Director of Credit and Collections

Xylem is a Fortune 500 global water solutions company dedicated to advancing sustainable impact and empowering the people who make water work every day. As a leading water technology company with 23,000 employees operating in over 150 countries, Xylem is at the forefront of addressing the world's most critical water challenges. We invite passionate individuals to join our team, dedicated to exceeding customer expectations through innovative and sustainable solutions.

The Director, Credit, Collections & Dispute Management is a strategic finance leader responsible for driving segment working capital performance through effective credit risk management, collections excellence, dispute resolution, and cash flow optimization across the assigned business segment.
This role provides vision, leadership, and direction for the Segment Credit, Collections, and Dispute Management organization while advancing the transformation toward a centralized, technology-enabled operating model. The Director partners closely with Segment Commercial, Finance, Customer Service, Treasury, and Executive Leadership teams to improve cash flow, mitigate financial risk, enhance customer relationships, and support profitable growth.

The successful candidate will champion process standardization, automation, digital transformation, and continuous improvement initiatives while developing high-performing teams and fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, and operational excellence.

This is a hybrid position based in our Charlotte, NC office. In office expectation is 3x per week.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Working Capital Optimization

• Develop and execute the segment-wide Credit, Collections, and Dispute Management strategy aligned with corporate financial objectives and working capital targets.

• Drive sustainable improvements in cash flow, Days Sales Outstanding (DSO), overdue receivables, dispute resolution, and overall accounts receivable performance.

• Establish a strong cash culture across the segment through proactive stakeholder engagement, education, and accountability.

• Partner with business leaders to optimize customer contract terms, payment behaviors, and risk management strategies.

• Lead initiatives that maximize shareholder value through effective working capital management and risk mitigation.

Credit Risk Management

• Provide overall leadership and governance for segment customer and country credit risk assessment activities.

• Establish and maintain robust credit policies, risk frameworks, and approval processes.

• Oversee financial statement analysis, credit evaluations, exposure management, and ongoing portfolio monitoring.

• Ensure appropriate management of bankruptcies, liens, bonds, guarantees, letters of credit, and other credit-related instruments.

• Collaborate closely with Treasury and external partners to manage financial risk effectively.

Collections & Dispute Resolution Excellence

• Lead collections and dispute management operations to achieve performance targets and service-level expectations.

• Drive timely resolution of customer disputes to accelerate cash conversion and enhance customer satisfaction.

• Monitor and improve key performance indicators, including DSO, past-due receivables, dispute cycle times, and cash collections.

• Develop scalable processes that balance customer experience with financial discipline.

Business Partnership & Stakeholder Engagement

• Serve as a trusted advisor to Segment Commercial Leadership, CFOs, Controllers, Finance Leaders, Customer Service, and Executive Management.

• Build and maintain strong relationships with strategic customers, including direct customer engagement when appropriate.

• Present financial performance, risk assessments, working capital trends, and improvement initiatives to Segment senior leadership.

• Influence segment organizational decisions through data-driven analysis and actionable recommendations.

Transformation & Continuous Improvement

• Assist in the continued evolution of Credit, Collections, and Dispute Management toward a centralized Shared Services/Center of Excellence model.

• Partner with Global Process Owners and Digital Transformation teams to drive process standardization, automation, and digitization initiatives.

• Evaluate emerging technologies and recommend solutions that improve efficiency, controls, scalability, and customer experience.

• Sponsor