Senior Supplier Performance Manager (Revenue & Collections)

Are you ready to take on a pivotal leadership role that drives operational excellence, fosters innovation, and delivers outstanding financial results? At Thames, we’re on a mission to ensure every customer interaction is seamless, fair, and value-driven—and we need your expertise to lead the charge. 

What you’ll be doing as Senior Supplier Performance Manager (Revenue & Collections)

As the Senior Supplier Performance Manager (Revenue & Collections), you’ll be at the heart of our Bill to Cash operations, managing critical suppliers, including Debt Collection Agencies and Water-Only Companies (WOCs), to optimise cash collection and mitigate bad debt. You’ll have the opportunity to make a tangible impact by leading a high-performing team, fostering strong supplier partnerships, and driving continuous improvement to enhance financial performance.

Driving Operational Excellence

• Optimising Performance: Monitor and analyse performance metrics to ensure revenue and cash targets are consistently achieved.
• Bad Debt Management: Develop strategies to reduce bad debt exposure, ensuring recovery processes are efficient and effective.
• Supplier Management: Build and nurture strong relationships with third-party suppliers, ensuring performance aligns with business objectives.
• Data-Driven Insights: Work closely with finance teams to forecast billing, revenue, and cash flow, leveraging analytics to drive strategic decisions.
• KPI Mastery: Develop and manage KPIs related to risk appetite, affordability, repayment trends, and overall portfolio performance.

Leadership & Culture

• Inspire & Motivate: Lead and coach a dedicated team, fostering a culture of accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement.
• Strategic Supplier Engagement: Collaborate with suppliers to align their performance with Thames Water’s strategic objectives.
• Resilience & Wellbeing: Promote resilience, empathy, and a healthy work-life balance, ensuring your team thrives.
• Stakeholder Management: Engage with key internal and external stakeholders to align operational strategies with financial goals.

Delivering Transformational Impact

• Governance & Control: Ensure robust governance over supplier performance and financial controls.
• Process Optimisation: Identify and implement process improvements to streamline collections and supplier management.
• Strategic Influence: Play a key role in shaping policies and frameworks that impact cash collection, bad debt management, and supplier performance.

Base Location & Working Pattern

• Hybrid working – 2 days per week in our Swindon office.
• Regular travel is required to visit suppliers across the UK.
• Full-time role (36 hours per week).

What you should bring to the role

• Expertise in Bill-to-Cash Journeys: Deep understanding of the end-to-end bill-to-cash process, with a focus on optimising cash flow and reducing bad debt.
• Proven Supplier Management Success: Experience in effectively performance-managing Debt Collection Agencies and Water-Only Companies (WOCs) to drive results.
• Track Record of Driving Performance: Ability to lead and implement collections strategies that deliver measurable improvements.
• Target-Focused Leadership: Hands-on approach to setting, managing, and surpassing challenging cash collection targets.
• Financial Acumen: Strong budgeting, forecasting, and P&L accountability experience, ensuring financial targets are met.
• Exceptional Coaching & Leadership: Skilled in leading and developing teams, fostering high performance and engagement.
• Persuasive Communication: Ability to influence senior stakeholders and suppliers to align with strategic goals.

What’s in it for you?
Join a dynamic work culture where collaboration, creativity, and a commitment to excellence drive success. Enjoy professional development opportunities and contribute to a mission that enhances customer experiences while delivering financial impact.

• Competitive salary: £54,000 - £60,000 per annum
• Annual Leave: 26 days holiday, increasing to 30 with service (plus bank holidays)
• Car Allowance & Annual Bonus
• Private Medical Health Care
• Wellbeing & Financial Benefits: Includes health MOTs, physiotherapy, counselling, Cycle to Work schemes, shopping vouchers, and life assurance

Find out more about our benefits and perks.

Who are we?
We’re the UK’s largest water and wastewater company, supplying over 16 million customers daily. Our mission is to build a better future, ensuring our customers, communities, and environment thrive. It’s a big job, and we need skilled and passionate individuals like you to help us achieve our goals.

Learn more about our purpose and values.

Working at Thames Water
Thames Water is a unique, rewarding and diverse place to work, where every day you can make a difference, yet no day is the same. As part of our family, you’ll enjoy fast-tracked career opportunities, flexible working arrangements and excellent benefits.
Whether you’re interested in a role in one of our call centres or science labs, we’re looking for people like you with real passion and a burning desire to make things better.

So, if you’re looking for a sustainable and successful career where you can make a daily difference to millions of people’s lives while helping to protect the world of water for future generations, we’ll be here to support you every step of the way. Together, we can build a better future for our customers, our region and our planet.

Real purpose, real support, real opportunities. Come and join the Thames Water family. Why choose us? Learn more.

Our overarching aim is to ensure that Thames Water is great, diverse and inclusive place to work. We welcome applications from everyone and offer extra support for those who need it throughout the recruitment process. Our aim is to remove any real or perceived barriers to success, so if you need assistance, we’re here to help and support.

When a crisis happens, we all rally around to support our customers. As part of Team Thames, you’ll have the opportunity to sign up to support our customers on the frontline as an ambassador. Full training will be given for what is undoubtedly an incredibly rewarding experience. It’s also a great opportunity to learn more about our business, meet colleagues and earn some extra money along the way.

Disclaimer: due to the high volume of applications we receive, we may close the advert earlier than the advertised date, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Please note the official job title - Senior Supply Manager