Credit & Collections Manager - ABD

Sears Holdings Corporation is the nation's third largest broadline retailer, with approximately $55 billion in annual revenues, and with approximately 3,800 full-line and specialty retail stores in the United States and Canada. Formed in March 2005 from the merger of Sears and Kmart, Sears Holdings is the leading home appliance retailer as well as a leader in tools, lawn and garden, home electronics and automotive repair and maintenance. Key proprietary brands include Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard, and a broad apparel offering, including such well-known labels as Lands' End, Jaclyn Smith and Joe Boxer, as well as the Apostrophe and Covington brands. It also has Martha Stewart Everyday products, which are offered exclusively in the U.S. by Kmart and in Canada by Sears Canada. The company is the nation's largest provider of home services, with more than 14 million service calls made annually. For more information, visit Sears Holdings' website at http://www.searsholdings.com.

Sears Holdings Corporation is committed to improving the lives of our customers by providing quality services, products and solutions that earn their trust and build lifetime relationships. We are proud of our diverse, high-performance team work environment and we strive for continuous improvement through keen focus on growth, effectiveness and a sense of urgency. Individuals who are driven to earn our customers' trust and business every day, who act with integrity, who treat everyone fairly and value diversity, and who are accountable for their actions are welcome to show interest in becoming a member of our winning team.

Job Summary

The Credit & Collections Manager is responsible and accountable for the credit policies, credit worthiness of new and existing customer accounts, invoicing, cash application, credit card processing, collection efforts of past due customer accounts, and purchase order & contract management. Management may assign or reassign duties and responsibilities of this job at anytime due to business needs.

Responsibilities/Skills/Experience Requirements

Hires, supervises and directs accounts receivable staff; distributes workload and monitors and reviews performance.
Reviews credit history of trade account applications and establishes credit limitations on customer accounts within company guidelines.
Assigns or completes investigation and verification of financial status and reputation of prospective customers applying for credit, preparing documents to substantiate findings, and recommending rejection or approval of applications.
Handles special credit arrangements and deviations from standard terms of payment in conjunction with the Accounting Manager and/or Vice President of Operations.
Oversees collections of delinquent accounts and/or NSF payments; negotiates and resolves customer/invoice conflicts to expedite payments.
Reviews collection reports to ascertain status of collections and balances outstanding and to evaluate effectiveness of current collection policies and procedures.
Audits delinquent accounts considered to be uncollectible to ensure maximum efforts have been taken before assigning bad debt status to account.
Assigns responsibility for investigation of fraud cases and possible legal action and collection for worthless checks and delinquent bills.
Analyzes accounts receivables aging, develops and tracks reports, identifying and addressing collection activities.
Responsible for monitoring compliance to contractual and legal obligations as it relates to lien law, billing, insurance, etc.
Manages contract tracking for accurate purchase orders, facilitates prompt and accurate invoicing to ensure speedy and correct payments
Builds strong relationships with vendors' A/P personnel or person(s) responsible for invoice approval
Oversees the processing of payments to ensure proper and timely cash application
Possesses and maintains thorough knowledge of industry product information
Prepares reports and correspondences as needed
Ethics: Treats people with respect and keeps commitments. Inspires the trust of others. Works ethically and with integrity. Upholds organizational values.
Diversity: Demonstrates knowledge of EEO policy. Shows respect and sensitivity to cultural differences. Educates others on the value of diversity. Promotes a harassment-free environment. Builds a diverse workforce.
Performs other duties as assigned by manager