Vault Manager, Precious Metals Operations

A hands-on role for an experienced vault or secure-operations professional. Our client, an established precious metals business, is opening a new high-security vault in Central Switzerland. Working closely with senior management, you will set up the procedures, work alongside your team in daily vault operations and make sure every asset is accounted for. Ideal for a practical operator who combines precision with reliability. Fluent German and good English.

Vault Manager, Precious Metals Operations
Central Switzerland | Permanent, full time, on site

About our client
Robert Walters is partnering with a well-established, privately owned business in the precious metals sector. Trusted by its clients for discretion, security and long-term thinking, the company is investing in a new, state-of-the-art, high-security vault facility in Central Switzerland.

The opportunity
This is a hands-on operational role with real responsibility. You will help prepare the vault for opening and then run it day to day, working alongside your team on the vault floor rather than managing from a distance.

Working closely with senior management, you will turn a high-security facility into a reliable, audit-ready operation. You will set up and document the procedures, take part in daily receipts, movements and stocktakes, including the physical handling of metal, and recruit and train a small team who will work to the standards you set.

This role suits someone who enjoys being close to the operation. Particularly in the early phase, you will be doing the work as much as organising it. If you are looking primarily for a management or supervisory role, this is unlikely to be the right fit.

What you will do

Preparing for opening

• Set up and document the vault’s operating procedures, controls, handovers and escalation processes
• Establish practical processes for goods receipt, storage, inventory and stocktakes, with records that stand up to internal, client, insurer and customs scrutiny
• Contribute to making the facility’s security arrangements work in daily practice
• Work with a modern, fully traceable digital inventory platform and help shape the tools and reporting the operation relies on
• Recruit, onboard and train the vault team, and lead by example from day one
• Build working relationships with secure-transport providers, insurers, auditors and customs contacts

Running the vault, hands-on

• Carry out and oversee daily vault operations: receipts and dispatches, storage, movements and client-related operations, including the physical handling of metal and the use of handling equipment
• Personally take part in regular and surprise stocktakes, reconciliations and the investigation of any discrepancy
• Apply controls consistently, every day, and escalate concerns calmly and promptly
• Keep records accurate and audit-ready, and support audits and inspections
• Coordinate with secure-transport partners, insurers and, where relevant, customs authorities
• Represent the facility to clients during visits, explaining confidently how things are done
• Work alongside, coach and develop the team, plan the team’s work and cover, and maintain a culture of precision, discretion and accountability
• Keep improving procedures as the operation matures

What you will bring

Essential

• Several years’ hands-on experience in a secure, controlled physical operation, such as a vault, cash centre, safe custody, high-value warehouse, secure store or similar environment
• Personal accountability for valuable, restricted or traceable assets, stock or client property
• Practical, first-hand experience of goods receipt, stock accuracy, stocktakes, discrepancy investigation and audit-ready records
• A sound understanding of security procedures, controlled access, documented handovers, incident escalation and loss prevention
• Experience working to, and ideally writing or improving, documented procedures in a regulated or tightly controlled setting
• Experience training or guiding colleagues, ideally as a team leader or deputy who stays close to the work
• Fluent German and good working English
• Able to work on site full time, with a sustainable commute or a credible plan to relocate
• Willingness to undergo enhanced background, criminal record and debt register checks, with your consent and in line with Swiss law

Advantageous

• Precious metals, bullion or valuables custody experience
• An understanding of customs processes for bonded goods (for example free zone or customs warehouse procedures, Passar), or a willingness to learn them
• Experience helping to set up a new site, function or operation, or substantially improving an existing one
• Exposure to secure-transport providers, insurers, auditors or customs authorities
• French language skills

We would like to hear from you if your background is in, for example:

• Bank logistics, vault or cash-centre operations, safe custody or physical custody
• Defence, arsenal, aviation or other secure stores and controlled materials
• Vaulting, valuables logistics or precious metals refining
• Valuables or high-value desks in freight forwarding or airport cargo
• Customs warehousing, free zones or high-value logistics
• Casino cash operations or other tightly regulated cash environments

Direct bullion experience is a bonus, not a must. If you have worked hands-on in a disciplined, high-trust operation and can show how you protected and accounted for valuable assets, we would like to talk to you. Specialist training and support will be provided where needed.

About you

• Practical and hands-on: you are comfortable doing the work yourself and enjoy being part of the daily operation
• Calm, discreet and reliable, with a strong sense of personal accountability
• Precise and well organised, with a natural eye for detail and for what could go wrong
• Confident enough to apply controls consistently and say no when it matters
• Steady under pressure, and someone who escalates early rather than late
• A practical builder who enjoys creating structure where none exists yet
• A team player who leads by example and earns respect through competence

What is on offer

• A newly created, hands-on role with real responsibility in a new high-security operation
• A long-term role for someone who wants to grow with the business for many years
• Close working relationship with senior management and short decision paths
• A small, close-knit team that you help to recruit and shape
• A modern, purpose-built facility in Central Switzerland: a rare opportunity close to home for professionals based in the region
• An attractive salary and benefits package
• Start date: ideally in the first quarter of 2027

Location and working pattern
The vault is in Central Switzerland. The role is on site and full time, Monday to Friday during daytime hours, with occasional flexibility when the business needs it. Further details, including the exact location, will be shared with suitable candidates as the process progresses.

Confidentiality
We understand that discretion matters to you as much as it does to our client. Every application and conversation will be handled in the strictest confidence. We will not share your details with our client without your explicit agreement, and our client’s name will be shared at the appropriate stage of the process.

How to apply
Click “Apply” to send your CV in English or German.