Who we are:

The Economist Group is a global media and information-services company who exist to champion progress with customers currently spread across 159 countries and an active subscriber base of 1.2 million. We provide individuals and organisations with the expertise, insights and perspective to press forward.

The Finance team’s vision is to partner with the Group in driving profitable growth, through finance excellence. We support our businesses to make effective commercial and operational decisions; provide information and analysis to management and the Board to support strategic decisions; manage working capital to quickly convert profit into cash; develop and maintain a strong control environment to comply with legal, statutory and tax legislation in all territories we operate in.

With over 100 Finance professionals operating from offices in London, New York, Hong Kong & Gurugram, we are rapidly building a substantial presence in Gurugram to become our largest finance hub. You will be joining our global organisation at a pivotal moment, working with finance and business colleagues from around the globe to deliver the Finance vision.

The Business:

• an iconic brand with a history dating back 179 years
• a truly global business with customers in over 150 countries
• a unique combination of B2B and B2C Businesses

The Finance Team:

• be part of our Finance Transformation programme, reshaping our processes and the technology we use
• work closely with finance and business colleagues from around the globe
• ability to influence in an organisation of 1,600 people

The role

Currently we are looking for an experienced Credit Control Manager to build, coach and manage the Group’s global team of Credit Controllers in Gurugram, the Group’s second largest office.

The initial focus of the role will be in recruiting and building the Gurugram based team and migrating and transitioning processes from local teams.

Once service levels are stabilized, the next focus will be on standardizing procedures and targeting efficiencies through process improvement and system development.

Products and services sold by Group business

The Economist

The Economist sells direct subscriptions to a largely B2C audience on monthly, quarterly and annual renewal cycles collecting cash via Credit card, Paypal, direct debit payment methods. It receives cash from B2C customers sold via 3rd party agents and digital 3rd party e-commerce platforms (e.g. Apple, Amazon, Google). It also sells bulk subscriptions to B2B customers invoiced through Accounts Receivable and one-off print copies of The Economist on the newsstand managed by 3rd party regional distributors in US, UK, EMEA and Asia.

Economist Intelligence

Economist Intelligence sells subscriptions to information and content delivered through its website to a B2B audience. These subscriptions are both invoiced to customers on credit terms and sold as one-off purchases of content via an online store. It also invoices individuals and companies for memberships to its Corporate Networks and for Research programmes conducted on behalf of clients.

Economist Impact: Partnerships & Events

Economist Impact Partnerships sells Advertising Services and Content used for Marketing and Market Research Purposes to B2B organisations. Advertising is delivered through display adverts in the print and digital editions of The Economist and as web advertising on Economist.com. Advertising is invoiced to clients on credit terms though some advertising is sold using Programmatic exchanges and or through self-billing arrangements on 3rd party digital applications. Content is delivered as Research, White Papers and is invoiced to clients throughout the lifecycle of a content programme. The Economist Impact Events business holds conferences and meetings both in-person and virtual and generates sales from sponsorship, exhibitor packages and from delegate fees. Sales are either invoiced on credit terms or are sold via an event booking system where delegates pay by credit card.

All the above revenue streams are sold as part of Group sales where clients contract with the Group to deliver global media campaigns that bundle the group’s products and services. The Group makes sales to many countries worldwide from legal entities based in the UK, US, Hong Kong, Singapore, China and Brazil in many different currencies. Where possible sales are made by its global contracting entity.

The position will report into the Head of Finance Shared Services and will form a close working partnership with Global Process Owners for Credit Control and Billing (both based in London) and Regional Finance Gatekeepers in London, New York and Hong Kong.

Key Accountabilities:

• Coach and manage credit control team responsible for collecting debt from customers in EMEA, US and Asia, responding to changes in the business where necessary
• Ensure team provide excellent service to internal customers [Sales managers, Heads of Finance] and external customers are handled appropriately
• Apply credit policy effectively
• Monitor developments in structures and financial position of customers ensuring exposures are fully known and debts collectible
• Co-ordinate efforts by the Sales, Customer Service and Heads of Finance to maximize collections and minimize queries
• Provide regular reports for both the commercial business and finance teams to review the position and ageing of receivables
• Ensure Accounts Receivable ledgers are maintained regularly and credit balances investigated and resolved promptly
• Process improvement initiatives are identified and actioned to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Credit Control team
• Develop service level agreements with different business areas and regularly report performance against SLA with the use of KPIs
• Functional lead on identifying process and system improvement opportunities and working with Finance Projects & Systems team to implement
• Undertaking credit vetting to guide business through on boarding of clients minimising risk of exposure to bad debts
• Own ERP master data management
• Overseeing managed 3rd Party employed service provider (Newsstand)
• Coordinate quarterly accounts receivable cleansing processes to maintain a clean debtors ledger

Experience, skills and professional attributes

• Education and training

- Strong academics

- Association to professional credit body

• Previous work experience

- Significant experience of managing credit control in a commercial organisation, preferably Media industry

- Strong debt management experience in international markets

- Building, developing and managing teams

- Working with stakeholders in the UK

• Technology

- MS Office, Advanced Excel

- Credit Management system

- ERP (PeopleSoft (preferred))

• Key skills

- Understanding businesses and objectives

- Managing teams

- Good communicator both verbally and in writing

- Developing relationships with internal and external contacts

- Motivating colleagues

• Personal attributes

- Robustness and sensitivity in interactions with people

- Hands-on approach

- Pro-active and responsive

- Consultative

- Making appropriate judgments

• Interpersonal skills

- Clear communicator of views and opinions

- Ability to build networks and work with stakeholders and in teams

- Assertion

• Performance Measures

- Ability of the team to achieve target

- Application on policy and procedures

- Relationships with key internal and external stakeholders

- Team motivation levels

- Colleague turnover