Team Leader Credit & Collections

Business Job Title: Team Leader Credit & Collections

Career Band: 05

Career Track: Professional

Position Location: Budapest, Hungary

Number of Direct Reports: max. 8

When you are part of Thermo Fisher Scientific, you’ll do challenging work, and be part of a team that values performance, quality and innovation. As part of a successful, growing global organization you will be encouraged to perform at your best. With revenues of $40 billion and the largest investment in R&D in the industry, we give our people the resources and opportunities to make significant contributions to the world.

Position Summary:

As a Team Leader of the Credit and Collections team, your role will involve overseeing the operations and performance of the team. The primary objective is to achieve all Accounts Receivable (AR) targets, including cash collected, minimizing bad debt, and reducing overdue debt while ensuring adherence to Service level agreements (SLAs) on credit risk management. Additionally, you will be expected to meet the company’s targets for effective team management and engagement.

The role would suit a candidate with excellent rapport building ability, strong verbal and written communication skills, strong people management and leadership. Skills. Experience in credit and collections and passion to achieve critical metrics are crucial to fully grasp the complexity of the role.

Responsibilities:

• Responsible for performance management and development of the team through regular 1-1s and portfolio reviews
• Review and sign off of customer credit limits, maintaining an appropriate level of credit risk, including analyzing and approving credit applications.
• Lead the collection process for delinquent accounts to ensure a strong receivable, including establishing relationships with collection agencies and attorneys.
• Resolve disputes with customers and other departments in a timely manner.
• Collaborate closely with Customer Service managers and Commercial teams to improve credit quality and cash flow and to ensure efficient processes.
• Provide support in collecting high-risk accounts.
• Maintain accurate documentation and information in customer credit files, in compliance with regulations.
• Collaborate effectively with Internal and External Audit teams to facilitate testing procedures.
• Drive a culture of continuous process improvements with the goal of creating lean processes and standardization
• Undertake other projects and responsibilities as assigned.
• Ensure the performance of all tasks is carried out in line with company policies, internal controls and Sarbanes-Oxley requirements.

Skills & Qualifications Required:

• Skills:

Strong leadership skills, ability to inspire and motivate team members, set clear expectations, and provide guidance and support.

Effective communication skills are critical in order to convey expectations, provide feedback, and lead successful negotiations.

Strong problem-solving skills to handle complex situations, identify root causes, and develop effective solutions.

Analytical skills, able to interpret financial data, credit reports, and customer information to make informed decisions and accurate forecast of KPIs and manage credit risk effectively.

Excellent organizational skills: being able to prioritize tasks, manage multiple projects simultaneously, and meet deadlines.

Working collaboratively with other departments, such as Sales and Customer Service, to improve credit quality and cash flow.

Establishing and maintaining strong relationships with customers, collection agencies, and attorneys to ensure effective debt recovery.

Flexibility and adaptability to changing business needs and priorities.

Excellent attention to detail to ensure accuracy in credit assessments, documentation, and reporting.

Knowledge of regulations: Staying up to date with laws and regulations related to credit, collections, bankruptcy, and other relevant areas.

Solid understanding of basic and advanced accounting principles.

• Qualifications and experience:

Fluent in English (and fluency in any other European language is an advantage)

University or College degree / degree in accounting or finance is an advantage

Previous experience in leading an operational team in accounts receivable or customer service function dealing with Governmental as well as Commercial customers is preferred

Relevant software application proficiency is required (e.g., Oracle E1, SAP, CForia, etc.)

Excellent digital literacy and knowledge of the Microsoft Office software is required (Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.)

Work Schedule

Standard (Mon-Fri)

Environmental Conditions

Office

As part of the Thermo Fisher Scientific team, you’ll discover meaningful work that makes a positive impact on a global scale. Join our colleagues in bringing our Mission to life every single day to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. We provide our global teams with the resources needed to achieve individual career goals while helping to take science a step beyond by developing solutions for some of the world’s toughest challenges, like protecting the environment, making sure our food is safe or helping find cures for cancer.