Billing Specialist

Chiquita is a leading global company with 20,000 employees across 30 countries. We are passionate about our nutritious, high-quality, energy-rich and value-added bananas.

Chiquita's products are sold in nearly 70 countries around the world. Chiquita Brands International grows, procures, markets and sells bananas and other fresh fruits under the Chiquita brand and other names.

The accuracy of the sales contracts and their invoices by the Billing Department enables the company to efficiently collect the sales revenue. Additionally, it provides predictability for Treasury, ensuring healthy cash flow and reducing financial risks.

The Billing Specialist is responsible for overseeing customers, sales contracts, invoicing and credit/debit transactions for a specific portfolio covering Europe and the Middle East.

This role includes customer system creation and maintenance in collaboration with Compliance and Credit Risk teams, ensuring proper setup for automated communications.

This position serves as a key support for the Sales Team by assisting with contract and promotion entries in the system. Additionally, they identify and validate invoice correction requests within company procedures, escalate errors preventing invoice issuance, and handle ad hoc invoicing needs.

Primary Responsibilities

• Follow the customer creation or reactivation procedure, ensuring that requestors have completed all required information. Perform necessary controls, review details with the Sales Team, and verify the roles of the customer deal entity, invoicing/paying entity, as well as delivery entity. Ensure accuracy of email contacts for invoice transmission
• Update entity register data and escalate any issues related to credit risk or compliance before activating new customers. Regularly update records to deactivate inactive customers on a yearly basis. Review cases involving different invoicing entities with peers and Billing Manager
• Train and support the Sales Team in entering deals into MCS portal, ensuring pricing details are compliant with management guidelines (approved bidding sheet, sales contract, or weekly spot pricing per regions and product family). Serve as the primary point of contact for contract related issues and escalate unresolved issues to the Billing Manager prior to escalating to IT
• Review details of new Bidding sheets, ensuring accuracy of units of measure, rebate conditions, dates, delivery addresses, invoicing to, Edocs, EDI, etc
• Ensure timely invoicing processing once shipments are completed. Monitor and report unconfirmed in-transit dispatches to understand what prevents those to be confirmed each month end close. Communicate to Billing manager unresolved errors consistently
• Review, approve or escalate credit transactions generated by MCS. Review Manual credits and debits requests and execute those according to company policy rules. Escalate non-compliant requests with proper documentation. Verify sales support conditions against actual sales throughout the year, review third-party sales support invoices, and document and escalate discrepancies
• Collaborate with the team by sharing knowledge and providing guidance to colleagues. Serve as a backup during team absences and contribute to process improvement
• Participate in updating SOP’s, requests forms and team reporting processes

Education and Experience Requirements

• Highly organized and detail oriented
• Proactive, dynamic, and hands-on approach
• Business oriented with strong teamwork skills
• Analytical mindset to to identify pricing discrepancies between the system and deal or customer’s AP, with the ability to communicate findings clearly
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to work effectively in a multicultural and geographically diverse environment and escalate critical issues when necessary
• Flexible and able to adapt to a fast-evolving work environment and evolving procedures
• Proficient in MS Excel, ERP systems, Master Data management, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, etc.)
• Language skills: English mandatory, any other language will be considered a plus

Key attributes

• Strong understanding of invoices and their components
• System oriented mindset - ERP logic, data integrity and logical reasoning
• Business accumen, understanding fruits sales flow and related transactions
• Ability to balance autonomy with appropriate judgement to escalate for support
• Patience and tolerance in assisting system users with repetitive queries
• Team player, providing support during absences and contribute to knowledge sharing

What We Offer:

• Competitive compensation and benefits package
• Opportunity to work in a dynamic, international environment within the food supply chain
• A collaborative team culture committed to quality, sustainability, and growth
• Exposure to global markets and international trade processes