Manager Credit Control - EM South at adidas Group

Purpose & Overall Relevance for the Organization:


The role is responsible for overseeing and driving all Credit Management activities within the local Wholesale business. This includes managing credit risk, safeguarding accounts receivable through proactive risk mitigation, high quality execution of daily operational processes and ensuring strong cash flow management.


Key Responsibilities:


Drive timely collection of receivables by proactively managing customer interactions, resolving root causes of payment delays, and maintaining strong customer relationships to ensure consistent and sustainable payment performance.
Assess & review the credit risk of the customer on regular basis, calculate and suggest the required credit limits
Decide on the release of the blocked orders and ensure timely release
Provide insight in the development of the accounts receivable position of the customer to sales and finance teams
Manage the relationship with customer service, sales, DC operations and other key stakeholders in the business to facilitate and streamline processes
Preparation of monthly reconciliations of Key Accounts for review by the Senior Credit Manager
Accurate and timely monthly cash flow forecasting
Identify improvement opportunities and drive their implementation
Ensure the lowest possible write off for uncollectable balances
Calculate the bad debt provision journal and provide insight into the calculation of the required provision for uncollectable balances
Play an active role in the credit note and returns handling process
Support ongoing projects for the implementation of new technology solutions
Support requests from partner Finance department
Establish and maintain strong financial controls over the work performed


Reporting and Analysis:


Review the monthly customer age analysis to identify overdue balances, assess credit risks and define follow up actions to improve collection performance
Review of Customer Reconciliations to confirm alignment between customer and accounting records, investigate variances, escalate unresolved discrepancies, and ensure corrective actions are implemented promptly to clear long outstanding items.
Review of monthly credit note report to validate the accuracy and appropriateness of issued credit notes, identify trends or unusual activity, and ensure compliance with internal policies and controls.
Preparation of an accurate monthly cash flow forecast for accounts receivables


People Leadership:


Provide leadership and guidance to direct reports to ensure inspired and engaged team
Monitor and measure progress against individual and team KPI's


Key Relationships:


External Customers
Customer Service
Supply Chain
Sales
Finance


KPI's


DSO's
Overdue Receivables
Bad Debts
Cash Flow forecasting


Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:


High degree of customer orientation
Strong Finance Acumen
Experience with SAP S4 HANA
Strong Excel skills (Pivot Tables, VLOOKUPS, SUMIFS etc)
Good Problem solving and analytical skills
Self-motivated and self-directed individual
Ability to accept and work towards tight deadlines
Collaboration with all colleagues from all levels across the business
Outcome-focused and accountable leader
Ability to work in a constantly changing environment


Requisite Education and Experience / Minimum Qualifications:


Accounting qualification preferably university degree (E.g Bcom)
Minimum 5 - 10 years post qualification experience in the accounting / business area
Minimum 2-5 years managerial experience
Experience in managing customer relationships
Broad and deep theoretical understanding of the finance job function
Experience in SAP S4 HANA, MS Office and modern Communication Tools
Very good command of the English language, both verbal and written
Experience using AI (MS Co-Pilot) advantageous