Lead Credit & Collections Representative (2-years fixed-term)

Work Schedule

Environmental Conditions

Job Description

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.

DESCRIPTION:
Join our team as a Lead Credit & Collections Representative and contribute to our financial operations. In this position, you'll manage a portfolio of customer accounts, leading credit management tasks including credit limit calculations, approvals, and maintenance. You'll serve as the primary point of contact for resolving issues related to disputes, non-payment, and account reconciliation through customer engagement and cross-functional collaboration. We're seeking a detail-oriented professional with excellent communication skills who can mentor team members while maintaining strong customer relationships and meeting performance metrics.

Requirements:

• Minimum 4 years of experience in credit and collections, particularly with governmental and commercial customers

• Preferred Fields of Study: accounting, finance, or related field

• Fluent in English and another European language (French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, or Dutch)

• Expert knowledge of ERP systems (Oracle E1, SAP) and collection software (CForia)

• Strong proficiency in Microsoft Office suite (Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint)

• Excellent communication and negotiation skills for managing customer relationships

• Proven ability to work independently and resolve complex issues

• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities

• Demonstrated expertise in credit & collections processes and accounting systems

• Experience with Sarbanes-Oxley compliance and internal controls

• Ability to train and mentor team members

• Strong organizational and time management skills

• Process improvement methodology knowledge

• Adaptable to changing priorities

• Detail-oriented with high accuracy standards

• Proven record of meeting targets and SLAs

• Ability to lead and coordinate cross-functional meetings

Responsibilities:

• Perform checks and evaluate credit limits on new and existing customer accounts within the designated portfolio in line with company policy.

• Carry out necessary procedures to place accounts on hold on assigned acounts, and closely monitor them to ensure timely release of orders upon receipt of payment or appropriate evidence.

• Liaise with other departments and communicate credit hold or block decisions to all relevant parties.

• Update core systems manually to accurately reflect credit limits, hold status, etc.

• Proactively contact customers, primarily by telephone, to ensure invoice processing and timely payments have been scheduled.

• Plan and prioritise customer calls regularly to maximise collections on the largest open invoices.

• Review customer accounts on a regular basis and work with Sales and Customer Services to resolve problem accounts and determine when accounts should be placed on hold.

• Log, monitor and coordinate customer complaints by liaising with the relevant functions to ensure prompt resolution.

• Arrange and lead internal and external customer meetings to address and resolve issues related to disputes, non-payment, or account reconciliation.

• Allocate credits in consultation with Cash allocation team, Customer Services and customers.

• Consistently meet assigned targets and fulfil Service Level Agreements (SLAs).

• Ensure collection software is updated at all times with regards to actions taken, follow-ups needed, dispute reporting and most recent customer contact details.

• Ensure the performance of all tasks is carried out in accordance with company policies, internal controls and Sarbanes-Oxley requirements.