Head of Sales and Collections - SPARK Schools

About SPARK Schools

SPARK Schools is a social impact disruptor and is leading change in the education space through its network of affordable private schools. The SPARK Schools network provides transformational education innovation through Africa’s first blended learning model, which elevates student achievement and provides the tools teachers need to serve their students effectively.

The blended learning model, which combines classroom teaching and online instruction, allows teachers to anticipate student needs and equips schools to provide personalized education at an affordable cost. SPARK Schools is pioneering this transformative education model to ensure the accessibility of university and careers for all.

SPARK Schools has a culture of collaboration, because getting South Africa to lead global education takes a team effort. We are innovators who strive for excellence through persistence and a sense of urgency to achieve SPARK Schools’ vision, mission and social transformational objectives. Our work environment is vibrant/cheerful, fast-paced/dynamic, engaging/stimulating, tech-enabled and data driven.

SPARK Schools is a high growth, mission and values-driven, entrepreneurial organisation, operating 21 primary schools and 5 high schools and serving over 18,000 families in 2025. We are looking for dynamic people to join our team.

SPARK values: Service, Persistence, Achievement,  Responsibility, Kindness

ABOUT THE ROLE

Purpose:

The Head of Sales and Collections is responsible for leading SPARK Schools’ revenue generation and collections strategy. This role integrates the sales and credit control functions to ensure that all SPARK schools are fully enrolled, tuition is collected in a timely manner, and customer relationships are effectively managed. The incumbent will set and execute a comprehensive strategy for customer acquisition, retention, and debt management, ensuring financial stability while driving enrollment growth.

Reports to: Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Responsibilities:

Strategic Sales & Enrolment Leadership:

• Develop and execute a comprehensive growth and sales strategy aligned to
• SPARK’s mission and multi-year goals.
• Lead the entire customer journey, from awareness to after-sales engagement, ensuring seamless and consistent customer experiences.
• Partner with Marketing, Technology, and School Operations teams to align campaigns and digital tools with the admissions funnel and sales cycles.
• Drive market segmentation, lead generation, conversion optimisation, and new market identification to expand enrolment reach.
• Monitor enrolment performance and ensure systems (e.g., CRM) are used effectively for pipeline management, forecasting, and reporting.
• Develop and maintain a strong after-sales process to improve customer retention and satisfaction.

Collections & Credit Control:

• Lead the collections function with a focus on ensuring timely, accurate, and ethical tuition collection.
• Establish clear credit control policies and protocols for customer engagement, payment terms, and collections escalation.
• Oversee the development and execution of structured payment plans, early risk identification, and high-risk account interventions.
• Ensure compliance with financial, legal, and data protection standards across all billing and debt recovery practices.
• Collaborate with Finance to align revenue recognition, reporting, and forecasting processes.
• Monitor and report on key debtors' metrics and implement strategies to reduce outstanding debt.
• Implement fraud prevention and risk mitigation strategies in billing and collections processes.

People Leadership & Culture:

• Build, lead, and develop high-performing sales and collections teams with a strong culture of accountability, service, and excellence.
• Design and maintain performance dashboards for tracking key team and individual KPIs.
• Set performance targets, monitor KPIs, and implement recognition programs and performance improvement interventions where needed.
• Foster collaboration between customer-facing and back-office teams to ensure alignment and cross-functional efficiency.
• Provide coaching and professional development opportunities to build leadership capability within the team.

Financial & Operational Oversight:

• Own and manage departmental budgets and revenue targets, ensuring cost efficiency and financial performance.
• Produce timely and actionable reports on enrolment trends, revenue status, aged debt, and performance KPIs for executive leadership.
• Leverage data and market trends to continuously refine revenue and collection strategies.
• Establish strong working relationships with internal and external stakeholders to drive alignment and efficiency.

Strategic Capabilities and Mindset:

• Leadership & Influence: Ability to lead the sales and collections team in the day-to-day functions and operations with the result of a collaborative, cohesive and efficacy-based team of committed employees who instill a climate and culture of SERVICE in all that they do. Inspires, motivates, and aligns cross-functional teams toward a common vision and high-impact results.
• Strategic Thinking & Commercial Acumen: Able to anticipate trends, seize opportunities, and align initiatives with long-term goals.
• Collaboration: Proactively works in partnership with others to achieve a common goal or necessary objective; builds rapport and cooperative relationships with others; establishes and maintains strong relations with relevant stakeholders.
• Effective Teamwork: Serves on the executive committee (MANCO) as the functional and operational expert of the school network. Informs, involves and seeks input from others by sharing important relevant information, in a timely fashion, with all affected parties. Places high priority on team and network goals and long-term strategy.
• Customer-Centricity: Deep commitment to delivering value and maintaining trust in every customer interaction.
• Operational Execution: Strong capability in translating strategy into systems, processes, and performance improvements.
• Innovation & Agility: Continuously identifies improvement opportunities, adapts to market changes, and drives transformation.
• Ethical Judgment & Integrity: Demonstrates discretion, professionalism, and commitment to values in decision-making.

Qualifications and Criteria:

The ideal candidate will possess the following qualifications and criteria:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Finance, Commerce, or a related field.
• Postgraduate qualification (MBA or similar) preferred.
• Minimum 10 years of experience in sales, revenue management, or collections, with at least 5 years in a senior leadership role.
• Demonstrated success in managing high-volume customer pipelines, debt recovery, and P&L responsibility.
• Experience in a customer-focused, high-growth, or education-focused organization is advantageous.

Competencies:

• Strong strategic thinking and problem-solving abilities.
• Excellent negotiation and debt management skills.
• Proficiency in financial reporting, invoicing, and reconciliation.
• Ability to analyse and apply real-time data to enhance decision-making.
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills.
• Team-oriented mindset with a strong focus on mentorship and people development.
• Proactive and results-driven approach.

SPARK offers:

• fair market linked remuneration

• performance-based annual bonuses and increases

• above average/good annual leave

• life, disability and funeral cover

• employee wellness support

• educational support & study leave

• individualised professional development, support and mentorship

• employee discount on school fees

• opportunities for career growth

Remuneration: Commensurate with skills and experience/market value

Position Type: Permanent/Full Time

Location: Rosebank, Gauteng

SPARK schools is an equal opportunities employer and preference will be given to candidates from designated groups with due consideration of the company’s Employment Equity goals and targets.

SPARK schools encourages persons with disabilities to apply.

SPARK Schools may expire the posting of this advertisement at their own discretion.

Kindly note that should you have not heard from us within two weeks of the closing date please consider your application unsuccessful.