Credit Manager: Shield & Builders at Massmart

• The Credit Manager: Builders & Shield is responsible for leading end-to-end credit management activities across Builders and Shield including driving proactive management of customer credit risk, overseeing debt collection activities, maintaining accurate and clean master data, and ensuring that store credit teams perform optimally within set KPIs. The role is also expected to collaborate with Legal, Finance and outsourced service providers to manage high-risk accounts and legal collections, ensuring that customer credit practices align with business objectives and governance standards.

FUNCTIONS / RESPONSIBILITIES:

Credit Risk and Debt Collection Strategy Execution

• Drive the implementation of credit control strategies tailored to Builders and Shield, aligned to group credit policies.
• Set monthly cash collection targets for stores based on historical performance and forecasted trends.
• Review, monitor, and enforce compliance to debt collection procedures across all allocated stores.
• Proactively identify high-risk accounts and ensure timely intervention or escalation to Legal for recovery action.
• Monitor and manage outsourced debt collection partner performance and track recovery outcomes.

Outstanding Account Management

• Oversee the tracking, follow-up, and resolution of overdue and defaulting accounts across the portfolio.
• Conduct monthly portfolio reviews with store leadership, analyzing default trends and actioning remedial steps.
• Lead the issuing of formal communications (e.g. reminder letters) ensuring escalation and sign-off protocols are followed.
• Promote and monitor practices that reduce debtor risk exposure, including obtaining trade security where appropriate.

Master Data Integrity and Compliance

• Ensure stores maintain accurate and updated debtor master data (e.g. customer contact, terms, credit limits).
• Champion adherence to customer onboarding processes and approval frameworks.
• Collaborate with internal audit and compliance functions to ensure clean audit trails for debtor transactions.

Stakeholder and Customer Engagement

• Serve as a key contact for internal stakeholders (Shield operations, store operations, legal, shared services) on customer credit matters.
• Strengthen customer relationships by ensuring professional handling of debt-related queries through store teams.
• Maintain a service excellence culture while enforcing disciplined credit recovery practices.

Reporting, Analytics & Governance

• Design and track key credit performance indicators such as DSO (days sales outstanding), bad debt ratios, and overdue aging.
• Deliver accurate and timely credit management reporting to the Senior Manager: FP&A and AR.
• Use analytics to identify trends, flag deteriorating accounts, and support decision-making on bad debt provisioning.
• Recommend write-offs, legal actions, or other provisions in accordance with company policy.

People Management (Store Teams)

• Provide oversight, coaching, and upskilling to store credit teams on debt management, customer engagement, and reporting.
• Hold regular performance and capability reviews with store finance teams to drive accountability and performance.
• Champion a culture of high performance, integrity, agility, and continuous improvement across store teams.

Ensure credit KPIs are well understood, cascaded, and monitored at the store level.

Planning Horizon

Monthly :

• Develop and implement monthly store-level cash collection targets and action plans based on prior performance and debtor trends.
• Conduct monthly performance reviews with stores to analyse collections, overdue accounts, and root causes of delays.
• Coordinate monthly debtor reporting and forecast alignment with finance teams.

Annually:

• Contribute to the annual debt management strategy, credit control planning, and performance KPIs for Builders and Shield.
• Collaborate with the Senior Manager: FP&A and Accounts Receivable to inform annual provisions for bad debt and write-offs.
• Participate in annual credit risk assessments, identify high-risk accounts, and recommend mitigation strategies.

Long-Term:

• Support multi-year improvement plans for debtor book quality, master data integrity, and store capability uplift.
• Engage in the development of long-term credit risk frameworks and customer engagement models for sustained collections performance.

Delegated Freedom to Act ( Indicate the major independent decisions to be made by this position)

• Independently set and enforce monthly collection targets for stores.
• Approve operational actions related to credit holds, reminder letters, and escalations.
• Recommend legal handovers, bad debt write-offs, and security arrangements for trade credit within defined limits.
• Decide on engagement strategies for high-risk customers and defaulting accounts in consultation with stores and legal.
• Lead performance management interventions across allocated stores without needing approval for day-to-day decisions.
• Implement process improvements and compliance controls to enhance regional collections performance.

Level Of Complexity (Describe the most challenging or complex parts of your job)

• Balancing performance across multiple stores with varying capabilities, customer profiles, and volumes, while managing outsourced debt collection partners and internal legal teams.
• Managing complex customer accounts including intercompany transactions, defaults, security requirements, and legal escalations.
• Ensuring accurate master data and aligning store reporting to meet governance standards; interpreting performance trends to inform decisions.
• Influencing and coaching store-level staff who do not report directly to the Credit Manager, while still being accountable for their performance outcomes.
• Balancing customer relationship management with strict adherence to credit control, collections targets, and compliance.

Minimum Academic, Professional Qualifications & Experience required for this position

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Credit Management / Finance/ Accounting related qualification.
• Honour’s Degree in a Credit Management / Finance/ Accounting related qualification preferred.

Experience:

• 6+years of progressive experience in a Credit Management role, preferably within a multi-brand retail and wholesale environment with at least 2 years in a supervisory or management role.
• Hands-on experience in account reconciliations/ collections analytics/ credit operations is required.
• Experience in reconciliation, master data management, and resolving complex account issues.

Competencies & Skills

• Advanced knowledge of credit control practices and legal debt collection procedures.
• Solid understanding of customer master data and financial reporting principles.
• Proficient in ERP systems (SAP, Oracle, or similar).
• Understanding of Insurance claims process
• Strong Excel and financial modeling skills for collections forecasting and performance tracking.
• Familiar with risk mitigation practices and securing trade debt.
• Knowledge of consumer and commercial credit legislation and governance.
• Ability to translate credit strategy into measurable regional store actions.
• Applies critical thinking to interpret trends, issues, and performance data.
• Partners with internal teams and outsourced partners to deliver credit outcomes.
• Coaches and holds store teams accountable to drive high performance.
• Maintains strong customer relationships while enforcing debt terms.
• Maintains a rigorous focus on meeting cash collection and aging targets.
• Uses sound judgment to address escalations and avoid risk exposure.