Head of Credit

Role overview

Credit strategy and governance

• Develop credit strategy aligned with business objectives and risk appetite; establish credit policies, procedures, approval frameworks, and authority limits.
• Assess customer creditworthiness, set credit limits and payment terms, and review financial information, credit reports, payment history, business performance, and risk indicators.
• Establish risk ratings and customer segments, identify and mitigate portfolio risks, and regularly review credit policies.
• Lead credit approvals and ensure decisions are justified, documented, and within delegated authority; escalate significant exceptions and high-risk exposures.
• Maintain segregation of duties, internal controls, documentation, and audit trails for significant credit decisions.

Receivables and collections

• Oversee accounts receivable and collections, drive timely collections, and improve cash conversion.
• Monitor aging reports, overdue balances, customer exposure, and collection performance; reduce DSO, bad debt, overdue receivables, and credit losses.
• Set collection targets and KPIs, follow up on overdue accounts, manage high-value or high-risk cases, and coordinate escalated recovery with Legal and relevant business teams.

Portfolio and business partnership

• Monitor portfolio exposure by segment, business unit, location, industry, and risk category; set concentration limits and exposure controls.
• Monitor credit-limit utilization and customer payment behavior, adjust terms where needed, and identify early warnings of financial stress.
• Partner with Sales, Finance, Operations, and senior management to balance growth with risk and structure suitable payment terms.
• Provide credit recommendations for major customers, contracts, tenders, and business opportunities; ensure Sales understands and follows approved policies and terms.

Reporting and team leadership

• Prepare credit and receivables reports and dashboards for senior management, covering DSO, aging, overdue percentage, collection efficiency, bad debt, losses, exposure, concentration, limit utilization, and cash collection.
• Use analytics to provide insights, identify trends and risks, recommend corrective actions, and improve credit decisions and collection performance.
• Lead, develop, and motivate the Credit and Collections team; set objectives, KPIs, and performance expectations.
• Build the team's assessment, negotiation, collection, and analytical capabilities; review performance and implement improvement plans.

Compliance and controls

• Ensure compliance with internal credit policies, delegated authorities, and applicable UAE regulations.
• Maintain controls over credit approvals, customer master data, credit limits, and collections; support audits and close audit observations promptly.
• Identify control weaknesses and implement corrective actions to minimize fraud, financial loss, and bad-debt exposure.

Candidate profile

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Business Administration, or a related discipline.
• CA, ACCA, CPA, CFA, CIMA, or equivalent professional qualification is advantageous.
• 10–15+ years in Credit, Credit Risk, Collections, Accounts Receivable, or Financial Risk Management, including at least five years in senior credit management or leadership.
• UAE or GCC experience is preferred.
• Strong credit assessment, policy, collections, portfolio management, financial analysis, and commercial understanding.
• Experience managing significant customer credit exposure and high-value accounts and working with Sales and Finance.
• Knowledge of credit risk principles, controls, and governance; strong negotiation, communication, stakeholder-management, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
• Advanced Excel and experience with ERP or financial systems and credit-management tools.