Vice President Collections Strategy & Member Solutions

Vice President Collections Strategy & Member Solutions

Empower FCU

Purpose:

At every stage of life, positively impact members by providing affordable financial services.

Empower FCU Core Values: Fairness, Integrity & Honesty

Empower FCU Strategic Pillars:

• World-Class Employee Experience
• Best-In-Class Member Experience
• Growth for Impact
• Shared Value in the Community

Benefits: Medical and Dental Insurance, 401(k) with Employer Match, Holiday Pay, Paid Time Off and more!

About the Role: The Vice President of Collections Strategy and Member Solutions leads end‑to‑end management of collections, recovery, and loss mitigation across all loan portfolios. The leader drives performance through innovation, technology, and analytics, ensuring industry‑leading efficiency, optimal recovery rates, and strict regulatory compliance. This position reports to the Chief Lending Officer and is a key member of the Lending Leadership Team.

Annual Salary Range: $ - $

Location: Syracuse, NY (Hybrid model, minimum 5 days in‑office per month)

30% Strategic Leadership & Innovation

• Collections Strategy: Lead strategy, design, and execution of collections, loss mitigation, and recovery programs across multiple loan products and delinquency stages, optimizing cure rates and liquidation.
• Operational Excellence: Identify and drive efficiencies through process re‑engineering, RFP processes for new technology, and system integration.
• Legal Collections: Build the legal collections strategy, including selection and management of attorney networks or law firms.
• Debt Sale Program: Establish all operational processes, partner due diligence, and financial modeling to optimize recovery value.
• Contact Strategy: Partner with Product, Risk, and Analytics to build sophisticated contact strategy capabilities using member segmentation, channel optimization, and rigorous test‑and‑learn approaches.

25% Operational Management & Risk Reduction

• Collections Management: Oversee collections of past‑due consumer, indirect, commercial, and residential mortgage loans, including restructuring or liquidation of collateral.
• Asset Management: Secure and manage disposition of repossessed collateral for all secured loans.
• Vendor & BPO Management: Own vendor and Business Process Outsourcing management across pre‑ and post‑charge‑off collections; set performance expectations and monitor scorecards.
• Performance Monitoring: Establish, monitor, and report on rigorous KPIs such as cure rates, liquidation rates, RPC rates, QA, and compliance metrics.
• Risk & Compliance: Expert in managing and reducing risk and charge‑offs, partnering with Compliance, Legal, and Risk to ensure adherence to all regulations.
• Financial Oversight: Develop and monitor budgets for Collections and Loan Operations; measure results against projections.

25% Team Leadership & Development

• Talent Management: Recruit, train, mentor, and develop a high‑performing team reflecting core values; manage staffing levels and associated expenses.
• Supervision: Conduct annual performance reviews and work with team members to set individual goals; ensure groups are adequately staffed and trained.

20% Cross‑Functional Collaboration & Influence

• Credit & Portfolio Alignment: Collaborate with Operations, Risk, Finance, and Data & Analytics to align collections strategy with credit policy and portfolio goals.
• Executive Influence: Provide data‑driven insights and recommendations on portfolio health, recovery performance, and strategic direction.
• Representation: Represent collections in cross‑functional forums focused on member experience, regulatory strategy, and portfolio risk.
• Other Duties: Perform all other duties as assigned by CLO and Executive Leadership.

Experience: 7–10+ years of progressive experience in Collections and Recoveries Strategy, Operations, or Risk Management within the financial services industry, preferably in a credit union or banking environment.

• Deep expertise in strategic leadership and multi‑channel collections strategies.
• Experience deploying new technology within the collection lifecycle, including leading RFP and vendor selection.
• Ability to translate…