Collections Manager

• Professional Development Opportunities: Offering training programs, workshops, and mentorship.
• Recognition and Appreciation: Regularly acknowledging employee achievements and contributions.
• Flexible Work Arrangements: Providing options for remote work and flexible scheduling.
• Positive Company Culture: Fostering an inclusive, collaborative, and supportive work environment.
• Career Growth: Clear paths for career advancement and internal promotions.
• Work-Life Balance: Encouraging a healthy balance between professional and personal life.
• Employee Empowerment: Allowing employees to make decisions and have autonomy in their roles.
• Space of Belonging: ERGs, YOUnity Council and a focus around diversity, equity inclusion and belonging.  
• Wellness Programs: Promoting physical and mental health through wellness initiatives and resources.
• Strong Leadership: Having leaders who inspire, support, and guide their teams effectively.
• Sense of Purpose: Creating a sense of mission and aligning company goals with employees' personal values.

POSITION PURPOSE

Responsible for managing and strategizing SAFE’s collection efforts. Develop and motivate a high performing team to ensure strong employee engagement and job satisfaction. Lead and direct team to ensure proper collection efforts for Consumer Loan and Real Estate delinquencies. Ensure SAFE is in compliance with all State and Federal compliance requirements related to collections and the recovery processes. Ensures SAFE achieves delinquency and charge off goals by practicing proactive collection efforts and following prudent collection techniques. Ensure all loan collateral is insured per SAFE’s policy limits. Responsible for all aspects of the recovery process, which includes repossessions, foreclosures, OREO’s, third party collections, recoveries, and bankruptcies. Carries out managerial responsibilities in accordance with the organization's policies and applicable laws. Responsibilities include interviewing, hiring, and training employees; planning, assigning, and directing work; appraising performance; rewarding and disciplining employees; addressing complaints and resolving problems. Develop meaningful and measurable goals for all employees in this functional area.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS AND BASIC DUTIES

• Manage the teams assigned to Collections and Recovery. Develop and track goals for the team and for each employee. Trains, directs, and appraises personnel.  Provide coaching as applicable.
• Motivate team to achieve goals through employee recognition efforts that support employee engagement and commitment to results.
• Balance successful collection and recovery strategies with excellent member service; keep members top of mind, and lead by example by maintaining a member-focused mindset. 
• Support department/division-level reporting, as needed.
• Develop and conduct an annual performance review on each employee by the assigned due dates.
• Perform at minimum, monthly reports pertaining to the Collection Officer’s performance.
• Ensure all subordinate areas of responsibility support credit union objectives.
• Work with members to identify financial problems and develop workable solutions.
• Manage the annual budget for all expense accounts assigned to the Collections and Recovery teams. Manage, track and analyze trends pertaining to collection efforts (delinquency, skip tracing, small claims, judgments, etc.); identify areas falling short of expectations and adjust process, staff assignments, and/or elevate with vendors, as needed.
• Manage, track and analyze trends pertaining to recovery efforts such as repossession, foreclosures, third party assignments, OREO’s, and bankruptcies.
• Maintain awareness of all State and Federal compliance requirements related to the collection of accounts. Implement changes as applicable.
• Manage all vendor relationships (Temenos, outsourcing, attorneys, State National, third-party collection agencies, repossession, etc.) to ensure their results support the objectives of the team (turnaround times, etc.).
• Manage the at-risk real estate loans. When applicable, accumulate property information on properties in default and submit recommendations to the SVP Real Estate and Consumer Lending, VP of Credit Risk, and AVP, Loan Servicing. Prepare and submit necessary documents for foreclosure. Monitor foreclosure progress and attend the trustee sale when applicable. Oversee the OREO process.
• Manage the Temenos system and provide training with the new system releases.
• Manage the liquidation process on repossessed vehicles and prepare monthly repossession reports.
• Convert loan charge-offs and ensure charge-offs are assigned to third-party agencies according to policy.
• Collaborate on collection and recovery efforts with other divisions, such as finance, as needed.
• Represent SAFE at legal proceedings which pertain to the collection and recovery process.
• Responsible for oversight of the annual 1099-A & C forms and submissions.
• Research and resolve escalated member inquiries and issues, including those handled by vendors; respond to member complaints addressed to SAFE’s regulatory bodies and/or executive team.
• Act in part as Records Retention Coordinator for the team.
• Interact professionally with all levels of management and staff, demonstrating the ability to provide presentations, lead meetings, and facilitate engaging discussions, as needed.
• Recommend new products/programs to support the collection functions. Act as project manager to implement new loan products and/or process improvements.
• Work closely with Loan Servicing Management to improve processes and create efficiencies on items relevant to both areas (i.e. hardship deferrals, workout programs, forbearances, etc.).
• Ensure assigned general ledger accounts are prepared, approved, and submitted to Accounting within the appropriate time frames. 
• Complete other duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS 

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education AND/OR EXPERIENCE:

Bachelor's degree from four-year College or University; or ten plus years related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience.

Skills/Abilities:

• Demonstrated team player.
• Strong organizational skills.
• Ability to coordinate multiple projects and processes concurrently.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

WORK ENVIRONMENT/PHYSICAL DEMANDS SUMMARY

LANGUAGE SKILLS

Ability to read, analyze, and interpret general business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures, or governmental regulations.  Ability to write reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals.  Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of managers, vendors, members, and the general public.

MATHEMATICAL SKILLS AND REASONING ABILITY 

Ability to calculate figures and amounts such as discounts, interest, commissions, proportions, percentages, area, circumference, and volume.  Ability to apply concepts of basic algebra and geometry.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORK ENVIRONMENT

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.  

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit and talk or hear, and use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls.
• The employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; reach with hands and arms; and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl.
• The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 10 pounds.
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision.
• The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

INTENT AND FUNCTION OF JOB DESCRIPTIONS

This is not necessarily an all-inclusive list of job-related responsibilities, duties, skills, efforts, requirements or working conditions.  All descriptions have been reviewed to ensure that only essential functions and basic duties have been included.  Peripheral tasks, only incidentally related to each position, have been excluded.  Requirements, skills, and abilities included have been determined to be the minimal standards required to successfully perform the positions.  While this is intended to be an accurate reflection of the current job, management reserves the right to revise the job or to require that other or different tasks be performed as assigned.

In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, it is possible that requirements may be modified to reasonably accommodate disabled individuals.  However, no accommodation will be made which may pose serious health or safety risks to the employee or others or which impose undue hardships on the organization.

Job descriptions are not intended as and do not create employment contracts.  The organization maintains its status as an at-will employer.  Employees can be terminated for any reason not prohibited by law.