Head of Accounts Receivable & Project Accounting

Location: UK homebased, Birmingham or Epsom

About the company:

AtkinsRéalis UK and Ireland region is part of AtkinsRéalis Global. Founded in 1911, AtkinsRéalis is a global, fully integrated professional services and project management company and a major player in the ownership of infrastructure and one of the largest global engineering and project management consultancies with over 30,000 employees.

Our AtkinsRéalis UK business focuses on key markets and supports the group globally. Our turnover is over €2bn per annum and growing, spread across the various markets of Transportation, Infrastructure. Water, Aviation and Project Management.

Key Accountabilities:

Overall responsibility for billing, debt recovery and cash collection activities for the UK business. This role reports into the UK Centre of Excellence Finance Director. The position has 3 direct reports. Teams are based in the UK, Bucharest and Bangalore.

The role involves the management of the following activities:

Cash Collections – to work alongside the Cash Collections Manager to:

• Manage a UK debt portfolio circa £180m.
• Achieve monthly cash targets of approximately £150 - £200m.
• Oversee cash forecasting, daily, weekly, monthly and report to our treasury team in Canada.
• Reporting activities – to include cash and debtors by division.
• Management of debtor KPI’s.
• Attend monthly debt review meetings with each UK division.
• Be the point of escalation for disputes.
• Provide and oversee the provision of advice on credit risk and exposure.
• Support team motivation and management of approx. 8 FTE.
• Adhere to all Group Policies.
• Seek continuous improvement working alongside the Global Process Owner for Order to Cash.

Debt Recovery / Litigation:

• Work to minimise litigation by resolving contractual disputes pre proceedings. Attend without prejudice meetings and mediation.
• Provide professional advice to Project Managers & Directors.
• Manage supplier accounts that are subject to legal action.
• Manage HR debt matters that are subject to legal action.
• Oversee the management of insolvency matters.
• Deal with external and internal enquiries regarding the provision of expert witness services.
• Issue Court Proceedings, County Court Judgment applications, prepare statutory demands as well as taking enforcement action as necessary.

Cash Application:

• Overall management of cash application and write offs in accordance with group policies.
• KPI’s to be met monthly.
• Team primarily based in Bangalore.
• Project Accounting (Project set up and Client billing).
• Overall management of UK based project billers and project analysts.  (approx. 12 FTE).
• Provide guidance and support to Bucharest and Bangalore based project billers. (approx. 200 FTE).
• Ensure project billing is raised accurately and in line with group policy.
• Reporting and monitoring of the value of unbilled, including working with project managers to maximise billing.
• Management of billing targets – circa £150m per month.
• Seek continuous improvement in automating billing working alongside the Global Process Owner for Order to Cash.

Service Delivery:

• Project admin that supports all UK Centre of Excellence activities.
• Administration of opportunity databases such as Achillies and Constructionline.
• Production of various UK reports.

Professional & Technical skills:

• Excellent inter-personal skills; and comfortable in dealing with senior colleagues.
• Experience in working for a consultancy business, especially an engineering consultancy, would be a significant advantage.
• Knowledge and experience of the following would be an advantage: JD Edwards and Oracle EBS.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and prioritise own workload.
• Strong sense of leadership, ownership, drive, and ability to deliver results.
• Great attention to detail.
• Must have a positive attitude.
• Strong planning and problem-solving skills with an ability to analyse information and processes.
• Experience in drafting legal claims/court documents.
• Knowledge of insolvency and bankruptcy law and procedure.
• Experience of conducting client negotiations.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Professional legal qualification e.g. solicitor or FILEX.
• Must have a legal practicing certificate.
• Good knowledge of Civil Procedure Rules and Civil Claims.
• Good knowledge of Contract Law.

What you can bring?

• Experience of working in a debt recovery environment.
• Experience of managing and motivating staff.
• Debt recovery experience in a construction setting is desirable as is knowledge of the industry.
• Excellent IT skills particularly Microsoft Excel, working previously with cash collection or case management software would be an advantage.
• Good negotiation and organisation skills with strong attention to detail.
• Ability to balance debt recovery action with commercial and cost risk.
• Strong leadership skills with the confidence to communicate and support across all levels of the business.

Meeting your needs:

When you start with us, you'll enjoy "Total Reward", a package that can be tailored to your lifestyle, career and personal needs. From flexible holidays to life assurance, health & wellbeing benefits, and career planning for the senior stage of your career.

Making sure you're supported is important to us. So, if you identify as having a disability, tell us ahead of your interview. And let's talk about any adjustments you might need.

New name, new era. We are AtkinsRéalis.  It will take some time for all our information to update – you can still refer to our fantastic benefits via the link below:

YourReward at SNC-Lavalin​ (snclavalin.com).

Training:

AtkinsRéalis is committed to developing its people both personally and professionally. Our colleagues have the advantage of access to a high ranging training portfolio and development activities designed to help make the best of individual’s abilities and talents. We also actively support staff in achieving corporate membership of relevant institutions.

More about us:

AtkinsRéalis is a leading global consultancy with over 100 years of design and engineering expertise. With us, you'll be surrounded by the skills, knowledge and support to help you succeed. Together, we can deliver projects which have a positive, sustainable impact on the world.

Check out some of our recent, most exciting projects.

Additional Information:

This role may require security clearance and offers of employment will be dependent on obtaining the relevant level of clearance.  If this is necessary, it will be discussed with you at interview. The vetting process is delivered by United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV) and may require candidates to provide proof of residency in the UK of 5 years or longer. If applying to this role please do not make reference to (in conversation) or include in your application or CV, details of any current or previously held security clearance.

We are committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive community - a place where we can all be ourselves, thrive and develop. To help embed inclusion for all, from day one, we offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements and employee networks to support staff from different backgrounds. As an Equal Opportunities Employer, we value applications from all backgrounds, cultures and ability.