Africa Cash Manager at GE - General Electric

Role Summary/Purpose:    

The Africa Cash Manager is responsible for financial and operational ownership of key cash metrics including collections, bad debt reserve, and funds flow including cash generation from monetization pool. The position indirectly leads a team of collections specialists to drive collections effectiveness by optimizing collections team performance through rigorous metrics for a large or complex country/region

Essential Responsibilities:    

Duties include (but are not limited to):

- Driving reduction in aged balances/past dues and ensuring cash collection performance through leading operational rhythm of reviewing big past due drivers and driving accountability within collections and the commercial field teams
- Establishing operating metrics and scorecards to review key metrics by LCT (Local Customer Territory) on a weekly basis across the field and collections (actuals and estimates)
- Working with six sigma team to ensure process fixes on non payment reasons and ensure GECARS implementation and utilization
- Owning Bad Debt Reserve calculation as per GE policies and supporting/defending its rationale with HQ controllers, Internal & external auditors. Ensuring Operational teams alignment.
- Driving business bad debt targets within zones and ensure right third party process to drive bad debt reduction
- Driving customer credit worthiness review and ensuring all credit risk customers are flagged during sign up of contracts, also ensure portfolio health to proactively analyze any credit/bankruptcy risk
- Driving analysis of key non payment reason codes to fix upfront business processes driving non payments on key dispute codes
- Setting up metrics and operating mechanisms to measure the performance of cash collection teams with regards to cash collection performance and accuracy of estimates
- Effectively managing/leading/coordinating/developing a team of cash leaders, cash collectors and analysts, determining clear roles & responsibilities, identifying and driving development needs to ensure superior cash collection results. Setting up when needed incentive compensation schemes in line with the company goals & objectives
- Managing multiple value streams, serving as a recognized expert and resource leader for focus areas, process rigor, and delivering significant simplification results. Facilitating workouts, value stream mapping sessions and activities to achieve tangible improvement in cash collection.
- Initiating sustainable process improvements to simplify, improve accuracy and timeliness of invoicing activities, collections prioritization and dispute resolution.
- Deploying new tools, processes, methodologies in order to detect upfront once equipment/service is rendered any potential future cash collection issues. Regularly tracking and monitoring operational issues and customer satisfaction in post-sale phase before collection. Timely driving resolution when needed.
- Analyzing and segmenting A/R portfolio dynamic throughout the Quarters to propose adequate credit policies to improve selected key metrics

Qualifications/Requirements:    

1. Bachelors degree in accounting, finance, or other business related field and 6 years work experience in finance, collections, customer service, OTR process, or customer service-related field with a minimum of 10 years experience in multinational business environment

Additional Eligibility Qualifications:    
Desired Characteristics:    

1. Excellent communication skills: experience working across multiple levels, functions and regions; able to clearly communicate complex information in an easy to understand manner; able to deliver message effectively verbally and in writing; able to make presentations to leadership.
2. Effective time management, organizational skills, project management; able to balance multiple priorities and demonstrate strong commitment to deadlines and results
3. Demonstrated leadership skills: Minimum 2 years experience leading teams, ability to work closely with diverse groups and drive common goals in a global business environment
4. Strong relationship management skills and an ability to lead in team environment and matrix organization
5. Demonstrated experience with Oracle, COGNOS, and other business systems
6. Confidence / Assertiveness: strong influencing skills across business functions; confidence to approach all levels of management and staff and facilitate necessary dialogue
7. Strong analytic skills: able to clearly link financial results to operational performance drivers, generate alternatives and drive positive change
8. Clear thinking/problem solving: successfully led projects/process improvements within operations/finance functions; able to quickly grasp new ideas
9. Adaptable/Flexible: being open to change in response to new information, different or unexpected circumstances, and/or to work in ambiguous situations
10. Integrity: accepting and adhering to high moral, ethical, and personal values in decisions, communications, actions and when dealing with others
11. Experience working in a matrixed and regional environment
12. Trained and/or certified in process improvement methodology such as LEAN or Six Sigma

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