GM Risk Controller (Market Risk & Credit Risk)

Olam Agri RMS

Agricultural commodities experience price changes and volatility, creating a difficult environment for producers and supply chain participants. We understand physical networks and risk, enabling us to offer smart price risk management services.

Our global team has experience in physical commodities and financial instruments trading and collectively offers over 100 years of industry practice. The RMS business provides bespoke structured solutions to address clients hedging requirements across the agricultural commodities complex through OTC and exchange-traded risk management strategies.

Role Summary

As Risk Controller - Market & Credit Risk, you will act as the second-line head of risk for RMS, responsible for establishing and overseeing the market and credit risk framework supporting RMS's global trading, structured products, margin lending, and OTC derivatives business.

You will provide independent oversight of trading and counterparty exposures, ensuring risks remain within approved appetite while enabling commercial growth. The role requires strong expertise in agricultural commodity markets, OTC derivatives, structured financing, margining frameworks, counterparty credit assessment, VaR methodologies, stress testing, and portfolio risk management.

Why This Role

This is a senior, high-impact control role offering ownership of the full market and credit risk agenda for a sophisticated and fast-growing derivatives business. It is ideal for an experienced risk professional who combines deep quantitative and credit expertise with commercial judgement and wishes to shape risk governance, analytics, and culture.

Key Responsibilities

Market Risk Management (≈30%)

Trading Risk Oversight

• Independently monitor market risk exposures across OTC derivatives, exchange-traded derivatives, structured products, and physical commodity-linked portfolios.
• Challenge and review trading positions, risk concentrations, and hedging effectiveness.
• Monitor and enforce approved risk limits including VaR, stress loss, position limits, and stop-loss thresholds.
• Escalate breaches and emerging concentrations to senior management.

Risk Analytics & Measurement

• Develop and oversee quantitative market risk methodologies and reporting frameworks.
• Monitor:
• Value at Risk (VaR) and Expected Shortfall
• Greeks and option sensitivities (Delta, Gamma, Vega, Theta, Cross-Gamma)
• Basis, spread, correlation and curve risk
• Concentration and liquidity risk
• Analyse portfolio performance and P&L attribution under different market scenarios and volatility regimes.
• Evaluate hedge effectiveness of client structures.

Stress Testing & Scenario Analysis

• Develop and perform stress testing across commodity markets.
• Evaluate impacts of:
• Extreme market events
• Supply disruptions
• Geopolitical developments
• Volatility spikes
• Correlation breakdowns
• Present findings and recommendations to senior management and risk committees.

Structured Product Risk Review

• Review risk characteristics of bespoke client structures and OTC transactions.
• Ensure appropriate pricing assumptions, hedge strategies, risk limits, and capital utilisation before approval.

Credit Risk Management (≈30%)

Counterparty Credit Assessment

• Conduct comprehensive credit reviews of customers, counterparties, financial institutions, and trading partners.
• Analyse:
• Financial statements
• Cash flow profiles
• Liquidity positions
• Business risks
• Sector dynamics
• Recommend and approve credit ratings, limits, and transaction structures.

Credit Exposure Monitoring

• Monitor current and potential future exposure (PFE).
• Track utilisation of approved credit limits.
• Implement early warning indicators to detect deterioration in credit quality.

Margin Lending & Collateral Management

• Establish and oversee margining policies and collateral management frameworks.
• Review collateral eligibility, valuation methodologies, and haircut assumptions.
• Monitor margin sufficiency and coordinate margin call processes.

Credit Portfolio Management

Assess concentration risks and conduct portfolio stress testing across:

• Counterparty and counterparty groups
• Commodity
• Geography
• Industry sector

Risk Governance, Control & Regulatory (≈15%)

• Design and maintain an integrated market and credit risk governance framework.
• Lead risk policy development and periodic reviews.
• Ensure adherence to risk appetite, governance standards, and delegated authorities.
• Drive independent challenge of new products and transactions through approval processes.
• Support risk committee discussions and board-level reporting.
• Ensure regulatory compliance across commodity trading and OTC derivatives activities.
• Liaise with audit, compliance, legal, and external stakeholders.
• Translate regulatory and industry developments into practical risk enhancements.

Stakeholder Management & Commercial Partnership (≈15%)

• Partner closely with Trading, Structuring, Sales, Finance, Operations, Legal & Compliance, Treasury, and Senior Management teams.
• Provide practical and timely risk insights supporting commercial decision-making.
• Engage with clients and counterparties on risk, collateral, credit terms, and margining arrangements.

Risk Infrastructure (≈10%)

• Build and lead a high-performing market and credit risk function.
• Foster a strong risk culture through governance and independent challenge.
• Enhance risk systems, analytics, data, reporting capabilities, model development, validation, and automation.

Success Measures

• Robust and independent market and credit risk framework covering the RMS portfolio.
• Disciplined management of trading and counterparty exposures within risk appetite.
• Sustainable business growth supported by commercially minded risk partnership.
• Strengthened governance, reporting, and transparency for senior management and board forums.
• Proactive identification and mitigation of emerging market and credit risks.

Job Requirements

Experience

• 10-12+ years of experience in market risk, credit risk, commodity trading risk management, or financial risk management.
• Proven track record in a second-line risk control role.
• Experience in agricultural commodities, commodity trading houses, OTC derivatives, structured products, commodity finance and lending, and/or risk management solutions businesses.
• Experience overseeing both market and credit risk, including margin lending and collateralized exposures.
• Experience presenting to risk committees, senior management, auditors, and regulators.

Technical Expertise

Strong understanding of:

• Commodity markets, exchange-traded and OTC derivatives
• Option structures and structured hedging products
• OTC documentation, ISDA/CSA frameworks and netting
• Margining and collateral management
• VaR, Expected Shortfall and stress testing methodologies
• Counterparty credit risk, PFE and exposure modelling
• Credit scoring, rating methodologies, and financial statement analysis
• Risk analytics, data and reporting tools

Skills & Competencies

• Strong independent judgement and ability to challenge senior traders and structurers constructively.
• Commercial mindset with a disciplined and control-oriented approach to risk.
• Advanced quantitative and analytical capability.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Proven people leadership and ability to build a risk function and culture.

Education & Certifications

• Master's degree in Finance, Economics, Risk Management, Mathematics, or related discipline, or Chartered Accountant qualification.
• FRM, CFA, or PRM certifications strongly preferred.