Head Commodity & FX Risk

Role: Head Commodity & FX Risk

Location: Indore

Industry: Manufacturing

About the role

You will manage Company’s metal and currency book to remain neutral. The group hedges 2,000 tonnes of copper, zinc, nickel, tin, and aluminium each month against the LME, with volume rising to 3,000 tonnes, and holds payables and receivables in USD, GBP, and EUR. As per policy, every priced exposure must be hedged. The hedging position is maintained in a spreadsheet, and exposures may stay open between pricing and receipt. You will recommend each trade to the Group CFO until the hedging policy is approved, and thereafter execute trades under the authority and within the limits delegated to you.

Job Requirements

1. Relevant Industry Experience: 6–10 years of experience in commodity hedging, ideally gained with a large metals manufacturing company, cable and wire manufacturer, metals producer, or an international metals trading house. Experience from established LME hedging desks is strongly preferred.

2. Hands-on LME Trade Execution: Demonstrated experience personally placing and executing LME trades through brokers, including practical exposure to LME cash and 3-month contracts, prompt dates, contract rolls, and hedge adjustments. Candidates limited to hedge reporting, monitoring, or analytical roles will not qualify.

3. Physical-against-Paper Hedge Book Management: Proven ownership of a daily physical-against-paper hedging book, covering the management of physical purchases and sales against corresponding LME positions, calculation of net exposures, monitoring of open positions, and ensuring timely hedging for price-fixed exposures.

4. Base Metal Hedging Expertise: Strong working knowledge of base-metal hedging, particularly copper, zinc, and aluminium, with additional exposure to nickel and tin preferred. Managing substantial commodity volumes and LME-linked pricing exposures in a manufacturing or metals trading environment is essential.

5. MTM, Reconciliation and Risk Monitoring: Hands-on experience with daily position monitoring, mark-to-market (MTM) calculations, broker statement reconciliation, trade confirmations, exposure tracking, and identification and resolution of reconciliation differences.

6. Foreign Exchange Risk Management: Practical capability in managing foreign currency exposures, specifically USD, GBP, and EUR payables and receivables, using forward contracts and options. Knowledge of FEMA and RBI regulations applicable to commodity and currency hedging is required.

7. Hedging Systems, Policy and Controls: Proficiency in maintaining commodity and currency positions using spreadsheets, trading platforms, or hedging dashboards. Ability to interpret SAP purchase orders, sales orders, and pricing data, preferably across MM, SD, and FI modules. Experience in creating hedging policies, setting exposure limits, approval matrices, permitted instruments, and risk controls is preferred.

8. Leadership, Communication and Location Flexibility: Strong analytical, financial, negotiation, decision-making, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to independently run the hedging desk and report directly to the Group CFO. CA, MBA in Finance, or CFA qualification is preferred. Must be willing to relocate to Indore, Madhya Pradesh, and work on-site six days a week. Candidates from Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Ahmedabad, Udaipur, and Pune are encouraged to apply.

Job Responsibilities

1. Daily Commodity Position Management: Independently manage the daily commodity hedging desk and maintain net open positions across copper, zinc, aluminium, nickel, and tin. Monitor physical purchases, physical sales, priced and unpriced exposures, and outstanding commitments, and keep precise position records by metal and prompt date.

2. LME Trade Execution and Hedging: Personally execute LME hedging transactions through approved brokers against physical metal exposures. Ensure every price-fixed exposure is hedged on the day of pricing using the appropriate LME cash or 3-month contracts. Handle prompt dates, contract rolls, hedge adjustments, and execution timing according to approved hedging requirements.

3. Physical-against-Paper Hedge Book Management: Maintain and review the daily physical-against-paper hedge book by aligning physical metal purchases and sales with corresponding exchange-traded hedge positions. Determine net exposures, track open positions between pricing and physical receipt, minimise unhedged exposure, and ensure the commodity book stays within approved risk limits.

4. Foreign Exchange Hedging and Currency Risk Management: Identify, monitor, and hedge foreign currency exposures linked to USD, GBP, and EUR payables and receivables. Execute suitable forward contracts and options via banking partners, monitor exchange-rate movements, and manage currency exposure in line with budgeted exchange rates and approved hedging strategies.

5. Hedging Policy Development and Implementation: Develop and implement a comprehensive commodity and foreign exchange hedging policy covering permitted instruments, hedge tenors, exposure limits, approval authorities, escalation procedures, and risk parameters. Initially submit trade recommendations to the Group CFO for approval, and then execute transactions independently within delegated authority.

6. MTM, Reconciliation and Risk Controls: Prepare daily commodity and currency position reports and monthly mark-to-market statements. Reconcile open positions, executed trades, and outstanding exposures against broker and bank statements. Investigate and close discrepancies promptly, ensure complete hedge documentation is maintained, and support adherence to internal controls, FEMA and RBI regulations, and approved hedging limits.

7. Systems Integration, Reporting and Cross-functional Coordination: Run and maintain the hedging dashboard integrated with SAP purchase and sales order data. Coordinate with procurement, sales, finance, accounts, and operations to ensure accurate exposure identification, timely pricing updates, correct transaction recording, and alignment between physical commodity requirements and financial hedge positions. Provide daily exposure reporting and monthly MTM performance updates to the Group CFO.

8. Desk Development, Performance Monitoring and Strategic Risk Management: Strengthen and scale the commodity and FX hedging desk to support growth in monthly metal pricing volumes from approximately 2,000 to 3,000 tonnes. Monitor realised metal costs versus LME cash or 3-month benchmarks, track FX booked rates against budget rates, evaluate broker performance, lead broker panel reviews and re-tendering, and participate in daily position calls, metal pricing reviews, and monthly MTM discussions with the Group CFO.