Accounts Receivable Team Lead

Overview

At Encore Fire Protection, we are proud to be the east coast's largest full-service fire protection company, serving over 90,000 customers from Maine to Louisiana. With a team of over 2,200 dedicated employees, we provide innovative, customized fire suppression, fire sprinkler, and fire alarm solutions that protect lives and properties every day.

Our goal is to deliver superior experience to those who trust us to safeguard what matters most. We are passionate about continuous growth, innovation, and maintaining a culture that thrives on success and commitment to safety. Our mission? To be the best fire protection company the industry has ever seen.

Encore is seeking an experienced Accounts Receivable Team Lead to supervise and develop a team of Collections Specialists in a high‑volume, multi‑location environment. This role is hands‑on: you will coach collectors day‑to‑day, remove roadblocks, and help drive consistent execution that improves cash collection, reduces DSO, and delivers excellent customer experience.

You will be the go‑to resource for work procedures, escalations, and training—helping standardize how we manage disputes, customer outreach, and workflow through Esker. This position is ideal for a leader who has worked in larger organizations and enjoys driving change in a fast‑growing company undergoing transformation.

• Supervise and coach a team of Collections Specialists (daily prioritization, performance management, training, and development).
• Provide daily guidance on work procedures, technical issues, prioritization, and customer interactions; set clear expectations and remove blockers.
• Assess training needs and develop/maintain training materials, job aids, and playbooks; ensure team members are equipped for their roles and cross‑trained where appropriate.
• Serve as an escalation point for business units on high‑impact issues affecting payment (billing errors, disputes, customer service breakdowns) and drive timely resolution.
• Drive consistent collections execution across assigned portfolios, using data‑driven strategies that reduce DSO and minimize bad debt while preserving customer relationships.
• Leverage Esker to manage workflows (dunning, dispute tracking, activity logging, approvals/escalations) and ensure the team consistently uses the tool as the system‑of‑record.
• Own and improve dispute resolution processes in partnership with Billing, and Sales—establish clear ownership, aging visibility, and escalation paths.
• Monitor team KPIs (e.g., DSO, % current, promise‑to‑pay accuracy, disputes opened/closed, contact attempts, collector productivity) and communicate results to leadership.
• Review and approve collection strategies for high‑risk accounts; manage escalations and support negotiation of payment plans when needed.
• Support month‑end close activities related to AR (aging review, reserves input, unapplied cash/credit balances, write‑off packages, and reporting).
• Identify and implement process improvements to scale the AR function during periods of growth and acquisition integration (standardization, documentation, controls, and training).
• Partner with cross‑functional stakeholders on transformation initiatives (systems/process changes, customer master data quality, billing accuracy, and customer onboarding).
• Ensure adherence to internal controls, policies, and customer‑specific billing/collections requirements.

• Four+ years of progressive AR/collections experience in a high‑volume B2B environment, including experience with large or complex organizations with revenues >$500 million.
• Two+ years of direct supervisory experience (required), including hiring, onboarding, coaching, performance feedback, and accountability for results.
• Firsthand experience with Esker (required) or strong experience with comparable AR automation/workflow platforms (e.g., High Radius, Sidetrade, Billtrust).
• Demonstrated ability to lead through change in a transformation environment (process redesign, scaling Encore, standardization across multiple locations/entities).
• Experience in field services, construction services, fire protection, or other…