The Senior Manager, Customer Financial Partnerships is the lead customer liaison on behalf of GCFO with both external advertising agencies or clients-direct and internal Sales leadership and manages a large and diverse accounts receivable portfolio with a client-focus mindset on achieving optimal customer on-boarding experience, credit evaluation, collections, and dispute management. This role is responsible for performing complex credit evaluations and decisioning on new and existing customers.

• Manage and drive performance of up to two managers.
• The Sr. Manager is accountable for ensuring the integrity of active customer master data and compliance of AML/KYC policies. Manage customer account portfolio to continually achieve operational excellence and drive continuous improvement for collections, customer service and process improvements.
• Perform due diligence to ensure compliance to NBCU’s liability, billing, or payment terms. Facilitate sales through creative and collaborative solutioning with Sales and Legal.
• Identify, recommend and support optimization efforts through continuous improvements and technology enabled solutions (e.g. RPA). Participate in process automation projects by assisting with analysis, UAT testing, communicating results.
• Grow customer relationships externally and internally with all levels of inter-dependent order-to-cash teams. Collaborate with cross functional stakeholders and BPO to enhance Credit & Collection strategies, improve collection processes, resolve disputes and customer service issues to help ensure high-performance outcome.
• Collaborate with the Credit Risk Team on performing financial and credit analysis regarding new customer applications, past due accounts, high risk customers and other financial impact areas.
• Perform data analytics and present key business insights to influence customer and sales leadership on process improvements to effect efficiencies and provide better customer experience. Ability to think strategically, act operationally, manage risk and align future direction with priorities.
• Align with Sales Partnership teams in developing plans to effectively resolve collection matters or in defense of special credit terms while preserving customer relationship.
• Develop collections strategy leveraging predictive analytics, credit risks scores, and historical data to proactively achieve optimal collections on vast portfolio.
• Prepare monthly cash forecasts and variance analysis.
• Obtain customer payment commitments and identify root cause of issue impeding collections.
• Timely resolve complex disputes with cross-functional teams.
• Provide exceptional customer service and timeliness when addressing inquiries. Combine the ability to “get into the weeds” and partnerships with management team in developing best-in-class strategies for the organization.
• Lead BPO in researching and resolving cash application queries and reconciling cash-in-advance accounts. Assist with upskilling and hands on coaching.
• Contribute to the department through thought-leadership; be an active participant in internal education and opportunities to improve process and/or system efficiencies.
• Ability to analyze financial data and prepare financial reconciliations schedules.

Basic Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or related field
• 8+ years credit and collections experience, preferably media industry and/or shared services model
• Expertise in evaluating complex credit profiles, scores, and financials and providing defensible credit decisions
• Advanced Excel skills with experience and comfortability with mining data and analysis
• Excellent organizational skills
• Proven ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment and agility to pivot as needed
• Extensive knowledge of key performance indicators in order-to-cash processes
• Solid experience in customer-centric role, building relationships both internally and externally
• Proven capacity to sift through complex AR and risk data, perform analysis, and identify relevant and meaningful insights
• Demonstrated process improvement experience in order-to-cash
• Knowledge of bankruptcy law and proactive measures in credit and collections management to avert bad debt and preference claim
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills

Desired Characteristics

• Highly resourceful with the ability to problem solve issues that may arise
• Knowledge of information technology tools for a high transaction environment (e.g. RPA, BOTs)
• An ability to quickly build relationships with a variety of stakeholders, both internal and external
• Desire to promote a positive culture
• Proficient with ERP systems, SAP preferred, and Salesforce
• PowerPoint, a plus