Description:
The primary purpose of this role is to support healthy cash flow by building trusted, proactive relationships with clients and internal project teams to secure timely payment of outstanding invoices. Rather than operating purely as a finance monitoring function, this role will act as a relationship-led collections partner, working with Design Managers, Studio Directors, Project Leads and client contacts to understand payment blockers, resolve invoice queries, agree practical next steps and maintain a positive client experience while achieving the firm’s collection objectives.
What You Will Do
- Build and maintain positive relationships with client finance, procurement and project contacts to support timely payment of outstanding invoices.
- Partner closely with Design Managers and Studio, Project Leaders to understand project context, client dynamics, contract terms, billing milestones and any service or documentation issues affecting payment.
- Proactively follow up with clients on due and overdue invoices through professional, courteous and solutions-focused communication.
- Act as a bridge between clients and internal teams to resolve invoice queries, billing discrepancies, missing documentation, purchase order issues or other blockers to payment.
- Support Design Managers with project start-up due diligence, ensuring payment terms, billing requirements and client invoicing processes are understood early in the project lifecycle.
- Ensure invoices, statements of account and supporting documentation are accurate, timely and aligned with contract terms and client requirements.
- Negotiate practical payment timelines or installment arrangements where appropriate, balancing commercial sensitivity with the need to reduce overdue balances.
- Conduct regular collection review meetings with Design Managers and Studio Leaders to agree client engagement strategies, escalation points and action plans for aged receivables.
- Maintain clear records of client conversations, commitments, disputes and next steps to ensure consistent follow-through and visibility for internal stakeholders.
- Provide concise reporting on collections progress, aged debt risks, client payment trends and recommended actions, with a focus on insight and relationship-based recovery rather than monitoring alone.
- Identify accounts requiring escalation, legal input or provision review, ensuring these are handled thoughtfully and in line with firm guidelines.
- Contribute to process improvements that make invoicing, follow-up and collections easier for clients and more effective for project teams.
Your Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree with 12+ years of progressive Credit Control, Accounts Receivable, Collections or client-facing commercial finance experience, ideally within complex, project-based or multinational organizations.
- Demonstrated experience engaging directly with clients to follow up on overdue invoices, resolve payment issues and maintain constructive business relationships.
- Experience in the AEC industry (Architecture, Engineering, Construction), professional services or another project-based environment is a plus.