Credit Manager

Oil-Dri Corporation of America is a leading manufacturer and supplier of specialty sorbent products for consumer and business-to-business markets that has been voted as a Top 100 workplaces in the Chicago Tribune. Oil-Dri’s products are sold in the pet care, animal health, fluids purification, agricultural, sports field, industrial and automotive markets. Oil-Dri controls millions of tons of specialty mineral reserves, including calcium bentonite, attapulgite, and diatomaceous shale. The company’s mines and manufacturing facilities are located in Georgia, Mississippi, Illinois, and California. Oil-Dri is a family-controlled and operated organization that emphasizes honesty, integrity, and accountability. The company is dedicated to fulfilling its mission to Create Value From Sorbent Minerals.

Role Overview

Oil-Dri’s Credit Manager is responsible for customer credit management, accounts receivable, collections, and cash posting. This position also supports reporting, planning and analysis of accounts receivable, as well as initiatives to improve working capital and the Order-to-Cash cycle.

This position offers exposure to the various corporate and operations departments and all levels of management including the CFO and CEO. Oil-Dri has been awarded a “Top Workplace in Chicago” since 2021 by the Chicago Tribune.

Key Responsibilities

Credit Management

- Establish new customer credit, review and update credit lines to mitigate overall organization risk.

- Manage overall A/R performance for the entire portfolio of customer accounts.

- Report performance measures including DSO, past due balances, aging invoices and customer risk assessments.

- Minimize past due exposure, ensure adherence to payment terms while limiting bad debt, maximizing sales and building customer relationships.

- Partner with Sales and Customer Service teams to resolve billing disputes and customer issues adversely impacting timely collections.

- Hire, develop and manage team members.

- Prepare monthly bad debt reserve calculation and support audit requests.

- Act as subject matter expert of JDE Collections Module and Deductions Module. Test improvements and train teammates on functionality as needed.

- Review and approve non-chargeback credits, returns, and refund checks.

- Execute decisions for problem solving, pricing discrepancies, return goods, credit limitations, credit hold shipments, and negotiate payment settlements.

- Monitor the releases, cancellation, and pending orders that have been held due to credit limits and/or delinquency status.

- Manage distressed debtor accounts, define payment schedules and file bankruptcy paperwork where necessary.

- Manage relationships with outside collection agencies and credit information providers.

- Analyze financial statements, as required, to support credit determinations.

- Support A/R due diligence and integration of acquisition targets.

- Work on other special projects as required.

Key Competencies

- Strong analytical ability to identify variations and trends, ability to dig into details and summarize business outcomes aimed at all levels of management, with a focus on senior and executive management.

- Strong understanding of customer credit risk and the impacts of macro-economic events that could lead to exposure to the business.

- Highly responsive with sense of urgency to provide high quality and accurate deliverables under tight time pressure.

- Ability to create and develop meaningful ad-hoc financial modeling and analysis in Excel and/or JDE creating meaningful analytics, business insights and transparency.

- Solid accounting knowledge, including full financial statement understanding (Balance Sheet, P&L & Cash Flow)

- Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Education:

- Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting, Finance or Business - 5+ years of experience in credit or finance related roles

- NACM certifications a plus (CBA, CCRA, CICP, etc.)

Skills & Abilities:

- Must be a strong change agent and problem solver

- Experience with JDE preferred

- Experience in financial reporting and planning tools and ERP’s

- Strong interpersonal skills and ability to partner with Sales and Customer Service teams.

- Experience in P&L, financial/data, cost, and profitability analysis in a manufacturing organization preferred

- Demonstrated track record of cross functional business engagement skills in a matrix organization

- MS Office

Hybrid role based out of the Chicago office. Monday - Wednesday onsite required.

Compensation & Benefits

Compensation

- Salary Range: $106,606 - $160,718

Benefits

- 401(k) with 6% match (Fully Vested at 2 Years)

- Annual Incentive Bonus

- Annual Merit increase opportunity

- Employee Stock Purchase Plan

- 11 Corporate Holidays

- Paid Parental Leave

- Pre-Tax Transit

- Fitness & Gym Reimbursement

- Employer Contribution - Health, Dental, Vision

- Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Oil-Dri is committed to providing equal opportunity for all teammates and qualified candidates without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, marital status, mental or physical disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. Accordingly, all employment decisions and personnel actions or programs such as hiring, promotion, discipline, compensation, benefits, transfers, reductions in workforce, and training, etc. will be consistent with the principle of equal employment opportunity.