and escalating to the founder/MD; warehousing, title, insurance and logistics risk on the physical book.
* Owning the operational, finance and administrative running of the firm — brokerage and invoice approvals, expense and vendor management, audit support, fund board reporting input, BCP and information-security oversight with the outsourced IT provider.
* Liaison with external compliance consultants on regulatory reporting (EMIR / UK EMIR via DTCC, AIFMD Annex IV, position reporting, periodic FCA/CFTC submissions); liaison with auditors, depositary, and fund directors.
* Driving automation and tooling improvements across the operations stack — partnering with the firm’s outsourced IT provider and pushing for scalable, low-touch processes wherever manual work can be eliminated.
Candidate Profile
* Approximately 10+ years in Commodity-focused Operations, Risk, or COO functions at an Investment Manager, Hedge Fund, Commodity Trading House, or comparable institution.
* Deep familiarity with Listed & Cleared Commodity Derivatives — Exchanges, Clearing, Trade Lifecycle, Margin, Expiry, Give-Ups.
* Solid working knowledge of risk concepts — VaR, exposure measurement, sensitivities, stress and scenario analysis — and a clear ability to read a book and articulate how market events would impact P&L, margin and liquidity. The successful candidate does not need to be a quant, but must be confident discussing risk substantively with the founder/MD and the trading team.
* Hands-on experience with PB/ FCM relationships, authorised-person paperwork, and credit/exposure limit frameworks.
* Track record of personally owning fund-side operations: NAV, reconciliations, payments, fund admin and depositary liaison, audit support.
* Strong pro-technology mindset — instinct for automating manual work and improving tooling, even if not personally technical.
* Operator mindset suited to a lean, owner-managed firm: pragmatic, hands-on, and genuinely comfortable owning execution rather than supervising it.
Strong advantages: experience with Physical Commodities (Warrants, Borrowing-Base, Title); dual UK/US regulation (FCA + CFTC/NFA); familiarity with our stack (Loqsea, TT, WebICE, Bloomberg, FIA Tech, DTCC GTR); personal proficiency with Excel/VBA, SQL or Python
Salary:
Between £110 k pa - £130 k pa (possibly higher) plus a highly competitive discretionary bonus, plus healthcare, pension, electric car subsidy.