Euromonitor International leads the world in data analytics and research into markets, industries, economies and consumers. We provide truly global insight and data on thousands of products and services; we are the first destination for organisations seeking growth. With our guidance, our clients can make bold, strategic decisions with confidence. 

Purpose of the role 

The Sales Order Processing Team Lead will sit within the Cape Town Finance Centre of Excellence and report to the Finance Manager – Centre of Excellence. The role is responsible for leading the Sales Order Processing team, ensuring customer contracts, sales orders, renewals and amendments are processed accurately and efficiently. 

This is a key operational leadership role responsible for ensuring invoices and credit notes are raised correctly and on time, customer and sales data is accurately maintained, and internal reporting supports reliable revenue and sales analysis. The role will work closely with Sales, Finance and clients to support both pre-sales and post-sales processes, remove barriers to invoicing, and ensure customer requirements are managed professionally. 

The successful candidate will combine strong people leadership, excellent attention to detail, a service-focused approach and a proactive mindset toward process improvement. They will play a key role in strengthening controls, improving the customer experience, supporting efficient billing and enabling accurate sales reporting across the business. 

Key accountabilities 

Team leadership and operational management 

• Lead, manage and develop the Sales Order Processing team, ensuring clear priorities, ownership and accountability. 

• Promote a collaborative, service-focused and control-conscious culture within the Finance Centre of Excellence. 

• Ensure sales order processing procedures are documented, standardised and consistently followed. 

• Build strong relationships with internal stakeholders, including Sales, Finance, Business Systems and senior management. 

Sales order processing and accurate invoicing 

• Oversee the accurate and timely processing of customer contracts, sales orders, renewals and amendments in line with agreed procedures and approval requirements. 

• Ensure invoices and credit notes are raised accurately, on time and in accordance with contractual terms, customer requirements and internal policies. 

• Ensure sales data is accurately reflected in internal systems to support reliable revenue reporting, sales reporting and management information. 

• Work closely with Sales teams to resolve order, billing, customer set-up and contract queries promptly. 

• Monitor invoicing workflows to ensure bottlenecks are identified and resolved quickly. 

• Support month-end and year-end processes by ensuring all relevant sales order processing and invoicing tasks are completed in line with Finance deadlines. 

Pre-sales and post-sales customer support 

• Partner with internal teams to resolve barriers that could delay deal closure or invoicing. 

• Ensure post-sales finance support is responsive, professional and aligned with customer and business needs. 

• Identify recurring customer or process issues and work with stakeholders to implement sustainable solutions. 

Reporting, controls and process improvement 

• Ensure sales order processing, invoicing and customer set-up activities operate within a strong internal control framework. 

• Provide regular reporting on sales order processing volumes, billing status, invoicing issues, credit notes and key operational actions. 

• Support audit requests by ensuring records, approvals and supporting documentation are complete and audit-ready. 

• Work with Finance and Business Systems teams to improve the use of systems, workflows and automation across sales order processing and invoicing. 

• Identify opportunities to standardise, simplify and improve processes across regions and teams. 

• Support finance transformation initiatives and system changes, ensuring the team is trained and processes remain controlled. 

• Proven experience in sales order processing, billing, invoicing, customer set-up or similar finance operations roles. 

• Experience supervising or leading team members, with the ability to coach, develop and motivate others. 

• Excellent understanding of sales order processing, billing, invoicing, credit notes, customer data and contract administration processes. 

• Experience working in a multi-entity, multi-currency or international finance environment is desirable. 

• Strong commercial awareness and ability to work effectively with Sales teams. 

• Excellent attention to detail, with the ability to review and manage high volumes of data accurately. 

• Strong organisational and prioritisation skills, with the ability to manage competing deadlines. 

• Confident communicator with the ability to influence stakeholders and manage customer or internal queries professionally. 

• Experience using Microsoft Dynamics 365, Salesforce, Zuora or similar ERP, CRM or billing systems is desirable. 

• Intermediate to advanced Excel skills, with the ability to analyse sales order, billing and invoicing data. 

• Experience with customer procurement platforms such as Ariba, Coupa, Jaggaer or similar platforms is desirable. 

• Good understanding of financial controls, approvals, audit requirements and month-end close processes. 

• Proactive, collaborative and comfortable identifying and implementing process improvements. 

• Personal attributes 

• Commercially minded and customer-focused. 

• Highly organised, accurate and deadline-driven. 

• Strong sense of ownership and accountability. 

• Confident, resilient and professional when dealing with challenging situations. 

• Collaborative and able to build effective relationships across departments and countries. 

• Solutions-focused, with a continuous improvement mindset. 

• Able to balance operational detail with wider business priorities.