Senior Working Capital Optimization Specialist

🏗 We're Hiring: Senior Working Capital Optimization Specialist📍 Location: United Arab Emirates (Remote) 🕒 Employment Type: Full-Time 💼 Experience Level: Mid-Level to Senior 🌐 Work Arrangement: Fully Remote About UsWe are a construction-focused organization committed to delivering complex projects through disciplined financial management, commercial excellence, effective risk control, and collaborative project delivery. Our distributed teams work across Project Management, Construction, Engineering, Procurement, Commercial, Legal, Finance, Treasury, Human Resources, Design, Quality, HSE, Consultants, Contractors, Suppliers, Logistics, Administration, Information Technology, and Executive Leadership. We recognize that effective working capital management is essential to maintaining liquidity, improving cash flow, supporting project execution, strengthening supplier relationships, and ensuring the sustainable financial performance of our business. The RoleWe are seeking an experienced Senior Working Capital Optimization Specialist to analyze, manage, and improve working capital performance across the organization. The role focuses on optimizing accounts receivable, accounts payable, inventory-related commitments, cash conversion cycles, contract payment terms, cash flow forecasting, and operational working capital processes. The successful candidate will work closely with Finance, Treasury, Procurement, Commercial, Project Management, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, and Supply Chain teams to identify working capital improvement opportunities, strengthen financial controls, improve cash conversion, and provide management with actionable insights. Key ResponsibilitiesWorking Capital Strategy and Optimization • Develop and implement working capital optimization initiatives aligned with organizational financial objectives and operational requirements. • Analyze the organization's working capital position across business units, legal entities, construction projects, and operating locations. • Evaluate the key drivers of working capital, including receivables, payables, inventory, advances, retention balances, and other operating assets and liabilities. • Identify opportunities to improve cash availability, reduce working capital constraints, and enhance financial efficiency. • Assess the impact of commercial terms, procurement commitments, project schedules, billing arrangements, and payment practices on working capital. • Establish appropriate working capital performance indicators, reporting standards, and monitoring procedures. • Develop action plans to address working capital inefficiencies and coordinate implementation with relevant stakeholders. • Monitor the effectiveness of optimization initiatives and report progress against agreed objectives. • Evaluate the financial impact of proposed process changes and recommend practical, sustainable improvements. • Support management decisions involving cash preservation, funding requirements, supplier arrangements, and operational expenditure. • Promote consistent working capital management practices across departments and projects. • Ensure optimization initiatives maintain appropriate supplier relationships, contractual compliance, financial controls, and operational continuity. Accounts Receivable and Collections Optimization • Analyze accounts receivable balances, aging profiles, overdue invoices, disputed balances, and customer payment behavior. • Identify opportunities to accelerate cash collections and reduce avoidable delays between billing and receipt of funds. • Coordinate with Accounts Receivable, Commercial, Project Management, and client-facing teams to improve collection performance. • Review customer payment terms, billing milestones, contractual certification requirements, and collection procedures. • Monitor the timely submission of invoices, progress claims, payment applications, and supporting documentation. • Identify delays caused by incomplete documentation, unapproved variations, disputed quantities, delayed certifications, or billing errors. • Support the development of targeted collection plans for overdue or high-value receivables. • Analyze customer disputes and recommend actions to resolve issues that prevent timely payment. • Monitor retention balances, contract advances, and other receivables that may restrict cash conversion. • Evaluate the effect of customer credit terms and collection patterns on liquidity and working capital requirements. • Track collection forecasts against actual receipts and investigate material variances. • Recommend improvements to billing accuracy, dispute resolution, collection escalation, and receivables reporting. • Collaborate with Commercial and Legal teams where contractual interpretation or formal dispute resolution is required. • Prepare management reports highlighting collection risks, overdue exposures, and opportunities to release cash tied up in receivables. Accounts Payable and Supplier Payment Optimization • Review accounts payable balances, supplier aging reports, payment schedules, and outstanding liabilities to identify optimization opportunities. • Evaluate supplier payment terms and identify opportunities to align payment timing with contractual obligations and cash flow requirements. • Coordinate with Procurement, Accounts Payable, Treasury, and Commercial teams to improve payment planning and visibility. • Analyze invoice processing delays, approval bottlenecks, disputed invoices, and supplier statement discrepancies. • Support timely invoice validation and approval to avoid unnecessary payment holds and strained supplier relationships. • Evaluate early-payment discounts and other settlement arrangements to determine their financial value. • Identify opportunities to negotiate improved payment terms in coordination with authorized Procurement and Commercial stakeholders. • Monitor supplier advances, deposits, prepayments, and outstanding credits to