Collections Specialist

Position Purpose

The Collections Specialist will support our Pro Trade Credit program. In this role, you will manage a portfolio of commercial (B2B) accounts, acting as the primary point of contact for past-due customers. The goal is to recover outstanding revenue while maintaining positive relationships with our professional trade partners. Success in this role will be measured by timely recovery rates, customer satisfaction scores, and adherence to compliance standards, ensuring clear benchmarks for performance. The specialist will handle the full cycle of delinquency management—from initial outreach and dispute resolution to negotiating payment plans and preparing accounts for legal escalation or lien actions when necessary. Throughout this process, you will also collaborate closely with departments such as Legal and Sales to ensure a holistic and coordinated approach to collections and account management.

Key Responsibilities –

• 30% - Outreach & Negotiation: Conduct high-volume outbound calls and emails to commercial customers with past-due balances. Negotiate payment commitments and follow up to ensure promises are kept.
• 30% - Account Reconciliation: Research and resolve billing discrepancies, missing purchase orders (POs), or proof-of-delivery (POD) disputes that are holding up payment.
• 20% - Risk Management: Monitor aging reports weekly to identify high-risk accounts. Place accounts on "Credit Hold" according to company policy and communicate status changes to the Sales team.
• 10% - Legal & Lien Initiation:
  • Identify accounts that have exhausted all internal collection efforts.
    • Lien Actions: Monitor job-specific lien deadlines. Gather necessary documentation (invoices, contracts) to initiate the preliminary notice or lien filing process for review by the Credit Manager/Legal team.
    • Referrals: Compile comprehensive credit files (notes, call logs, skip-tracing results) to package accounts for referral to third-party collection agencies or attorneys.
• 10% - Documentation: Maintain detailed, legally defensible notes on all collection activities within the ERP/Credit software.

Preferred Qualifications

• 2+ years of experience in B2B collections, Accounts Receivable, or a related finance role. (Construction or Trade industry experience is a strong plus).
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel (VLOOKUP, Pivot Tables), Power BI and experience with AR/Credit Systems (i.e., Bectran).
• Familiarity with fair debt collection practices and a general understanding of lien rights/bond claim laws is preferred, but not required (will train).
• Soft Skills: Strong negotiation skills with the ability to remain professional under pressure. Ability to distinguish between a customer with a temporary cash-flow issue vs. a bad debt risk.