Commercial & Credit Officer

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Tropical Heat was established in 1973 as a small ethnic snack cottage industry. Today, we are one of the leading manufacturers of spices and snacks in the East African region and our brand Tropical Heat is a household name in Kenya.
With our very strong and expert technical team, we manufacture a vast range of spices and snacks. The spices include pure spices, herbs, seasonings, masalas and salts. Snack items comprise of potato crisps, ethnic snacks, Kenyan chevda, peanuts, rice cakes and extruded snacks.
Our manufacturing processes are fully automated in a brand new hygienic factory, which is also HACCP and ISO22000 certified.
A strong export base has been built up with exports going to Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, DRC, Burundi, UK and the USA.

JOB SUMMARY

Qualifications and ExperienceBachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, or a related course.CPA/ACCA qualification (or in progress).Minimum 4 years’ experience in FMCG or distribution, preferably in credit control, commercial finance, or trade accounting.Strong analytical, reporting, and Excel / Google Sheet skills.Sound understanding of customer and distributor financial dynamics.Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with a collaborative approach.High integrity, strong follow-through, and attention to detail.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Manage credit control and customer receivables, ensuring collections are timely and exposure remains within approved limits.Lead regular credit review meetings with Sales and Finance to align on collections, terms, and risk mitigation.Maintain an updated schedule of all customer trading terms, rebates, commissions, and incentive structures.Validate and process trade spend, commission, and promotional claims in line with approved agreements.Work closely with the Sales department to ensure all commercial arrangements are financially clear and accurately reflected.Reconcile distributor and customer accounts, including credit notes, debit notes, and claim settlements.Prepare customer profitability reports, rebate analyses, and trade spend dashboards for management review.Coordinate with the Senior Accountant to ensure proper posting and reconciliation of customer-related transactions.Support the Sales department & CFO in ensuring financial implications are captured in the Customer agreements. Implement processes to strengthen financial accountability across sales channels and distributor partnerships.

REQUIRED SKILLS

Credit handling, Teamwork, Operative management, Customer service, Reporting, Invoicing

REQUIRED EDUCATION

Bachelor's degree