Accounts Receivable Technician - Taxation

About Red Deer: 

Red Deer sits at the heart of Central Alberta along the QEII corridor, perfectly positioned between Calgary and Edmonton. With more than 100,000 residents and a regional reach of over 300,000, it’s a growing hub for business, services, and opportunity.

Here, big-city amenities meet small-city ease. Enjoy abundant parks and trails, vibrant arts and culture, excellent recreation and education, and a strong sense of community.

With easy access to lakes, outdoor adventures, and the mountains, plus a thriving economy and high quality of life, Red Deer is an inviting place to live, work, and grow.

About The City of Red Deer Municipal Government:

The City of Red Deer is a dynamic municipal organization with a $480M operating budget, a $60M capital program, and a workforce of nearly 1,700 employees. It is focused on growing with purpose by attracting talented, community-minded people who want to make a difference.

Guided by the vision “Our City, One Voice,” Red Deer is building a thriving, inclusive, and connected community, with priorities centered on a vibrant economy, community wellbeing, and strong engagement.

At its core, the City values its people, embracing diverse perspectives and fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, and shared success.

The Opportunity:

The City of Red Deer is currently recruiting an Accounts Receivable Technician – Taxation (ART) to fill a permanent full-time position. ARTs are responsible for processing all aspects of activities relating to accounts receivable, utility billing and collections. Specifically, the position is required to understand complex integrated software systems, processes, and governance to complete the related duties. This position provides front-line customer service in a fast-paced environment and must be able to effectively deal with difficult situations. The incumbent primarily works as part of a team. Accuracy is vital as errors are highly public, affect customer satisfaction and can be detrimental to the City’s reputation. 

Top Key Responsibilities:

• Provide professional customer service by addressing inquiries, resolving complaints (including difficult situations), reviewing account history, and clearly explaining services, policies, bylaws, and account impacts.
• Manage customer accounts by providing accurate information on requirements, payment dates, notifying customers of unpaid balances, discussing payment arrangements, and maintaining service requests across phone, email, web, and in-person channels.
• Ability to handle sensitive and confidential information while communicating effectively and coordinating with third parties (e.g., mortgage companies, lawyers, insurance providers) in compliance with POPA regulations.
• Provide operational and financial support by maintaining comprehensive knowledge of applicable legislation, bylaws, policies, and accounting standards while applying critical thinking and professional judgment to process inquiries, evaluate impacts, and adjust decisions as needed.
• Manage customer account administration including account creation and maintenance, invoicing, adjustments, refunds, payment programs, statements, penalties, credit evaluation, collections activities, and negotiation of payment arrangements.
• Perform financial and system processes including data uploads, reconciliations, journal entries, month-end and year-end reporting, monitoring receivables and performance reports, maintaining documentation, ensuring compliance and internal controls, identifying risks and contributing to control improvements, and independently prioritizing workload.
• Provide business and systems support by maintaining working knowledge of operational software, troubleshooting system issues, assisting with system upgrades and implementations, and liaising with other departments to resolve problems.
• Contribute to operational effectiveness by maintaining and improving procedures, participating in cross-departmental initiatives, researching best practices and legislation, training staff, and managing document filing and retrieval.
• Maintain strong working relationships with internal City staff and external customers by communicating effectively, understanding operational needs, and fostering ongoing collaboration.
• Complies with and supports the City’s Health and Safety program by following safe work practices, participating in safety initiatives (training, inspections, hazard assessments, incident reporting, and emergency drills), and adhering to Occupational Health and Safety legislation, regulations, and protocols.

As our preferred candidate, you will have:

• Completion of a 2-year Business Administration Diploma with a major in accounting. Equivalent education and experience may be considered.
• Three years’ accounting experience in an integrated computerized environment. 
• One year’s experience in collections, dealing with difficult customers, billing, complex journal entries, reconciliations, or municipal government. 
• Demonstrated ability to effectively resolve complex and difficult customer situations.
• Proficiency in MS Excel, MS Word, Access, PowerPoint and Outlook.
• The following experience would be considered an asset:
  • Previous experience with JD Edwards, Tempest, CAMAlot, SPIN or other municipal software
  • Knowledge of accounts receivable, utility billing, collections, property tax theory/procedures
  • Familiarity of the Alberta Municipal Government Act
  • Knowledge of POPA and ATIA
  • Formal training in Violence in the Workplace, or Dealing with Difficult Customers
  • Understanding of internal controls
  • Alberta Land Titles or Alberta Registry
• In addition to the 9 Core Competencies identified for all employees of the City of Red Deer, the following are specifically required in the position:
  • Work independently with a high degree of accuracy and in accordance with policies and procedures.
  • Maintains strict confidentiality of information (POPA and ATIA training required).
  • Prioritizes plans and organizes in situations of competing activities to ensure goals are accomplished efficiently and effectively.
  • Works effectively in an environment with considerable noise and frequent interruptions.
  • Displays strong interpersonal, teamwork and flexibility skills.
  • Creates and maintains a safe workplace, adhering to the policies and procedures outlined by the City.
  • Ability to deal effectively with the public and City staff and to respond patiently and courteously to complaints and criticisms.

Affiliation:   Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 417 

Remuneration:   $41.34 to $43.51 per hour 

Hours of Work:   75 hours biweekly; Monday to Friday, some evening and weekend work may be required when needed.

The City of Red Deer does not permit the use of unauthorized internet resources or Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools  (for example, Copilot, ChatGPT or any other form of AI) during interviews or any supervised or timed assessments.  Any violation may be investigated and result in serious consequences, including the rejection of your application.

We thank you for your application. Only those selected for an interview will be contacted.