Collections Officer

Job Description

Job Description:\n\nPosition Summary\nThe Collections Officer assists Credit Union of Texas members in resolving loan delinquency and other account issues affecting loan repayment. Working primarily by outbound and inbound telephone contact, the role negotiates payment arrangements, processes payments, performs skip tracing, examines delinquent loans, and makes recommendations for extensions, due date changes, refinancing, and repossession when warranted. The objective is to reduce delinquency and charge-offs on loans, leases, and credit cards while delivering exceptional, regulation-compliant member service on every contact. The role uses CUTX-approved AI and analytics tools to prioritize accounts, draft compliant communications, and inform workout recommendations, with required human-in-the-loop review on every member-impacting output.Key ResponsibilitiesMember Contact & Delinquency Resolution\n\n Perform outbound and inbound calls to members whose accounts are past due, working assigned queues with minimal supervision after training.\n Negotiate suitable payment arrangements with members to cure default and bring accounts current in a timely manner.\n Accept incoming calls regarding account condition and propose alternatives or payment plans within delegated authority.\n Contact members by letter, email, or other approved channels when telephone contact is not possible, using CUTX-approved templates.\n Review each account prior to contact for any transaction or activity since the previous contact and determine collection activity required based on member cooperation.\nWorkout, Extensions & Account Maintenance\n\n Evaluate and submit due date changes, payment waivers, extensions, and refinancing recommendations in accordance with policy, and document those changes accurately.\n Receive and process requests from delinquent members for additional loans or workout loans, routing for Collection Management approval as required.\n Initiate file maintenance changes at the request of the member or as information is gathered during account processing.\n Make recommendations regarding economic futility, repossession, charge-off, or legal action when collateral is jeopardized or collection conditions warrant, in consultation with Collection Management.\nSkip Tracing & Investigation\n\n Perform skip tracing using available CUTX-approved sources to locate members who cannot be reached through standard contact information.\n Verify member contact and employment information and update the system of record.\nDocumentation & Member Service\n\n Maintain detailed, accurate written records of all member conversations, actions taken, and decisions in the collections system of record sufficient to support audit and examination review.\n Deliver exceptional, respectful member service on every contact, treating members in financial difficulty with empathy and procedural fairness.\n Exercise good judgment and discretion when discussing sensitive financial topics.\nCompliance & Escalation\n\n Adhere to all departmental procedures and applicable collection regulations on every contact, including FDCPA standards, FCRA, UDAAP, and SCRA where applicable.\n Consult with Collection Management as needed for technical advice or guidance on complex delinquent accounts.\n Ensure every payment option is explored and documented after recommending repossession or charge-off.\n Identify and immediately escalate potential compliance concerns, member-harm risks, or wrongful collection activity to Collection Management.\n4. Performance Outcomes & KPIs\nOutcome\nPrimary KPI\nReporting Cadence\nTarget / Direction\nDelinquent accounts are cured promptly to reduce roll-rates and charge-off risk.\nDelinquency Cure Rate — percent of assigned past-due accounts brought current within the reporting period.\nMonthly\n▲ [Target — confirm with VP, Collections]\nCollections activity reduces dollars rolling to later delinquency buckets and to charge-off.\nRoll-Rate / Net Charge-Off Contribution on assigned portfolio.\nMonthly\n▼ [Target]\nCollector productivity supports portfolio coverage.\nRight-Party Contacts (RPC) per day and Promises-to-Pay (PTP) kept rate.\nMonthly\n▲ [Target]\nEvery member contact is documented and audit-ready.\nAccount Documentation Quality — percent of sampled accounts passing internal QA / compliance review without material exception.\nQuarterly\n▲ ≥ 98%\nMember interactions are respectful, accurate, and regulation-compliant.\nCall QA Score — average score from internal call monitoring across communication, accuracy, and compliance dimensions.\nMonthly\n▲ ≥ 90%\nAI-augmented prioritization, drafting, and workout recommendations are reviewed by the role holder after action.\nHuman-in-the-Loop Review Rate on AI Outputs — percent of AI-recommended actions reviewed and either accepted, adjusted, or escalated by the Collections Officer after action.\nMonthly\n▲ 100%QualificationsEducation\n\n High school diploma or general education degree (GED) required.\n Associate degree or additional collections / financial services coursework preferred.\nExperience\n\n Minimum one to two (1–2) years of related experience in a call center, banking, credit union, or collections environment required; two (2) or more years preferred.\n Demonstrated ability to negotiate payment arrangements with members or customers.\n Demonstrated time management skills and ability to work a high-volume queue.\n Prior credit union experience preferred.\n Bilingual English / Spanish preferred.\n Prior experience using AI- or analytics-driven prioritization or workflow tools preferred.\nLicenses, Registrations, and Certifications\n\n None required.\nKnowledge & Skills\n\n Working knowledge of collection regulations, including FDCPA standards, FCRA, UDAAP, and SCRA.\n Basic understanding of consumer loan policies and procedures.\n Strong computer and technology skills, including proficiency with Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, Teams) and ability to learn CUTX's loan servicing and collections systems.\n Typing speed above 40 WPM and proficiency with standard office equipment (shared printer, scanner, fax).\n Strong verbal communication and active listening; ability to convey detailed information accurately and respectfully.\n Good judgment and discretion when dealing with sensitive financial topics.\n Ability to interact with many people and manage multiple interruptions while staying on task.\n Positive attitude, open-mindedness, and flexibility to adapt to any situation a member may present.\n Ability to work both independently and as part of a team.\n Willingness to work until 7:00 PM and two Saturdays per month.\nCore Competencies\nCompetency\nProficiency Level\nWhy This Matters in This Role\nAI Literacy\nIntermediate\nThe role uses AI-augmented account prioritization, communication drafting, and workout recommendation tools (Tier 2) and is responsible for human-in-the-loop review on every member-impacting output.\nMember Centricity\nIntermediate\nThe role engages members during a stressful financial event; tone, empathy, and procedural fairness directly affect CUTX's reputation and member retention.\nNegotiation & Persuasion\nIntermediate\nNegotiating realistic, sustainable payment arrangements is the core value-creating activity of the role.\nCompliance Orientation\nAdvanced\nFDCPA standards, FCRA, UDAAP, and SCRA are applied on every member contact; mistakes have direct member, legal, and examination impact.\nOperational Discipline\nAdvanced\nEvery contact must be documented accurately and contemporaneously; documentation gaps create legal and audit exposure.\nResilience & Composure\nIntermediate\nThe role manages emotionally charged conversations daily and must maintain a professional, respectful tone under pressure.\nCommunication\nIntermediate\nThe role communicates with members, internal partners, and management across phone, email, and written channels, often on sensitive topics.AI & Technology ExpectationsAI-Augmented Workflows\nThe following workflows are AI-augmented in this role. The Collections Officer is expected to work fluently within these workflows, exercise sound judgment over AI outputs, and follow all applicable controls.\n\n AI-assisted account prioritization and queue sequencing — AI synthesizes delinquency stage, member behavior, and contact history to recommend the order and timing of outreach.\n AI-assisted drafting of member communications — AI drafts compliant letters, emails, and call follow-ups from approved templates for Collections Officer review.\n AI-assisted workout and payment-plan recommendation — AI suggests payment-plan structures (extensions, due date changes, settlement ranges) based on account profile and policy guardrails.\n AI-assisted skip tracing support — AI surfaces and ranks potential contact information from approved data sources for Collections Officer verification.\n Document extraction and triage — AI extracts structured fields from member-submitted hardship documents, paystubs, and correspondence to populate the system of record.\nAI Tier and Human-in-the-Loop Responsibility\nThis role operates in AI Tier 2 for its principal AI-augmented workflows (see Appendix A). The Collections Officer retains accountability for any decision, communication, or member/employee-impacting action influenced by AI output, consistent with the CUTX Generative AI Usage Policy §3.4.\nThe Collections Officer is required to:\n\n Apply human-in-the-loop review on every AI-recommended workout, payment plan, communication, and prioritization output after action is taken or sent to a member.\n Stop reliance on AI output and escalate immediately if the output appears inaccurate, biased, non-compliant, or outside the role's documented scope (Generative AI Usage Policy §3.5).\n Refrain from entering member non-public personal information (NPI), confidential CUTX information, or material non-public information into any AI tool not explicitly approved for that data classification.\n Complete all required AI training within thirty (30) days of hire and maintain currency on annual refreshers.\nApproved AI Tools\nThe role is approved to use the following AI tools in performing essential functions (subject to the Generative AI Usage Policy and any tool-specific guidance issued by the AI Council):\n\n CUTX-approved internal AI assistants (e.g., Sam) for general productivity and approved knowledge tasks.\n Microsoft Copilot for office productivity (drafting, summarization, spreadsheet support).\n CUTX-approved AI-augmented prioritization and workout recommendation tools deployed within the collections platform.\n CUTX-approved skip-tracing and identity verification tools.\n\nUse of AI tools outside this list requires prior approval from the role's department leader and the AI Council, per the Generative AI Usage Policy §4.Prohibited AI Use\nIn addition to the prohibited uses defined in the Generative AI Usage Policy §3.6, the following are specifically prohibited in this role:\n\n Using AI output as the sole basis for any adverse member action, including initiating repossession, charge-off, denying a workout request, or sending an adverse-action communication.\n Entering member NPI (full account numbers, Social Security numbers, member loan documents, hardship documentation) into any AI tool not explicitly approved for that data classification.\n Using consumer or unapproved AI tools to draft member-facing collection notices or legal communications; these must be drafted from approved templates and reviewed per existing procedure.\n Using AI to circumvent FDCPA-aligned call frequency, time-of-day, or content restrictions.\nCompliance & Regulatory ResponsibilitiesEnterprise Compliance Obligations\nThe Collections Officer is responsible for all enterprise compliance obligations applicable to a CUTX team member, including BSA/AML, OFAC, USA PATRIOT Act/CIP/CDD, GLBA and the Safeguards Rule, Fair Lending laws (ECOA/Reg B, Fair Housing Act), UDAAP, Information Security and Acceptable Use, and the CUTX Code of Conduct.AI-Specific Compliance Obligations\nThe Collections Officer is responsible for the CUTX Generative AI Usage Policy (TRAIGA / HB 149-aligned), the CUTX AI Playbook (including Tier 2 obligations applicable to this role), and Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act (TRAIGA / HB 149) requirements applicable to the role.Role-Specific Compliance Obligations\n\n Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) standards as applied at CUTX (CUTX adheres to FDCPA standards as a matter of policy).\n Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), including accuracy of credit reporting on delinquent and charged-off accounts.\n Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) — verification of military status and adherence to applicable protections prior to adverse action.\n Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Acts or Practices (UDAAP) standards in all member communications and workout offers.\n Texas Finance Code provisions applicable to consumer loan collection, repossession, and deficiency.\n CUTX Collections Policy, Workout / Extension Policy, and Repossession Procedures.\nWorking Conditions & Physical Requirements\nThis role is performed on-site at the CUTX Corporate Office in a standard office environment with no hazardous or significantly unpleasant conditions. The role is primarily sedentary and requires extended periods at a workstation operating a computer, telephone headset, and standard office equipment. Essential physical activities include finger dexterity and repetitive hand and wrist motion for typing; grasping; frequent talking and hearing to convey detailed information accurately by phone; average visual acuity to prepare and inspect documents on screen and in print; and the occasional ability to stand, walk, reach, stoop, kneel, crouch, or lift and move up to 10 pounds. The schedule requires availability until 7:00 PM and two Saturdays per month. Reasonable accommodations will be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this role, consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act and CUTX policy.Acknowledgement & Disclaimer\nThis job description is intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by individuals assigned to this position. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required, and CUTX reserves the right to modify, add to, or remove duties at any time as business needs require.\nEmployment with CUTX is at-will. This job description does not constitute an employment contract.