Collections Manager

The Collections Manager will coordinate and manage day-to-day activities of the collection teams. This role is responsible for building and developing an exceptional performing team in driving Credit and Collection operations to manage trade collections while supporting the company's growth and protecting shareholder value. Initiate and facilitate changes to further improve collection results and increase collections efficiency and effectiveness. Provide monthly metric reporting and analysis on overall collection performance and individual performance of collection resources. Ensure adequate processes are in place to maintain controls and compliance with SOX defined processes. Additionally, will partner with sales, finance, and other functional leaders to drive Order to Cash excellence across the Ecolab businesses.

Responsibilities:

• Accountable for $50M trade accounts receivable portfolio across NA Institutional divisions
• Partner with business leaders across multiple divisions and across various organizational levels to implement solutions to drive end-to-end OTC process execution.
• Manage high-risk customers, controlling and managing credit exposure and extension in compliance with policy.
• Lead team of associates, holding associates accountable to accelerate collections, minimize AR aging, hold customers to invoice terms and improve portfolio health
• Credit policy enforcement
• Monitor AR portfolio and working capital trends to manage issues, accelerate cash flow, identify opportunities for process improvement and provide KPI's, commentary and analysis for senior finance leadership, division management and internal/external/SOX auditors
• Collaborate with Divisional finance and sales management on key credit issues, impacts to the division, portfolio trends, and balance sheet planning.
• Lead special projects affecting Credit and Collections (integrations, divestitures, system upgrades, audits, policy harmonization)
• Work closely with Order-to-Cash functional leadership, project deployment leaders and IT on business or system issues and process improvement initiatives
• Train and develop high performing teams while driving standardization and continuous improvement
• Interfaces with other support functions (credit ops, dispute mgt, etc.) to ensure appropriate service delivery and support.

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree
• Minimum 10 years of combined experience in accounting, finance or credit management
• Demonstrated experience in leading a high performing team, business-oriented teams that have a sense of urgency, a focus on results, and a commitment to quality
• Experience leading cross-functional projects in a finance environment
• Experience working on strategic initiatives in cross functional environment
• Demonstrated ability to understand the goals of a global business and develop an in-depth vision in support these goals
• Experience communicating to all levels of the organization
• Experience building and leading high performing teams
• Excellent verbal and written communication, with the ability to converse at all levels internally across distances and externally with customers
• Fluent in English + at least one regional language
• Proficient with using SAP as well as Microsoft Office applications, particularly Excel, PowerPoint and Access
• Demonstrated ability to influence without authority
• Demonstrated ability to lead process change

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting or Finance
• Experience managing time demands, incomplete information or unexpected events
• Solid organizational and planning skills
• Experience delivering results while leading a large team
• Other local language(s)
• Experience with a multinational enterprise operating within a matrix organization
• Experience with working in a shared services environment