Credit Control Supervisor

Salary: £29,605 to £30,487 with progression to £32,982 per annum
Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent . We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.
Closing Date: 14 January 2024
The Role
Newcastle University Finance Hub is a large team of skilled and experienced colleagues who manage the financial business activities of the University. We provide a professional and proactive service to our students, colleagues and stakeholders. We are committed to supporting the personal and professional development of our team.
The Income Processing Team is seeking to appoint a professional and enthusiastic Credit Control Supervisor to join our talented and supportive team. You will work within the guidelines of the University Credit Policy to pursue debt related to Research Services, NHS Trusts and other General Income. You will manage and lead a Team of 3 and produce various management reports for review on a regular basis. You will manage your own workload on a day-to-day basis with minimum supervision and be able to prioritise work independently. You will need to be an excellent communicator as much of the work involves communicating internally with Schools/Units and externally with customers on a daily basis whilst also presenting a high level of customer service.
Please ensure you upload a covering letter with your CV when applying for this vacancy.
For any informal chat on the job, the applicant can contact Jan Hunter on 0191 2087104.
We are committed to building and maintaining a fair and inclusive working environment and we would be happy to discuss arrangements for flexible and/or blended/hybrid working. During your time spent on the University campus, you will be based in the heart of Newcastle city centre and be able to take advantage of all that has to offer.
Key Accountabilities

• Oversee the implementation of the Credit Policy with regard to general/commercial debtors and research debtors. This involves activities from credit checking to consistent recovery procedures through letters, telephone calls, emails and consultation with schools and Heads of Schools
• Supervise, develop and train the Credit Control Team to maintain compliance with the Credit Policy and to offer support, guidance and motivation to team members in carrying out their duties
• Monitor performance of the Credit Control Team and take remedial actions where necessary to ensure maximum income collection in a timely manner. This involves month end reporting and review of outstanding debt with team members
• Assess and identify credit risk on customer accounts to reduce exposure to the debtor’s ledger and minimise potential bad debt, advising staff on risks related to new customers and contracts and setting and monitoring of credit limits on customer accounts
• Identify bad and doubtful debt and ensure that every endeavour is made to achieve collection. Place any suitable debt with a debt collection agency and recommend to the Income Section Manager those items that should be written off and those that should form part of the provision for bad debt
• Oversee and manage the maintenance of the customer and other databases to ensure a prompt response service to schools where new data is requested. A considerable level of interaction is required to ensure the correct information is captured
• Identify improvements to be made to Credit Control procedures and to make recommendation to the Deputy Income Section Manager
• Use Dunn and Bradstreet website for credit checking and continuous risk assessment purposes and liaise with their customer relationship manager regarding negotiating the annual renewal of the contract

The Person
Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• High level understanding of IT systems and ability to design and compile report specifications using Microsoft Office and/or SAP financial systems (or similar systems)
• Excellent interpersonal skills in order to communicate with internal and external customers
• Good level of literacy and numeracy in order to interpret and communicate financial data effectively
• The ability to work quickly and accurately to time in order to meet University deadlines
• Ability to work under pressure, using initiative to prioritise own workload and that of the Credit Control team in order to meet Finance deadlines
• Recent relevant experience working within a finance team of a large organisation
• Excellent organisation and administrative skills
• Experience leading a team and developing staff on a day-to-day basis

Attributes and Behaviour

• Identifies quickly what is important and prioritises accordingly
• Embraces change, reviewing and revising plans and ways of working to meet with changing circumstances
• Works in a planned and structured way, managing workload and tasks systematically ensuring activities are complete on time
• Encourages and supports a free flow of communication and information across own area, and the wider University where appropriate
• Can put forward own view whilst listening and respecting the views and opinions of others
• Uses systems and tools to ensure records and audit trails are clear and up to date

Qualifications

• Educated to A’ Level or qualified to equivalent standard by relevant experience
• An up-to-date knowledge of Credit Control law and procedures
• CICM Level 3 Certificate in Credit Management or equivalent qualification by relevant experience
• It is desirable that you have membership of the Chartered Institute of Credit Management or similar organisation

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.
We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.
At Newcastle University we hold a silver award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. We also hold a Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC. We are a employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.
In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.
Requisition ID: 26517