Collections Team Leader

At Liberis, our mission is to empower small and medium-sized businesses by removing finance as a friction to growth, delivering contextual, embedded financial solutions to support merchants at every stage of their business lifecycle.The teamWe are the Collections Team! A dedicated group with a clear mission: to assist customers facing financial challenges and guide them back to good standing wherever possible. With team members based across the UK, Sweden and the US, this role will join our Atlanta based team covering the entire US market. Now, we’re looking for an experienced and enthusiastic Collections Team Leader to join us and take our team to the next level.The roleAs a Collections Team Leader, you'll take the helm in our in-house collection process, steering a diverse receivables book toward success. Your mission: to maintain impeccable standards of accuracy and timeliness, driving up collection rates while ensuring every customer enjoys a top-notch experience.In addition to supporting customers, you’ll play a key role in overseeing the collections process and leading a talented team, providing guidance, support, and strategic direction to the team, ensuring that all activities align with our commitment to treating customers fairly and effectively managing our receivables portfolio.What you'll be doingTeam Leadership & Performance ManagementLead, motivate, and develop a small Collections team to achieve operational objectives, customer outcomes, and individual performance targets.Set clear goals and expectations, monitor performance against KPIs, and conduct regular one-to-one meetings to provide coaching, feedback, and development support.Foster a high-performance culture focused on accountability, continuous improvement, customer fairness, and operational excellence.Identify training and development needs within the team and implement coaching plans to improve performance and capability.Quality Assurance & Compliance OversightConduct regular quality control reviews of customer calls, account actions, correspondence, and case management activities to ensure compliance with internal policies, regulatory requirements, and company standards.Monitor call quality, customer interactions, account notes, payment arrangements, forbearance decisions, and escalation handling to ensure consistency and accuracy.Provide structured feedback and coaching based on quality assurance findings, identifying trends, risks, and improvement opportunities.Ensure all customer communications and account actions are documented accurately and completed in accordance with Treating Customers Fairly principles and business procedures.Maintain oversight of complaint handling, vulnerable customer processes, and regulatory compliance requirements.Portfolio Management & Collections StrategyConduct daily monitoring of the receivables portfolio to identify underperforming, inactive, and high-risk customers.Analyse customer behaviour, payment trends, and portfolio performance to identify opportunities to improve collections outcomes and reduce default risk.Develop and implement proactive and reactive customer engagement strategies to maximise collections performance while maintaining positive customer relationships.Ensure default account volumes remain within agreed budget tolerances through effective collections strategies and risk management practices.Data Analysis & ReportingPerform detailed statistical and root cause analysis to understand customer inactivity, payment performance, and collection effectiveness.Generate, review, and present reports on collection rates, delinquency trends, default volumes, recoveries, team performance, quality assurance outcomes, and operational KPIs.Use data-driven insights to identify process improvements, increase efficiencies, and support business decision-making.Customer & Stakeholder ManagementEngage directly with customers through telephone, email, and other communication channels to resolve complex cases and drive successful outcomes.Act as the primary escalation point for complex customer situations, supporting team members and ensuring timely and effective resolution.Build and maintain strong working relationships with internal stakeholders and external partners to support collections objectives.Debt Recovery & Agency ManagementManage relationships with Debt Collection Agencies (DCAs), ensuring service levels, compliance requirements, and recovery KPIs are achieved.Monitor post write-off recovery performance and take appropriate action to maximise recoveries and improve vendor performance.Review agency reporting and performance metrics to identify opportunities for improved recoveries and customer outcomes.Process Improvement & Operational ExcellenceContinuously review collections processes, controls, and customer journeys to identify and implement improvements.Drive initiatives that improve operational efficiency, customer experience, collections effectiveness, and risk management.Support change projects, system enhancements, and new process implementations across the collections function.Customer Fairness & CultureChampion Liberis values and behaviours, ensuring customers are treated fairly and consistently at every stage of the collections journey.Promote a customer-centric approach that balances commercial outcomes with positive customer experiences and regulatory expectations.Lead by example, creating an inclusive, collaborative, and supportive team environment.We think you’ll needDemonstrated experience within a collections environment, ideally within SME lending, financial services, or commercial finance.Team leadership experience of managing, coaching, and developing small teams.Strong understanding of collections operations, arrears management, recoveries, and customer engagement strategies.Experience conducting quality assurance reviews, call monitoring, compliance assessments, and performance coaching.Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to interpret data and drive informed decisions.Strong communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence at all levels.High level of integrity, professionalism, and sound judgement in all decisions and actions.Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and experience using collections, CRM, and reporting systems.Strong attention to detail with a focus on accuracy, risk management, and compliance.Proven ability to identify process improvements and successfully implement operational enhancements.Self-motivated, highly organised, and able to effectively prioritise workload in a fast-paced environment.Passionate about delivering fair customer outcomes while achieving business objectives.What happens next?Think this sounds like the right next move for you? Or if you’re not completely confident that you fit our exact criteria, apply anyway and we can arrange a call to see if the role is fit for you. Humility is a wonderful thing, and we are interested in hearing about what you can add to Liberis! #LI-CG1