Head of Collections & Recovery

About the role:

The Director, Head of Collections & Recovery is responsible for leading the full collections and recovery function within a fast-paced Financial Services/Lender environment. This role oversees the strategy, governance, and execution of delinquency management across all stages of the customer lifecycle, with a focus on improving recoveries, minimizing losses, and enhancing customer treatment outcomes.

Working closely with teams across Risk, Operations, Compliance, Legal, IT, and external partners, this leader ensures collections practices are effective, compliant, data-driven, and aligned with overall portfolio performance objectives. The role also plays a key part in shaping policies, optimizing operational frameworks, and strengthening vendor and recovery performance across the organization.

• Lead the end-to-end collections and recovery strategy, including segmentation, treatment paths, contact strategies, and optimization of delinquency workflows to improve cure rates and recovery performance
• Develop, implement, and govern collections policies, charge-off frameworks, procedures, and controls to ensure consistency, compliance, and audit readiness
• Oversee asset recovery processes including repossession strategy, hardship programs, settlement frameworks, and post-charge-off recovery initiatives in accordance with regulatory requirements
• Build and manage forecasting models, performance reporting, capacity planning tools, and incentive frameworks to support operational and financial decision-making
• Lead vendor and third-party collections partner management, including performance monitoring, KPI tracking, SLA management, and continuous improvement initiatives
• Partner with cross-functional teams including Portfolio Risk, Legal, Compliance, IT, and Operations to enhance portfolio performance and customer experience
• Analyze portfolio trends including delinquency movement, loss performance, cure rates, and recovery outcomes to inform strategy and decision-making
• Drive continuous improvement in collections systems, processes, and technologies including dialer strategies and contact optimization tools
• Ensure strong governance, documentation, and regulatory compliance across all collections and recovery activities
• Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing team with a focus on accountability, engagement, and operational excellence

• 10+ years of progressive leadership experience in collections within a financial services or lending environment
• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Business, Economics, Risk Management, or a related field (or equivalent experience)
• Strong background in end-to-end collections strategy, delinquency management, and recovery operations
• Proven experience managing large teams and/or multi-layered operational functions
• Deep understanding of collections processes including repossessions, charge-offs, recoveries, and portfolio loss mitigation strategies
• Strong analytical capability with the ability to interpret portfolio performance metrics and translate insights into actionable strategies
• Demonstrated experience in vendor management, including performance oversight, scorecards, and SLA governance
• Excellent cross-functional communication skills with the ability to influence senior stakeholders across business, risk, legal, and technology teams