Collections Manager

**Turn Recovery Into Relationships. Transform Challenges Into Success.**: **Collections Manager | M-KOPA South Africa** **Where Empathy Meets Excellence** What if collections wasn't about pressure, but about **partnership**? What if every difficult conversation became an opportunity to **restore financial dignity** while driving business results? At M-KOPA, we've reimagined collections as a force for **customer empowerment**—and we need a leader who can make that vision reality. **This isn't traditional collections. This is collections with purpose.** **The Challenge That Defines Leaders** You'll inherit teams across multiple channels—call centres, chat agents, field teams—all working to recover outstanding payments while **preserving customer relationships**. Your mission? To orchestrate a collections ecosystem that achieves exceptional recovery rates while treating every customer with dignity and respect. The complexity is real: different risk profiles, multiple product types (asset finance vs. cash loans), varying repayment behaviours across South Africa's diverse economic landscape. The opportunity? To build a **world-class collections operation** that others benchmark against. **Your Arena of Impact** **Strategic Operations Excellence** - Architect multi-channel collections strategies that optimize recovery across call centers, digital platforms, and field operations - Design sophisticated segmentation workflows that match collection approaches to customer risk profiles and behavioral patterns - Lead weekly planning and resource allocation to maximize team productivity and customer outcomes **Performance & Intelligence** - Drive data-driven decision making through KPI optimization (repayment rates, promise-to-pay conversion, contactability) - Conduct deep-dive analytics to identify trends, bottlenecks, and breakthrough opportunities - Transform insights into actionable strategies that improve both recovery rates and customer experience **Team Leadership & Development** - Build and develop high-performing teams across multiple collection channels (15+ direct and indirect reports) - Create coaching frameworks that develop team leaders into accountability champions - Foster a culture where empathy and effectiveness aren't opposing forces—they're multiplying ones **Customer-Centric Recovery** - Implement engagement strategies that preserve customer dignity while driving repayment outcomes - Design flexible repayment solutions and restructuring offers that work for both customer and business - Lead cross-functional collaboration with Customer Care and Credit teams to resolve complex cases **Compliance & Risk Leadership** - Ensure all operations exceed regulatory requirements (National Credit Act compliance) - Build robust internal controls that prevent agent fraud and ensure ethical collection practices - Champion transparent, compliant processes that protect both customers and company reputation **The Leader We're Seeking** **Your Foundation**: - ** Bachelor's degree** in Business, Finance, Credit Management, or related field - ** 4-6 years** of tactical collections experience (fintech, microfinance, telecoms, or consumer lending) - ** Proven leadership** of multi-channel collections teams (15+ people) - ** Deep market knowledge** of South African repayment behaviors and informal economy dynamics **Your Expertise**: - ** Technology Fluency**: CRM systems, collections tools, dialer systems, advanced Excel - ** Digital Payments Knowledge**: Mobile money and digital payment systems experience - ** Regulatory Mastery**: Strong understanding of local collections laws and compliance requirements - ** Process Excellence**: Experience with performance management, training, and operational optimization **Key Factors**: - ** Analytical Thinking**: You see patterns others miss and turn data into strategy - ** Emotional Intelligence**: You balance firmness with empathy in every interaction - ** Resilience Under Pressure**: You thrive when stakes are high and challenges are complex - ** Communication Excellence**: You influence, inspire, and align teams toward common goals - ** Bias Toward Action**: You don't just identify problems—you solve them **Your Values**: - ** Customer-First Mindset**: You believe every customer deserves dignity, regardless of payment status - ** Ethical Leadership**: Your integrity is non-negotiable, even when results are at stake - ** Continuous Improvement**: You're never satisfied with "good enough" - ** Collaborative Spirit**: You know the best outcomes come from cross-functional excellence **Why M-KOPA Redefines Collections** **Purpose-Driven Impact** Your work directly enables financial inclusion—every successful recovery helps us serve more underserved customers. **Innovation at the Forefront** Access cutting-edge collections technology, analytics tools, and methodologies that set industry standards. **Accelerated Career Growth** Lead collections for one of Afri