Director - Credit & Collections

Job Title: Director – Credit & Collections
Department: Finance
Location: Clearwater, FL (Salon Centric National Operating Center)
Reports To: AVP, Credit & Pricing (or VP Finance, depending on org structure)

Salon Centric, a subsidiary of L'Oréal USA, is the premiere distributor of salon professional products in the United States. Through its hundreds of stores, national field sales force, and sub-distribution network, Salon Centric promotes the finest professional beauty brands and educates stylists on the latest products and trends.

This strategic Finance leadership role is responsible for the end-to-end oversight and evolution of the Credit & Collections function within Salon Centric. The Director acts as the primary strategic thought partner to Executive Leadership, Finance, Sales, Customer Care, Pricing, Traffic, IT, Treasury, and Legal—championing a best-in-class customer experience while optimizing working capital, accelerating cash flow, and maintaining strong credit risk discipline.

The Director – Credit & Collections is instrumental in pioneering advanced credit risk strategies, catalyzing significant process innovation across credit, collections, dispute resolution, and cash application, and spearheading the adoption and integration of cutting-edge technology solutions (including SAP). The Director is expected to provide definitive thought leadership on portfolio risk, customer payment behavior, and macro-economic factors, while establishing the strategic framework and governance for the operational lifecycle of credit approval, order release, collections activity, and bad-debt management.

• Conceptualize, define, and lead the execution of comprehensive, high-impact Credit & Collections strategies designed to optimize DSO, reduce past-due balances, minimize bad-debt write-offs, and align with overarching company objectives and growth plans.
• Serve as the principal thought leader, mentor, and strategic advisor on credit risk and collections to Executive Leadership and cross-functional partners, offering expert guidance on credit policies, terms strategies, portfolio segmentation, and customer risk profiles.
• Establish and continually refine the governance framework for credit decisioning and order release, orchestrating cross-functional decision-making and ensuring consistent application of policies and escalation protocols.
• Proactively identify, champion, and oversee the implementation of transformative process improvements and advanced technology solutions to significantly enhance the efficiency, effectiveness, and scalability of Credit & Collections operations.
• Define and maintain clear credit and collections policies, SLAs, and decision-rights that balance commercial objectives with financial integrity, compliance, and internal control requirements (e.g., SOX-related controls).

• Direct the end-to-end management of Credit & Collections operations, including credit review and underwriting, release, collection strategies, dispute resolution, and coordination with third-party agencies.
• Lead the strategic programming and overarching management of collection activities across all customer segments and channels, ensuring disciplined follow-up on aged balances, structured payment plans, final demand letters, and escalations where warranted.
• Collaborate extensively with Customer Care, Pricing, Traffic, Sales, and Brand teams to ensure timely resolution of issues affecting receivables (pricing/terms, invoice accuracy, shipping errors, deductions) and to prevent recurrence through upstream process improvements.
• Oversee and enforce stringent financial and operational controls across Credit & Collections processes, including documentation standards, approval matrices, audit readiness, and adherence to corporate and regulatory requirements.
• Ensure robust oversight of third-party collection partners, including selection, performance management, and alignment to Salon Centric's standards, customer experience expectations, and compliance requirements.
• Partner closely with Treasury, FP&A, and…