Senior Collection Specialist

Upon completion of training, scheduled hours are 1 week in office / 3 weeks work from home.

About the Role

This is the advanced level position for the Collections Specialist series. The Senior Collections Specialist provides team leader support for the Collections team. Prepares documentation and serves as the primary contact for repossessions, legal action, garnishment, or assignment to attorney for cases originated in Collections. Serves as backup telephone support for collection staff.

Responsibilities

• Primary contact for repossessions; ability to approve reinstatement, recall, or redemption of repossessed vehicles.
• Leads team during scheduled overtime.
• Posts garnishment checks and prepares documentation for use in court cases.
• Reviews and recommends accounts for monthly charge-off.
• Reviews reports and assesses accounts subject to right of offset.
• Manages a portfolio of discharged bankrupt accounts within limits set by the Bankruptcy Reform Act.
• Enters workout requests in loan origination system.
• Submits paperwork to release garnishments.
• Serves as a system tester for Collections as needed.
• Contacts members appearing in court with the goal of negotiating a resolution.
• Handles escalated calls and processes extension requests when needed.
• Performs on-the-job training and provides mentoring and coaching to new collectors.
• Acts as a resource for other credit union staff.
• Makes decisions to restrict debit cards or revoke delinquent lines of credit/credit cards not revoked automatically.
• Recommends accounts for workouts when appropriate and determines if they meet criteria.
• Submits paperwork to initiate repossession, legal action, garnishment, or assignment to attorney after assessing risk exposure.
• Utilizes software applications such as MISER, Hostlink, and STAR to update accounts.
• Appears as a witness in court on behalf of the Credit Union.
• Uses sales process to effectively influence action on accounts based on information gathering.
• Submits paperwork to satisfy judgments.
• Contacts delinquent members to determine intent to pay and bring resolution to unpaid accounts within the limits set by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Bankruptcy Reform Act, and other federal regulations.
• Interacts with members who have outstanding court dates to negotiate a resolution.
• Manages a portfolio of accounts by sorting them based on due date or next contact date and setting follow-up dates to ensure accounts are contacted within deadlines.
• Systematically reviews delinquent accounts and follows up for maximum repayment.
• Promotes the credit union by cross-selling services focusing on member needs.
• Informs, educates, and guides members regardless of individual circumstances while maintaining good member relations.
• Demonstrates effective skip tracing techniques using credit bureau, origination systems, Internet, WebXtender, FDI, and other skip tracing sites.
• Provides assistance by offering solutions based on member’s individual needs to negotiate immediate payments or promises to pay.
• Identifies sources of money to assist members with payment options.
• Interacts with members in accordance with state and credit union guidelines in a fast-paced environment.
• Accurately and professionally documents collection systems with details of current contacts and subsequent results for follow-up.
• Researches contact information to locate members when necessary.
• Explains options to resolve delinquency over the phone.
• Removes/sets flags on accounts to restrict access as appropriate.
• Assists members experiencing financial difficulty by making referrals to BALANCE or other Consumer Credit Counseling Services.
• Maintains current knowledge of Federal regulations and Credit Union policies and procedures related to collections and consumer lending.
• Performs various other duties such as transferring money to make payments on delinquent accounts and assisting members with automatic payment problems.
• Answers internal and external calls from employees/members and provides excellent quality service as indicated in the Member Experience guidelines.

Expectations

• Meet goals defined in individual performance evaluation.
• Contribute toward individual, team, and department goals.
• Comply with all published enterprise-level policies and procedures, including Risk Management policies.
• Complete all required, ongoing enterprise-level training, including BSA, OFAC, and Information Security.
• Report all Risk Management Policy violations in accordance with policy.
• Actively contribute ideas and suggestions to improve efficiency and service to members.
• Maintain confidentiality of all member and credit union account information.
• Attend training sessions as directed by Manager or Supervisor to keep skills current.

Requirements

• Working knowledge of legal collection process and proven negotiation skills.
• Must be performing at a Significant Contributor level after completion of the OJT Collections Specialist I and II training program.
• Proficient with computers, including good keyboarding skills and ability to maneuver in a Windows-based environment.
• Ability to effectively communicate with members both verbally and in writing.
• Skillful in problem-solving and making swift, sound judgments.
• Self-motivated with proven follow-up and negotiation skills.
• Works well in team settings.
• Ability to listen carefully, probe for additional details, and ask targeted questions to gather information.
• Able to handle stressful or difficult situations in a calm manner and manage multiple priorities in a timely manner without direct supervision.

Qualifications

• High school diploma or equivalent required; college or business-related courses preferred.
• Prior collection experience required.
• Demonstrated leadership skills.

Prerequisites

• Must be able to work any required overtime and/or Saturdays as needed.

Physical Requirements

• Must be able to sit for long periods of time.
• Infrequent lifting or carrying of objects up to 10 pounds.

Pay

Salary range: $46,000 to $56,000