Sr AR Manager

Job description

Job Description: Founded in 1904, ESAB Corporation is a premier narrowly diversified global leader in connected fabrication technology and gas control solutions. Our rich history of innovative products, workflow solutions, and business system, ESAB Business Excellence, enables our purpose of Shaping the World We Imagine™ . We are seeking a highly accomplished Senior Accounts Receivable Manager based in Monterrey, Mexico or Denton, Texas , to provide strategic leadership for the North America Order-to-Cash (O2C) organization. Reporting to the NAM Controller , the Senior Accounts Receivable Manager is responsible for the strategic leadership, transformation, governance, and performance of the North America Accounts Receivable function. This role leads multiple teams and managers across the O2C process, including Credit, Collections, Cash Application, Customer Master Data, and Dispute Resolution. As a senior finance leader, this role serves as a key business partner to Commercial, Operations, Customer Service, Treasury, and Shared Services leadership, driving working capital optimization, cash flow improvement, excellence, and digital transformation initiatives across the region. The Senior Accounts Receivable Manager is accountable for developing long-term O2C strategies, influencing enterprise-wide policies, and delivering sustainable improvements in DSO, bad debt performance, operating efficiency, and internal controls. This position plays a critical role in supporting ESAB’s growth objectives while ensuring a world-class, scalable, and compliant Accounts Receivable organization. Primary Duties Develop and execute the North America Accounts Receivable and O2C strategy aligned with ESAB’s financial and operational objectives. Serve as the senior regional leader for Credit, Collections, Cash Application, and AR governance activities. Partner with Finance, Sales, Commercial Excellence, Customer Service, Operations, Treasury, and Legal teams to optimize working capital and customer payment performance. Advise senior leadership on customer credit risk, collection trends, cash flow performance, and working capital opportunities. Lead regional initiatives to improve customer experience while balancing risk management and cash collection objectives. Support acquisition integrations, business expansion initiatives, and organizational transformation efforts. Provide oversight of the end-to-end O2C process, ensuring standardization, efficiency, and operational excellence. Establish and maintain regional AR policies, procedures, controls, and governance frameworks. Drive accountability for DSO, overdue receivables, dispute resolution cycle times, and bad debt performance. Review and approve significant customer credit exposures, high-risk accounts, and escalated collection matters. Lead executive-level discussions with key customers and stakeholders regarding complex receivable issues and payment negotiations. Ensure accurate forecasting of cash collections and receivable trends. Own regional AR performance metrics and identify opportunities to enhance cash flow and liquidity. Develop and implement initiatives to improve collection effectiveness and reduce delinquency levels. Provide executive reporting and recommendations related to DSO, aging trends, bad debt reserves, collections productivity, and cash conversion. Partner with Treasury and Corporate Finance teams to support working capital initiatives and enterprise cash flow objectives. Lead large-scale O2C transformation initiatives, including automation, digitization, and process standardization efforts. Champion best practices through Lean, Six Sigma, and continuous improvement methodologies. Drive implementation and optimization of SAP S/4HANA, BlackLine, AI-enabled collections solutions, e-invoicing platforms, and workflow automation tools. Establish operational KPIs and dashboards that deliver actionable insights across the organization. Benchmark AR performance against industry standards and implement best-in-class practices. Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing Accounts Receivable organization, including managers, team leads, and individual contributors. Build leadership capability and succession pipelines across the AR function. Establish performance objectives aligned to enterprise goals and foster a culture of accountability, engagement, collaboration, and continuous learning. Partner closely with HR on talent acquisition, workforce planning, organizational design, and employee development initiatives. Lead change management activities associated with organizational and technology transformations. Ensure compliance with SOX requirements, company policies, accounting standards, and local regulatory requirements. Maintain strong internal controls across all AR and O2C activities. Oversee internal and external audit activities and ensure timely remediation of audit findings. Monitor credit risk exposure and implement appropriate mitigation strategies. Ensure customer credit files, contracts, and AR records are maintained in accordance with company standards and audit requirements. Provide executive level insights and reporting on Accounts Receivable performance and working capital trends. Support budgeting, forecasting, strategic planning, and financial analysis activities. Partner with Controllers and Finance leadership to evaluate risks and opportunities impacting revenue realization and cash flow. Develop business cases for process improvement investments and technology initiatives. Qualifications Bachelor’s degree in finance, Accounting, Business Administration, or a related field required. Master's degree or professional certification (CPA, CMA, or equivalent) preferred. Bachelor’s degree in accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or related field required. Master’s degree (MBA, Finance, or related discipline) strongly preferred. CPA, CMA, CTP, or equivalent professional certification preferred. 12+ years of progressive experience in Accounts Receivable, Credit & Collections, Order-to-Cash, or Working Capital Management. Minimum 7+ years of leadership experience managing managers and large, geographically dispersed teams. Proven success leading regional or multinational AR organizations and shared services operations. Demonstrated track record of driving measurable improvements in DSO, collections effectiveness, cash flow, and working capital performance. Experience leading enterprise-wide process transformation and automation initiatives. Experience supporting ERP implementations, particularly SAP ECC and SAP S/4HANA. Manufacturing, industrial, or B2B business experience strongly preferred. Shared Services Center (SSC) and/or Global Business Services (GBS) leadership experience preferred. Deep expertise in Order-to-Cash processes, credit risk management, collections, dispute resolution, cash application, and receivables accounting. Strong understanding of working capital strategy and cash flow management. Experience with SAP, BlackLine, reporting and analytics platforms, and AR automation technologies. Exceptional executive presence and stakeholder management skills. Proven ability to influence senior leadership and drive cross-functional alignment. Strong analytical, financial modeling, and problem-solving capabilities. Experience managing organizational change in complex global environments. Demonstrated ability to lead through ambiguity while delivering business results. Professional fluency in English required. Bilingual English and Spanish strongly preferred. Working Conditions Located in Denton, Texas, USA or Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. Primarily office and computer-based work environment. Stationary work environment approximately 70% of the time. May require use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) when visiting manufacturing or plant locations. Travel required approximately 20% for business meetings, site visits, and customer support activities.