Collection and Arrears Manager
Department: Operations
Employment Type: Full Time
Location: Manchester
Reporting To: Head of Business Services
Description
You will be responsible for overseeing the Bank’s arrears collections, whether internal or via third-party servicers to ensure that customer-focused arrears and forbearance management practices are applied consistently, effectively, and compliantly. You will be responsible for arrears performance, review arrears management strategies, and challenge approaches where necessary to drive fair, sustainable, and commercially sound outcomes. You will play a key part in maintaining strong governance, identifying emerging risks or trends in arrears performance and supporting continuous improvement across the Bank’s credit and collections framework.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead the creation and implementation of a Bank wide forbearance policy, ensuring consistent application across all arrears management activities and alignment with regulatory and customer‑centric standards.
- Drive improvements in arrears management oversight frameworks, reporting, and governance to enhance control effectiveness and efficiency.
- Collaborate with Credit Risk, Operations, Compliance, and Legal teams to ensure arrears oversight activity supports the wider credit lifecycle and customer strategy.
- Maintain awareness of regulatory developments (e.g., FCA, PRA, Consumer Duty) and ensure third party practices remain compliant with evolving expectations.
- Act as a key point of contact for internal audit, risk reviews, and regulatory inspections relating to arrears and forbearance oversight.
- Champion fair customer outcomes by ensuring partner treatment strategies are ethical, transparent and aligned with the Bank’s customer-centric values.
- Provide oversight of third-party servicers to ensure arrears management and forbearance activities align with the Bank’s risk appetite, policies and regulatory standards.
- Conduct regular oversight reviews, thematic assessments, and deep dives to identify control weaknesses, potential conduct risks, or deviations from the Bank’s risk appetite in relation to arrears management.
- Identify, escalate, and track resolution of any third-party issues or breaches, ensuring timely remediation and effective root cause analysis.
- Provide oversight of forward flow partners to ensure arrears management and forbearance activities align with the Bank’s risk appetite, policies, and regulatory standards.
- Conduct regular oversight reviews, thematic assessments, and deep dives to identify control weaknesses, potential conduct risks, or deviations from the Bank’s risk appetite in relation to arrears management.
- Identify, escalate, and track resolution of any third-party issues or breaches, ensuring timely remediation and effective root cause analysis.
- Develop and maintain robust MI and performance dashboards to track key arrears metrics, outcomes, and third-party adherence to contractual service levels.
- Report data and performance to the relevant committees where appropriate, ensuring transparency, accountability, and timely escalation of key issues.
Skills, Knowledge & Expertise
- Over 3 years’ experience in arrears management, credit risk, or collections oversight within the banking or financial services sector, ideally with exposure to third-party servicer management or outsourcing governance.
- Understanding of relevant regulatory frameworks (e.g., FCA, PRA, Consumer Duty, Treating Customers Fairly) and their practical application to arrears and forbearance practices.
- Demonstrated ability to interpret complex MI, identify emerging risks or performance trends, and provide effective challenge to internal and external stakeholders.
- Commercial and financial acumen.
- Understanding of risk appetite and risk management frameworks in relation to Banking.
- Customer-centric mindset, ensuring policies and processes support positive and fair customer experiences.
- Excellent communicator and collaborator, skilled at managing stakeholders and representing the team in senior forums.
- Ability to develop strong working relationships with senior management, colleagues, direct reports and indirect reports.
- Works in partnership to achieve goals demonstrating excellence, frankness, openness, and transparency
- Inspire respect, trust, and commitment to business objectives with well-developed leadership and people management skills.
- Demonstrates sound business/professional judgement through strength of character, independence of thought risk awareness and good values and behaviours.
Job Benefits
- Competitive salary
- 25 days holiday PLUS your BIRTHDAY off
- Pension contribution with Royal London
- Life Assurance
- Private medical, dental and optical health insurance with Axa
- Hybrid working
- Free breakfast available
